Basic HTML Version
- Think laterally.
Embrace the wild leaps of
imagination, and combine
ideas that never should have
occurred to anyone.
- Learn to cross-fertilize.
Look to other fields for
inspiration, and bring those
inspirations to pollinate your
own ideas. Mashups are always
a great inspiration source,
especially when you the two
sources are so completely
different.
- What if ?
Sometimes, asking yourself
what if… can break you out
of a rut. What if your problem
was a person? What if it was
an animal? What if you were
to mix Westeros with Sons of
Anarchy?
- Deadlines.
Set a deadline for yourself, and
keep it. Limitations do tend to
give you an extra spur to come
up with great ideas, so set a
deadline.
- Burn your boats.
A tactic used by Julius Caesar
and other generals as they
invaded a foreign country
to relay the message to their
troops - that there was no
return. It was either success or
perish. Do that with your ideas
and your creativity, too. Believe
in it, advocate it, and there is
no return.
So, here are my final words
to you, and perhaps the most
important lesson:
- Embrace your failures.
Failures are just a part of the
process, and you are going to
fail.
Practice makes perfect,
they
say, and they are right.
Real creativity is learning to
turn disaster into success with
just a few new creative leaps.
Race car drivers say that the
one sure way to find out if
you’re going fast enough is to
crash - so, do it.
Go too fast. Go too far.
Let your mind wander into
dangerous ground, into
silliness, absurdity, stupidity,
impossibility.
Thumb your nose at nature
and science and common sense.
Crash. Burn.
Create.