Why Didn't I Think Of That? Creativity Demystified

Lifelong childhood friends Tom Stewart and John Curren discuss creativity in regards to personal change. 

Change Your "I Don't Know" or "I Can't" Thinking to "What If...?"

”To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination.” 

— Albert Einstein

Instead, come up with open-ended statements and questions such as:

"I have what it takes to figure this out."

"I'm open to the possibility that solutions will come up.”

"I will find the inspiration I need to solve this."

“There’s always a way…”

These open-ended statements and questions are your creative mantras. When you repeat them to yourself, don’t try to consciously come up with answers. Instead, empty your mind,

Take a break. Take a departure from your normal routine: Take a different route to work, listen to unfamiliar music, try unusual foods, visit an interesting store, problem solve in a new environment.

When you are not creative….Exercise. After my father passed away in 2003 I returned to training in the martial arts. I lost all creativity. I gave away a Lego mindstorm set Jen got me for Christmas because I had lost all creativity.

Return to Nature.

Place yourself in someone elses shoes. I used to imagine, what if Lex Luthor inhabited my body? What would he do in order to get him self back to his level of financial security starting with the same resources that I presently have?

Stand on the shoulders of Giants. Use the internet to gather information and watch speeches from famous inspiring people. 

Steal like a thief. Good artists copy; great artists steal. Picasso. Emulate and build upon the work of others. Change it to make it your own. Combine thoughts or objects such as the pen/highlighter.

Substitute, combine, adapt, modify, magnify, eliminate, rearrange or put to other uses. In 1904, The hot dog was created when Antoine Fushwanger was selling sausages at the Louisiana Expedition. The problem was his customers were burning their fingers so he tried using plates and even cotton gloves but it became too expensive when customers would walk away with them. Instead his brother in law who was a baker created a long bun with a slit in it to hold the franks. They MODIFIED the selling of sausages and created a completely new product.

Ray Kroc who was a middle class high school drop out who sold paper cups and eventually milk shake machines which could make six milkshakes at a time. When Dick and Maurice MacDonald purchased eight multimixers, Ray drove out to the California hamburger stand to investigate. The MacDonalds had inadvertently stumbled upon the fast food concept of predictable items that are quick and easy to prepare.

Kroc formed a partnership with them to find new sites, open them and run them. He eventually bought out the MacDonald brothers and he would lease and develop a site, then re-lease it to a franchisee who would have to pay the rent and a franchise fee. That put MacDonald’s into the Real Estate business which still makes up 10 percent of their business.

So Kroc ADAPTED someone else’s idea. He MAGNIFIED it by creating franchises. He PUT TO OTHER USES by creating additional revenue streams for his company by owning the property that each MacDonald’s restaurant sits on.

Mind map. Map your thoughts to spark new ideas.

---------------------
Find out more on www.aswiftkickintheass.com
https://www.facebook.com/aswiftkickinass
https://twitter.com/AKickintheass
https://www.pinterest.com/akickintheass/

----Listen to the podcast on iTunes---

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/a-swift-kick-in-the-ass/id928326346