When you’ve been doing something for a while or know a lot about it, it can become a block to creativity. Your familiarity with the issues or situation can be too overwhelming and hinder room to see things differently. Here are some tips for enabling more creative thinking;
Take the outsider’s mindset: Think like someone new to the field and the issue. What do you need to understand? What are the key variables and factors? What hasn’t worked to date? What has worked, but not to the degree needed? What is being taking for granted? This helps you to step away from any psychological ties getting in the way.
See past traditions: You may have done things a certain way for a long time and taken things for granted. Where has denial set in terms of what is really works? Where is the traditional way a hindrance rather than an opportunity to see a different horizon?
Think like a child: Children are not complicated. Ask basic and stupid questions. Be open to the real truth and facts so you create something better. Don’t read too much into something to justify what you want. Genuinely believe in what you are trying to do and don’t think too far ahead to the obstacles or the ‘buts’. Keep things as simple as possible.
Keep trying: Creativity is not a one attempt affair or a flash in the pan. It’s the result of often trying different things. Embrace the art of discovering or improving something through iteration and several attempts. Don’t take the path of least mental resistance and stick with ideas you already have.
Keep ‘sustainable’ in mind: Creativity shouldn’t be for its own sake. Put your ideas in the right soil to see it they’ll germinate; don’t expose it prematurely to the wrong people or environment. Protect it for a bit to assess its real potential. Then expose it to test its resilience.
Now take action: Identify one ‘’tradition’’ you need to ditch. n
