FROM: Idea Sandbox | One of my favorite creativity Blogs. Be sure to add it to your list!
Are you still looking for easy-to-approach process for coming up with ideas and problem solving? Do you still not feel you are “good” at being creative?
Sam Harrison’s book “Zing!: Five Steps and 101 Tips for Creativity on Command” offers simple, but effective tools as well as solid and doable tips to be creative. His process takes creativity from “zero to zing” in five steps.
1. Explore: Observe & Research – Gather all the information possible about the challenge. Become a sponge. Notice people. Anticipate. Don’t just look, see!
2. Freedom: Brainstorm & Visualize – Have a “free-range brain” and come up with as many solutions as possible. Judge not. Assume nothing is impossible. Observations + Connections = Ideas.
3. Pause: Pause & Detach – Step away from the problem and let it stew in the back of your mind… Einstein said his best ideas came while shaving.
4. Embrace: Edit & Select – While you were pausing “the subconscious mind was doing the heavy lifting. Now the brightest idea floats before you.” With the embrace step, “we find a solution that zings.”
5. Life: Prototype & Implement – “Breathe life into your idea… In this step you add flesh, bones and heart to your idea. You make it lively and likable.” Verify the idea. Modify it to make it better. Be the idea champion.
WeirdGuy Creative 