Creative thinking

By Nigel Temple

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
- Albert Einstein

Creative thinking can be learnt, just like any other skill. This is a fundamental ability for all  marketers. It breaks down into a sequence of activities and processes:

• Deciding what the problem / issue / challenge is in the first place
  Talk the issues through with your colleagues. You might like to try Mind Mapping the idea flow. Then write the specific challenge down. This last step is very important, as it forces you to clarify your thinking.
  
  
• Generating ideas
  My experience is that adults often find this stage challenging. Just telling people 'to be creative' is not enough. You must show them systems and techniques which consistently get results. The key thing is that people typically produce only a few ideas (which may not be original). 'Being creative' can be an uncomfortable and frustrating business. However, help is at hand! (Surprise! I teach companies how to do this.)
  
  
• Filtering these down to a few 'likely suspects'
  Once you have some ideas on the table - it is relatively easy to filter them down into some 'likely suspects'.
  
  
• Refining these concepts into workable solutions
  This is where the logical / analytical members of your team will be at their happiest.
  
  
• Testing these solutions in the real world
  Thinking and planning are fine - but at some stage you are going to have to launch your new ideas onto an unsuspecting world.
  
  
• Measuring your success
  As the old business adage goes: "What gets measured, gets done." You need to decide: "What success looks like," and keep measuring feedback and results.  How else can you tell what is working?

Written by: Nigel Temple, the UK based marketing consultant, trainer, speaker and author.   Visit: www.nigeltemple.com

Nigel has taught thousands of people how to use their creative brain to:

• Generate ideas on demand
• Use their imaginative right brain to better effect
• Use an integrated toolset of creative thinking techniques
• Solve problems faster
• Be more confident in this area

Do get in touch, if you would like to discuss creative thinking training for a group of colleagues in your company.

Written by Nigel Temple, the UK based marketing consultant, trainer, speaker and author.   Visit: www.nigeltemple.com