Finding Creativity
How to use the holidays to stimulate creativity and idea generation
Over the holidays we get to kick back and relax. The inbox slows down, things quieten and we can recharge. And as we relax, we can also take the opportunity to stimulate creativity and spark some new ideas.
'The more relaxed and uncluttered your mind is the more creative you will be'.
Letts Group has developed an incubator methodology called Innov@te™. One of its many exercises is focused on helping to generate ideas (called @ha ideas). Innov@te™ outlines a simple process that can help stimulate the creative process. It is called ‘Creativity’.
Hopefully it will help you over your holiday break.
Creativity is the seed of innovation. It's inception. But how do you DO 'creativity'?
Innov@te’s ‘Creativity’ process is the combination of:
Environs
Exercise
Art
And if they are effectively combined they can help to generate @HA ideas.
Tip: Creativity can be a lone pursuit but it can also be achieved with a group of people. Each with different perspectives and experiences.
1. Creativity - Environs
Having the right environment is essential to creativity. Some of the worlds most successful artists talk about how they carefully orchestrate the right conditions for the creative process to happen. Their studio is a mastery of form and function. What they are trying to do is to stimulate the brain in such a way that it freely and openly generates @HA ideas. From the heart, with the gut, checked by the head. But in that order.
First the heart must open. To do this you need the right environment.
Everyone has different favorite environs. Think back to your childhood and recall which were your favorite places:
the seaside?
in the movies?
on buses?
in a park?
in a building, shack or shed?
in a museum?
up a mountain?
on a train?
on a plane?
in an automobile?
Whichever one it is (and it could be a combination or a number of them in sequence), it is vital that you get your environs right. Once you have chosen your environment for stimulating @HA ideas then make sure that while you are in this space NOTHING can interrupt you. Switch off your mobile phone and leave your worries behind. If you cannot leave a worry then go and deal with it before going into your ideal environs.
Bear in mind that @HA ideas can also get generated or developed by a broader coalition of people - particularly now that we have social media and crowdsourcing.
2. Creativity - Exercise
Exercise is the adrenaline for your creative mind. As you exercise, you oxygenate and this process feeds through to your brain - stimulating, relaxing, expanding and nurturing it. The old adage that a healthy body leads to a healthy mind is accurate. More importantly, exercise will stimulate your creativity.
The key is to perform a soulful, relaxing form of exercise in the 'environs' of your choice. It could be a lazy walk in the park, a yoga session, wandering through a museum or just a stroll round your neighbourhood.
Make sure that you exercise where the mind will wander. Wild open spaces and fields can be highly productive - so too expansive vistas on top of buildings, mountains or by the seaside. While you are in the early steps of Innov@te and at the Creativity stage, you should spend a good amount of time combining Environs, Exercise and Art.
And don’t get distracted. Leave that phone and your worries behind. There is no doubt that the more relaxed and uncluttered your mind is the more creative you will be. Let one idea lead to another - let ideas run. Connect them and refine them over time.
Think about what you are passionate about and great at - place your creative process within that context. When you think you have stumbled upon an @ha idea - keep exercising. Turn it over and over. Let the @ha idea run and let other ideas develop. Slowly and surely.
When an @ha idea inspires you to move toward action and you are into the process of developing it, do not forget the Creativity mix. Keep exercising in a stimulating environs. At least weekly. Make Creativity, and as a result innovation, a part of your regular routine.
Creativity in its various forms has become the number one engine of economic growth. The creative class compromises around 30% of the American workforce.
3. Creativity - Art
Art is the third leg to Innova@te’s Creativity stage. Why? Because Art is a creative exercise.
Art is the yoga of Creativity. The exercise of idea development. The metier of creators. And Art can be any form of creative exercise, from doodling to drawing, watching movies, graphic design, singing, acting, photography, painting, dance, poetry and more.
You absolutely do not need to have any artistic skills whatsoever to perform Creativity’s Art step. And for some, wandering art galleries, indoors or outdoors, or watching performances is enough.
But, the act of doing art will stimulate your creativity and generate @ha ideas. Close yourself away, turn the phone and computer off, put some music on and do some kind of art. If it’s painting that you’re into, then lose yourself in painting, with the story behind you and the visualisation in front. Brush stroke by brush stroke, lose yourself and focus on nothing else. Trust the artistic process and before you know it the very act of doing art will generate random @ha ideas.
Funnily enough, the more you lose yourself in art the more @ha ideas you will develop. Try it. After all, artists are the real experts at the creative process.
We hope the combination of environs, exercise and art will help you enjoy your holidays even more. Include the family and start developing some ideas for how you might change 2021 for the better.'
‘ A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts’.
Richard Branson.
Either way, from all of us at Surviving, we hope you have a relaxing and inspiring year end break.
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