Top tips on creative thinking as a powerful business tool
Do you remember playing the word association game? What is the first thing that comes to mind in response to 'creativity?' For most people it is probably 'art' or something similar, it is probably never 'business.'
Creativity is not simply the preserve of the artist. It is something built into everyone, even the businessperson! Thinking creatively is a powerful business tool that can help businesses exploit new opportunities and solve problems, all of which can result in improved profitability.
Mike Waddell of Adsidia offers tips on creative thinking as a tool to help you generate new thinking in your business.
Edward de Bono, of 'lateral thinking' and 'Six Thinking Hats' fame, observed that the human mind is a very efficient pattern making and matching system. The problem is that our minds are lazy. This means that we tend to force fit new scenarios to old patterns instead of making new ones. De Bono called this 'cliché thinking.' These clichés include our responses and so we inherently limit our ability to exploit new opportunities.
The question is how can we break through the clichés to benefit our business? This in essence is what creative thinking is about - it is the process of finding new perspectives and developing new thinking.
The question is how can we break through the clichés to benefit our business? This in essence is what creative thinking is about - it is the process of finding new perspectives and developing new thinking.
Change the question!
As cliché thinking limits us, it is important to find new ways of looking at problems within a business. Broadening and rephrasing a problem is an important tool. For instance, a business problem might be expressed as "we cannot cover our costs," which leads to a demoralising cost cutting exercise. If you broaden the problem into: "we are not