Creativity

‘Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought’ – Albert Einstein.

Creativity is one of my favourite topics to talk about in a business environment.

I love it because it’s not just for artists and musicians. We are all creative and we were all the child who loved painting and colouring once, but many of us have forgotten how to engage with our creativity.

If we are all creative then we should bring our creativity into our lives, which means bringing it into our working lives too.

Creativity is not a single skill. 

It is a complex set of skills that can seriously level-up our skills:

• Divergent thinking: The ability to come up with many different ideas, even if they are not all practical.

• Insight: The ability to see patterns and connections that others may not see.

• Problem-solving: The ability to find new and innovative solutions to problems.

• Communication: The ability to share your ideas with others in a clear and concise way.

Creativity is essential for innovation.

Innovation brings the new ideas and new concepts that could make or break a business. It’s the art of looking at the same problem and coming up with a different solution.

Ok, I get it. So how do I make myself more creative?

If its been a while since you last connected to your creativity then don’t panic; it’s a skill that can be learnt with practice.

Here are my top tips to boost your productivity. If you need to generate some fresh ideas, are stuck on a problem or need to find a better way to communicate something then try one of these:

·       Go for a walk: When we walk, we are exposed to new sights, sounds, and smells. This can help us to break away from our usual routines and perspectives, leading to new ideas and insights. When we are walking, we are also not bombarded with the same distractions that we face when we are sitting at our desks.

·       Change your working environment: Change can help you to break out of old patterns of thinking. When we are stuck in a rut, it can be difficult to come up with new ideas. Changing our environment literally helps us to see things from a different perspective and come up with new solutions to problems. When we are in a new environment, we are also exposed to new sights, sounds, and smells which can help us to think more creatively.

·       Collaborate with someone else: A study by the University of California, found that people who collaborated on tasks came up with more creative solutions than those who worked alone. The study also found that collaboration increased activity in the brain's frontal lobe, which is associated with creativity. This is purely from working with others, without taking account for different skills and specialisms which will also be a benefit.

·       Take a shower: Hear me out on this! One study, conducted by psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman, found that 72% of people reported getting creative ideas in the shower. The study also found that people were more likely to get creative ideas when they were relaxed and not feeling stressed.

·       Sleep on it: A study, conducted by researchers at the University of Warwick, found that people who slept on a problem were more likely to make better decisions than those who did not sleep on the problem.

·       Put your phone down: This is linked to the shower suggestion. One reason why we might have more ideas in the shower is because we are not distracted by anything else. Our minds have the space to wander and be more creative.

No more excuses, get started and find the things that will help spark your creativity.

I’m off for a walk!