BOBBEE BEE: CREATIVITY TECHNIQUES

 BY JEFF DAVIDSON (with additional information from Eric Graham)

1. Adopting the Mindset of an Innovator

In today's business world, if you want to progress in your career you must be an innovator; someone who can approach problems creatively, devise solutions to recurring time and resource issues, and figure better ways to get things done.

2. EUREAKA MOMENTS AND THE SLOW GRIND

Have you ever been standing in the shower, sitting in a steam room, or maybe lying in bed when, bingo, a tremendous idea beans you on the noggin? We've likely all had great notions come to us when we weren't thinking about anything in particular. Then "Eureka Effect."

3. All in a Day's Work

Remember, if innovating were easy, everyone would be good at it. Sometimes you have to step out of your own arena, abandon your comfort zone, and blaze new paths in order to get beyond the obvious

4. Brainstorming for Fun and Profit

Brainstorming is a wonderful technique to generate ideas, especially when you want to bust out of a rut or devise a new way of looking at things.  Usually conducted with several people, the goal of a brainstorming session is to encourage participants to speak freely.

A leader or moderator possess a question such as, "How can we accomplish XYZ?" Participants then speak up with their ideas.

Whenever you engage others in the problem or challenge you face, you increase the chances of deriving an innovative solution to a challenge.

So, go ahead and create you own Dream Team!

5. Getting Past the Haters

In the workplace, new perspectives, ideas, and innovations, even in cultures that seek to welcome them, may be greeted by some on your team or within your department with folded arms.

Haters, people who want to be totally convinced before they're willing to support you, may come in the form of bosses, coworkers, or staff.

I say don't let Haters dampen your enthusiasm or diminish your energy. Whether or not your idea is warmly receive the first time you introduce it, proceed as if the new idea will generate little interest. By anticipating potential naysaying in advance, you can present your case in a manner that will generate higher receptivity.

6. Confronting Old Power Structures

ACCORDING TO cartoonist Eric Graham, ...THE MY-WAY OR THE HIGHWAY THEORY GOES OUT THE WINDOW.

ESPECIALLY, IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING NEW AND FRESH TO ADD TO THE WORLD. IF YOU PERSITANT, YOU CAN CHIP AWAY AT THE OLD POWER STRUCTURE, WHO POSE AS THE GATEKEEPERS OF CHANGE.

7. Mastering the Art of Paying Attention

They say the devil went down to Georgia, but then the devil also is in the details. Either way, paying attention to the right minutiae can increase your ability to craft innovative solutions to on-the-job challenges.

8. A Little Planning, Please

It's useless to have a great idea, mount your horse, and ride-off in all directions. Like James Bond, you need to stay cool, calm, and collected to navigate the trickiest of situations-shaken but not stirred. It's prudent when you have a great idea to devise a plan for introducing it, stay focused, and win by acclamation.
 

9. Lessons from Worst-Case Scenario Thinking

You know what they say; an average man learns from his own mistakes, the wise men learns from the mistakes of others, and the fool never learns. You're no fool, right?

10. Staying Alert During Mundane Times

Captain Edward J. Smith, of the RMS Titantic in 1908 was quoted as saying,"When anyone asks me how I can best describe my experience in nearly forty years at sea I merely say 'unevenful.".....I have seen but one vessel in distress in all my years at sea. I never saw a wreck. I never have been wrecked, nor was I ever in any predicament that threatened to end in disaster of any sort."

This quote, ironically, occurred four years before Smith perished, along with more than 1,500 passengers and crew on the Titantic.

11. Work Diligently at Your Craft

Here are a few Questions, you need to ask youself as you work on your craft:
What is my product missing?
What can be done to create a better verison of the product I have produced?
Are my ideas really new?

12. Listening to That Little Voice

Everyone has a little voice inside of them. You know, the one that says, "Be on time," and "Don't litter," and "Call your mother." Listening to that little voice gets tougher as we're bombarded with more and more external messages. When we slow down, sit still, and silently reflect, the voice gets the speak. It tells us to go this way or that way, and whether to proceed at all.

13. Developing Concentration

Concentration skills are on the wane. Cell-phones, e-mail, and instant messenger capabilities haven't helped. When you're bombarded by multiple information streams, it's hard to sustain focus. Innovation and creativity suffer-as does decision making.

14. Find Some Breathing Space

Taking a breather is easier than taking time for reflection! While breathing is as vital to life as food and water, who thinks about the way they breathe? Breathing is essential on a physiological level as well as on a mental, spiritual, and emotional level. Proper breathing can be a means of achieving relaxation, balance, and peace in an increasingly hectic, overanxious world.

15. Changing Your Perspective

If you wear contact lenses this is familiar. Your standing by a sink or elsewhere trying to change your contact lenses. Just your luck, a lens slips out of your fingers. Your look down to retrieve the tiny little membrane, but you don't see it.

You look some more. You look sideways. You lean over for a closer look. You map out a perimeter of the area. You don't see the lens. Minutes pass and you're perturbed. Normally, taking out a lens requires only a few moments. You hadn't bargained on standing around for six or eight minutes in total frustration.

JEFF DAVIDSON IS THE AUTHOR OF NUMEROUS BOOKS INCLUDING THE 60 SECOND ORGANIZER, 2ND EDITION AND THE 60 SECOND SELF-STARTER AS WELL AS THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO MANAGING YOUR TIME. DAVIDSON, A RESIDENT OF CHAPHEL HILL, NC, IS ALSO A NOTED PROFESSIONAL SPEAKER.