Creative Streak

Warm-Up with an Ice-Breaker

It’s 6 a.m. in Chicago.  It’s 6º Fahrenheit (that’s a balmy -14º for those in Celsius).  I’m looking at every car on our street under 8 inches of snow, even more now that the city snow plow has gone through upending even more white powder onto the cars.

The first two people out for the morning have different plans of action.  The first man – blue coat, blue car – comes out, pushes just enough snow off the windshield/windscreen to see, starts the car and drives off.  I can hear the car groaning as it drives down the street.  I can’t tell if the trail behind the car is exhaust in the frigid air or snow blowing off the car.   The interior must have been as cold as the exterior because he'd already fogged up his car.

The second man – red coat, red car – clears enough snow off the car to get in and start it.  Next, he works his way around the car to wipe off more snow on all four sides.  By the time he gets in a few minutes later, the car is warm, he can see in all directions, and his car easily glides out and down the street.

Excuse the pun, but that’s pretty much the point of an ice-breaker. In short: get your brain warmed up before it brainstorms.

Metaphors and Creative Thinking

Three years ago today, I started this blog with the question “Which of these two ‘coat hangers’ is more creative?”  Referring to John Bradfield’s iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and Albert Parkhouse’s equally iconic wire coat hanger, I also pointed out in the article the comparison was also a metaphor.

Metaphors are a creative approach which directly compares an existing problem with another, unrelated or dissimilar problem, object or situation. The discovery of common attributes or elements between items improve our understanding and help us solve problems.

Metaphors work primarily in three ways:

By identifying similarities between the two disparate problems, new insights emerge from the unrelated field, translating into new ideas to solve the original problem.

By examining something in a new context, a new or different perspective reveal a different approach or potential alternatives to solve the original problem.

By looking elsewhere for answers – particularly outside our existing body of knowledge, as well as our comfort zone, we distance ourselves from the original problem, allowing us more freedom and clarity to question the assumptions and stereotypes.  Breaking these biases often leads to new ideas.

As no less than Aristotle recognized the value of metaphor some 2,500 years ago. In Poetics, he wrote:  “The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor. This alone cannot be imparted by another; it is the mark of genius, for to make good metaphors implies an eye for resemblance.” Later on, he paraphrased himself: “The successful use of metaphor is a matter of perceiving similarities.”

The poet Robert Frost also spoke of the value of finding something in common between two very different domains. He said: “An idea is a feat of association, and the height of it is a good metaphor.”

Let me use another poet – the German writer Novalis – to explain how metaphors work.

1. Metaphors make the strange familiar.

Metaphors help make sense of the unfamiliar by comparing it to something understandable. Think about a time when you were explaining something complex to a novice. You probably used something common to both of you to make the intangible item or thought process simple to understand and apply.

Or perhaps you once faced a difficult situation. You drew a diagram or told a story to make the problem comprehensible. Visual imagery, storytelling and icons are effective ways to restate or reposition abstract thoughts into reality. Consider the technology industry: what value did it create to name its products a mouse, the desktop, Windows, or Facebook? These are all brilliant and effective metaphors.

Before I leave this section, let me also point out something which may be obvious. Metaphors are often the foundation for storytelling. Consider the words of Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, who said: "While a picture might be worth a thousand words, a metaphor is worth a thousand pictures."

2. Metaphors make the familiar strange.

In reverse, metaphors can help break from perceived assumptions about a specific situation or environment by forcing you into “multiplicity” – to look at something from many points of view (not just one other),  another), to encourage multiple options or hypotheses (not just Plan B).

Remember when you saw something you’ve taken for granted in ‘a new light’? It was probably a bit of a surprise. It may even have been confusing or improbable at first. But by changing the prism of your viewpoint, you gained a new appreciation. This opens eyes to new uses, to new solutions, to new audiences.

That’s the beauty of metaphors. By examining and experiencing today in a new way, by comparing it to something unlike itself, you find new ideas.

If you took a problem facing you, right now – a New Year’s Resolution, a client impasse, the lack of a better solution to marketing problem – how would you describe it in a metaphor? Come up with several, brainstorm as many as possible with your colleagues.Next, select one which resonates with you. Examine the secondary statement or question, look for insights, where are commonalities and similarities which might be used to solve your original problem?

http://www.andyeklund.com/creativestreak/2009/01/which-of-these-two-coat-hangers-is-more-creative.html

How Do You Handle An Ogre?

At some point in your career, you meet a person who stands in the way of your idea. They are menace defined. The 'ogre' comes in many forms. I remember one man who was easy to spot. He made sure of it. I've met other people who hide behind smiles and pleasantries, but they ultimately are no less destructive to the creative process.

Yes, ogres may exist but they aren't insurmountable. In fact, being insurmountable is part of their purpose, defence or weakness, and often rolled into one. The way to deal with people like this – almost always, a person senior to you – is to understand them. You may not like or agree with their behaviour, attitude or reasoning – but that’s not the point. The point is to look at the situation through their eyes, as uncomfortable or as difficult as that may be. Once you do, you can decide the best course of action.

It’s their responsibility. They’re in charge. It's their reputation and credibility on the line. Shareholders, board of directors, influential colleagues, their boss – all look to this senior person for the success of the organization, not to you. It may seem egomaniacal to you, but to others it’s the sign of a leader. It once killed me to watch a senior person take 101% credit for an idea of mine, but it's their prerogative. And in the end, did it really matter as long as the idea was implemented?  This leads me to ...

Right Side Up from Up Side Down

Did you hear the one about the man who called up a local church?

The minister’s secretary answered the phone.  The man said, “I’d like to speak to the head hog.” Shocked, the secretary replied, “That’s not a very kind thing to say about our beloved priest!” The man replied, “I’d like to speak to the head hog because I’d like to donate $1,000,000 to the church.” The secretary replied, “Hold on a moment, I think the big fat pig just walked in.”

Sometimes it’s all about how you reframe what’s in front of you.

We know a “frame” as a piece of wood or plastic that surrounds a photograph or a piece of art. It frames the perspective of what we see. A window frame does the same thing. So does a time frame. Even the way you look at something is framing. Try this trick.

How Not To Be Creative

Some days, it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed. The work on the desk is uninteresting and uninspiring. Every word from your colleagues is a red-hot knitting needle poking against your eardrums. Friday is as far off as that promotion. The last thing you want to do is be creative.

This post is a tribute to all those people who’ve had that momentary (or lifelong!) desire to strangle the creative process to its lethal end. It's understandable, really. Good ideas do nothing but ruffle up the status quo. Change means disruption which means not going home at 5.01 pm. Territories are necessary to keep people in their place. In the end, a culture of ideas just sets people up for failure.

So for Pete’s sake, it's time to nip all that ugliness in the bud. Trust me, try any or all of the tactics below, and I’ll guarantee that you’ll never have another good idea in your organisation every again. Andiamo!

1. Tell people exactly how to do their jobs. In person, by e-mail. Preferably by shouting.

2. Pretend to listen to people. Frankly, the only opinions which count are yours.

3. Keep your circle of contacts small. Relationships are exhausting. Outside perspectives can’t be as relevant to what you already know.

How to Tap Employee Ideas

A great article from Inc.com entitled "How To Tap Employee Ideas."

"Encouraging your employees' creativity can not only create an engaging work environment, but create new business. Seven experts share their tips on getting employees to share their ideas."

 

Is It Better to Be Decisive or Flexible When Presenting Ideas?

This is a group of responses based on one of the most popular posts I've written in the three years since Creative Streak began. How To Make A Creative Director Cry outlines the ten most common responses I've heard as a creative director, with links to each subsequent post giving more thoughts and suggestions to address each statement. This is statement #9: "That's an interesting idea. What else do you have?"

Statement #9 is a distillation of many debates in my creative director career about the best way to present ideas to a client or project manager.

There are two schools of thought. Present the client with several ideas from which to choose. Or, present the client with one definitive idea.

Several ideas?

From the presenter’s point of view, a selection of ideas demonstrates the breadth of their creativity, and by extension, a range of alternatives for implementation for the client. But from the client’s point of view, a selection of ideas can look overwhelming, if not unfocused.

The problem typically lies in how the ideas are presented. In what order are the ideas presented? In what context or reasoning? Like a comedian, do you start with your funniest joke? Or like a storyteller, do you take the client on a journey with the most compelling idea coming at the end? Or, are the ideas presented without preference, neither highlighting nor elevating one idea about the others?

Give Up Trying To Find Your Idea

At the beach today, I overheard two friends talking about love, or specifically, the lack of. At one point, I heard the familiar advice: “You know, the moment you stop looking for love, you’ll find it.” How strange, the same thing is true with the elusive idea. Got a problem to solve? Go do something else.

The intentional separation of your brain from the problem is a form of cognitive disengagement, a turn of phrase meaning “mental activity not associated with the problem itself.” I’ve found several psychological text books which give it a more colloquial definition: “spacing out.” It’s been more or less a part of creative philosophy since the first specific process was articulated by Graham Wallas in his book Art of Thought, published in 1926. He developed a four step process where Incubation (“where the problem is internalized into the unconscious mind and nothing appears externally to be happening”) was a necessary part of ideation. Almost every creativity expert outlining their own thought process has included a similar element ever since, from Osborn to von Oech to others.

Many times, the incubation step of “daydreaming” accompanies a creative block. More often than not, the block is self-imposed – usually by assumptions the brainstormer places on the topic or issue. The most common remedy for creative blocks – found in creative writing courses to acting workshops to engineering analysis – is to get away from the problem.

Brainstorming in a Digital World, Part 2

Part #1 is here.

When I began leading brainstorms as a full-time activity, one of the first strange experiences was running an ideation session with a group of people who weren't even in the same room. Or continent. It was me on a bad squawk box in Chicago. Two people arguing in New York. A woman in Miami with a radio playing in the background, and a half-asleep person listening in Beijing.

Despite its revolutionary brillaance, the Digital World still needs the human brain to come up with ideas. The key is finding ways to use its tools to bring disparate people - by space, by geography, by ideology - together mentally to facilitate their creative skills. The good news is that the tools improve every day, and will only get better.

I have my own preferences: love some, hate others. If we compared our lists, I'm sure we'd clash. Here's where we should agree: the ground-rules of remote brainstorming, whichever tools you choose to use.

Personal Innovation Lifestyle

Sometimes modern technology gives us phrases which at the same time ring true but sound hilariously pretentious. Exhibit A: Personal Innovation Lifestyle.

It’s easy to give PIL a glossy iStylized definition, but here's one in plain English: a desire to learn new things, about yourself and/or the world around you. (Haha, do you know how hard it was to write a definition and not use the words “evolve”, "personal brand", “transcend”, and “higher power”? Add those words in somehow and you'll get a more exact meaning of PIL)

Before the digital world revolutionized everything, learning something new (like a language) or something more in depth (like gardening) was “a hobby” – which in itself was something you did when you weren’t at work, taking care of the kids, and had some time and a bit of leftover cash.  Now, thanks to Mark Zuckerburg’s desire to learn Chinese, or Gwyneth Paltrow’s display of jumping from acting to singing to cookbook writing, we now have PIL.