Let’s step back in time to the last article where we looked at how to generate ideas and think more creatively through using a creative framework. I spoke about three simple steps: setting clear objectives, blue–skying ideas and filtering those ideas.
Remember the term “blue-skying” is where ideas really flourish. It’s where you just let your creativity flow without inhibition, limits or judgement. It’s the part of the process where anything goes.
I want to talk more about the blue-skying part of the process but from a right-brain intuitive point of view. Why? Because we talk a lot about tools and models to get you thinking in new ways – creativity tools or ideas generators that help us let go of traditional and conventional ways of thinking and force us to look at problems from different points of view. And I’m a big fan of them.
Unfortunately, most of the work in this area tends to fall into the left-brain analytical camp. There are many books and courses available on creative thinking. Most of them tend to get quite analytical and structured. They offer step-by-step templates and guidelines to get you thinking differently and use wonderful models and terminologies like convergence and divergence thinking. And part of the reason for this is that in the business world we need tangible results and much about creativity is intangible, so we need to find ways of portraying value in a concrete and real sense.
The assumption often is that results come about from implementing plans and systems and (in the world of creative thinking) tapping into templates, tools, and terminologies. However, a lot of creativity simply isn’t like that. It’s intuitive and right-brain and not paint-by-numbers. We need to nurture and use the intuitive side of our brains as well. We also need to find ways to be free-flowing and spontaneous and allow ourselves to forget the rules, terminologies and analytical hype.
We all need to nurture and use the analytical side of our brains but we also need to nurture and use the intuitive side as well. The truth is that a lot about creative thinking is pondering and staring at clouds and letting things simmer in the back of your mind for a while. It’s about creating those moments where lightning strikes and ideas just appear as if out of nowhere.
Don’t ever underestimate the intuitive side of your creativity – the sleep on it, find inspiration in an art gallery, or the let your subconscious mind do its thing side. It’s really very powerful.
Yes, I agree that some people are more prone to think analytically and others more intuitively. And I’m not saying forget the analytical side but I am saying don’t neglect or pay lip service to the intuitive side. In fact work on it and nurture it because we need a balance. The irony is that the three steps of the framework allow you to be intuitive within a structure. So to contradict the title, here are some thinking tools to help you tap into your intuitive side. These are abridged versions from Think BITS. In fact, it’s probably more fitting to call them intuitive tools:
• Bookstores – Hang out in a bookstore for a while and flick though pictorials and visual books. Who knows what ideas will pop up?
• Music – Try playing different types of music while you’re working. You’ll find rock and classical put you in very different headspaces.
• Photo shoot – Grab a digital camera and go out and take photos of anything that takes your fancy in regards to the project. Don’t inhibit yourself. Then print them out and look at each one separately, group them together, rearrange them.
• The great outdoors – Go for a stroll through a park and let nature do its thing and clear the head. I often wonder how we think of anything at times because our heads are so full of garbage.
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