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How to improve and grow your creativity
By Jeremy Harbinson, Senior Partner, Harbinson Mulholland, Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors
Problems are part of everyday life - but by unleashing your creativity you can acquire new ways of dealing with them. Turning on the creative juices isn’t always second nature so I have outlined a way that works for me, in running my business.
It’s known as “The Creative Method”. Try using it to generate ideas which will improve and grow your business. Creativity is also fun and like most things, the more you practice the better you get!
The Creative Method
• Write the problem you are trying to solve in the form of a question at the top of a blank page.
• Write the numbers 1 to 20 down the side.
• Now try to come up with 20 (yes 20!) different answers.
• Don’t evaluate until you have written down 20 ideas - once you start evaluating, your creativity switches off.
• When you start to run out of ideas use the techniques below to help you.
• Force yourself to keep going until you have written 20 ideas – it usually only takes 5 minutes.
• It doesn’t matter whether your ideas seem bizarre or stupid – a stupid idea often sparks a great one!
Further these techniques to further stimulate new ideas and creativity
• Humour
• Ridiculousness
• Opposites
• Combinations – “When you have a choice can you do both?”
• Brainstorming -
Let’s demonstrate how it works, by way of an example. Suppose you want to get more done in your working day. Your list might read a bit like this:
“20 ways to get more done during my working day”
1. Work harder.
2. Work more efficiently.
3. Work more hours.
Humorous
4. Get someone else to do my work!
5. Do my work from home so I don’t have to get out of bed!
Ridiculous
6. Have a machine that does most of my work for me.
Opposites of earlier ideas
7. Start later.
8. Work fewer hours.
Combinations of earlier ideas
9. Start earlier, plan my day so starting later but working more effectively
10. Use technology to pick up messages and e-mails so I don’t have to travel into the office unnecessarily.
“When you have a choice do both”
11. Start earlier, plan my day, delegate wherever possible and use technology to cut down wasted travel time.
We have recently launched HMTV, a new and innovative “online TV channel” with short programmes full of practical advice for local businesses and can be viewed here. In the meantime, if you would like to talk to me personally about our business energizer sessions, please drop me a line to jharbinson@harbinson-mulholland.com or call me on 028 9044 5100.
