Creativity is essential in any work environment – from international, multi-million pound companies to the home-working freelancer. It helps new ideas take shape and offers up solutions to existing problems. So what do you do if your creativity dries up? Well, luckily there are many different strategies you can use to prod it into life again. I’ve detailed a few to get you started below.
Preparation
But, before we move onto the techniques, there’s some preparation you need to do. It’s important to prepare yourself for a creativity session by making sure that you are as knowledgeable as you can be about the subject you are trying to create solutions for. If you don’t, it’ll be a non-starter. In fact, you may find that this fact finding process inadvertently throws up a solution to the problem. If it doesn’t, read the techniques below, choose one you think you may like to try first and go for it.
The Techniques
These are just a few of the hundreds of techniques out there. Play around with them, use more than one if the first doesn’t provide a solution and don’t be afraid to consider every solution the processes identify – no matter how unrealistic they may seem at first.
Think in Reverse – instead of trying to come up with solutions to the problem, do the opposite. Try to think of ways to make the problem worse, the ideas should come thick and fast. Note them down and now reverse each idea again. These should now be considered as possible solutions for your problem.
Restate the Problem – Sometimes the solution to a problem can be found by simply approaching it from a different angle. To start this process, you should write your problem in a different way. You can do this by asking questions about the issue, such as ‘What are the possible consequences of not resolving the problem?’ ‘Why is it necessary to solve this problem?’ ’What are the main issues preventing this problem from being solved?’ Then rewrite your problem in another way. This new angle on the problem should help you find solutions. For example, you own a courier company and want to make your procedures more efficient, but you are finding it difficult to come up with ideas. Why not approach it from a different angle and think about how you can reduce costs across the company. It may throw up solutions that you’d not thought of before.
Challenge What you Think you Know – When approaching a new problem, throw away your assumptions before you start. What I mean by this is, don’t discount any solution – no matter how outrageous it may seem. For example, you’d like to buy a new car, but you assume that you do not have the money you need to pay for it. Is that assumption really correct? You may not have the cash in the bank, but could you raise it some other way? Perhaps you could sell your unwanted items, work extra shifts or borrow from relatives or the bank, for example. Consider every option, explore it thoroughly and don’t make any assumptions about whether they will work before trying!
What did you think of these ideas? Have you used any of them before? Or are there others you think might be more effective? Next week, I’ll detail more creative ways to come up with solutions to problems. In the meantime, do let me know if you have any other super ways of creating solutions.
