The Creative Pathfinder Lesson 3 Worksheet: What Is Creativity? This worksheet will help you enhance your creativity by applying the principles of two classic definitions of creativity: Creativity = ideas + execution Creativity = novelty + value 1. Ideas + Execution Creativity is not a linear process sometimes you can get great results by working hard, but at other times the best way to move forward is to stop completely and focus on something else. So to be as creative and effective as possible, you need to strike the right balance between thought and action, work and relaxation. This means developing self-awareness around your own creative process and working habits. Use the questions in this section to reflect on your working practice and make better decisions about what to do, and when. (a) Your working day Do you typically have most energy in the morning, afternoon or evening? (If you don t know, observe your energy levels over the next few days.) What time(s) of day do you find it easier to think creatively? What time(s) of day do you find it easiest to get things done? What difference would it make if you scheduled your work accordingly? 1
(b) Your working week How much do you need to produce every week? How much time would you like to devote to thinking, reading, researching and reflection? Do you tend towards procrastination (difficulty starting work) or workaholism (difficulty stopping work)? Supposing you put dedicated time in your schedule for the activity you find hardest? (i.e. focused work or time to relax) (c) Your working year Some people are natural sprinters - they like to work very hard for several weeks, then take plenty of time off. Others are marathon runners - they like to work away steadily during the year, with evenings and weekends off, and relatively brief holidays. Are you a sprinter or a marathon runner? What flexibility do you have to arrange your annual schedule to suit this tendency? What changes can you make to your annual schedule to make it easier to follow your natural inclination? 2
(d) Incubation vs procrastination How do you know when you ve worked yourself to a standstill, and it s time to take a break in search of fresh ideas? How do you know when you re procrastinating and you need to get started ASAP? (e) Generating ideas Where and when do you typically have your best ideas? What stimuli help you come up with good ideas? E.g. people, places, books, movies, artworks, habits. What changes can you make to your working habits, to make the idea fairy visit more often? 3
(f) Executing on your ideas What resources do you need to make your ideas happen? E.g. money, time, people, knowledge, raw materials, equipment. Which of these resources are you lacking at present? What can you do to get more of the scarce resource(s)? What external obstacles could get in your way? How will you deal with them? What distractions are likely to take you off course? How will you stay focused? Who else do you need to involve? What s in it for them to help you? How will you persuade them to help? 4
2. Novelty (a) Don t try to be original Sometimes we get stuck when we put too much pressure on ourselves to come up with an original solution. Ironically, this can lead us to overlook a solution that may seem obvious to ask, but will be original, striking and useful to others. i. When faced with a new problem all creative challenge, ask yourself What s the most obvious thing I could do?. ii. iii. iv. Do it, as an experiment. (You can always do something more elaborate later.) Leave it for a while, then come back and review it: Could it work? Even if it s not perfect, is there something there that you could use? Get feedback from others. You might be surprised at what you hear. 5
(b) Different ways to make it new Here s another way to approach a creative challenge. Run through the list of questions below, to see which types of novelty yield the best results. Not every question will be relevant, so skip any that don t fit your situation. Combine previously existing elements: What do you already have? What happens if you put two or more elements together? Change categories: What categories are you working within? (E.g. artistic genre, product category, market segment) What options can you create by changing category? (E.g. turning a novel into a movie script; switching from make wooden furniture instead of wooden sports equipment; target the young professional market instead of the student market) Bring it into a new context: Where do you perform your heart or deliver your product or service? Supposing you change the venue or communication channel? (E.g. creating a live event based around a website, Make it smaller: Supposing you strip things down to the bare essentials? (E.g. a popular band performing an acoustic set in an intimate venue, or a no-frills lunch menu) Make it bigger: What can you add to your project? Supposing you made every element twice as big? (E.g. writing a trilogy of novels instead of a short story; Make it cheaper: Are there people who can t afford your offering but would like to? What can you make for them at a lower price point? (E.g. a print instead of your original artwork; the takeaway snacks instead of the à la carte menu) Make it more expensive: Are there people who love your work and would happily pay for the deluxe version? What can you add to make it really special? (E.g. a VIP hospitality package for one of your events; or individual coaching as well as the standard training materials) Change the format: What formats do you currently offer? (E.g. real or digital products; mobile or web-based; individual or group sessions) What innovations could you come up with if you changed the format? Turn a service into a product: Who do you serve? What kind of products do they buy? Supposing you created a product for them based on your service? And who else might buy the product? (E.g. a concert DVD as a souvenir, or for fans who can t make it to your gigs.) Turning a product into a service: Who buys your products? What can your product not do for them? Supposing you offer this service that fill that gap? (e.g. individual tuition to help them use your software more effectively) 6
3. Value (a) Who are you trying to reach? Whenever you set out to create something, ask yourself: Who is this for? What can I do to make sure they get it (in every sense)? (b) What kind of value are you creating? Run through the following list of different types of value with your audience or market in mind, and ask yourself which are most important to them? If you re not sure, ask them! N.b. make sure you focus on what they value about your creation, which may (or may not) be very different to the value you place on it. Later on in the course, we ll focus on what s important to you about your work -- here, we re interested in the difference it makes to other people. Financial does it make or save them money? Aesthetic do they find it beautiful? Useful does it help them solve a problem or perform a task? Informative does it supply them with news or other important information? Educational does it help them learn? Social does it help them connect with others? Fun does it give them pleasure? Power does it give them an advantage? Authenticity does it help them understand or express themselves? Generosity does it help them to help others? Security does it keep them safe? You ll probably find that you re delivering more than one kind of value. Once you ve identified them, see if you can rank them in order of the most important. 7
(c) Creating more value For each of the kinds of value you identified in the last question, ask yourself what you could do to deliver even more in that department. E.g. if they enjoy the beauty of your artwork or design, see how far you can take the aesthetic element of your work. Push yourself to make it more extreme. Or if you re delivering a lot of social value, consider how else you could strengthen the relationships between people involved. Do this for each type of value in turn, before reviewing your options and deciding on the best combination. You may want to focus on being the best in the world that delivering one particular kind of value, or you may get better results by combining different types. 2010 Mark McGuinness - All Rights Reserved. 8