3 Ways To Improve Your Creative Thinking

Creativity is the engine room of marketing. And in this current market, applying some fresh, creative thinking is so, so important. Yet with deadlines, meetings and a market panic makes this hard to do. But those who master this will reap the benefits. Buy why is creative thinking important? Creativity drives everything else around you. It drives your product development, your campaigns, your analysis, your strategy, and your own development. You may not realise it, but everyone has creative abilities, and these can be harnessed and enhanced to give greater value to your business.

It is vital that you constantly find ways to give your creativity a boost because the benefits are far reaching.

There are plenty of ways to sharpen your creative thinking skills. But here are 3 quick suggestions for you:

1. Apply soft thinking

2. Reach out to others - who think differently

3. Awaken the senses
   

1. Apply Soft Thinking Hard thinking is when you are sitting there, trying to solve a problem or create an idea. Einstein discovered that most of his best ideas came to him when playing the violin. This is soft thinking. You don’t need to play the violin to do this. Just think hard about an idea. Then let it rest. Give your brain some time to develop the solution and it will come to you when you least expect it. Most good ideas come to people when they are out of the office. This is a form of soft thinking. So don’t force ideas. Let them come to you by braking routines.

2. Reach Out To Others - Who Think Differently It’s good to talk. That is where ideas can be formed – by having conversations. And it pays dividends to talk to people who think differently to you; use the power of diversity of thought. Reach out to those not in your company. Your agencies, industry contacts and other Forum members. “Bouncing ideas around” is very useful – but don’t instantly dismiss ideas or stop at the first great idea. Bounce ideas around without any rules for better results. People love it when you say "can I bounce an idea off you"; so do this more.

3. Awaken The Senses Our experiences and learning are transmitted to us through our senses - sight, sound, scent, taste and touch. If you like, you include add a sixth – intuition, which arises out of a synergy of the five traditional senses.

Creative thinking comes naturally to a brain that is alive and energised so learn to stimulate your senses to develop creative ideas. For me music helps. For others it is simple things like going for a walk or visiting a gallery. Find a way that works for you. And awaken those senses. The general conclusion is to to something different needs fresh ideas. Fresh ideas come from doing something different.