Many years ago I remember attending my first idea generation session at Yum Restaurants International and feeling extremely apprehensive. I had spent my whole life convincing myself that I was not creative. During my childhood, every member of my family was an artist and I couldn’t even draw a stick man! Here I was in a workshop with my colleagues feeling very inadequate and terrified I would look stupid. I’m embarrassed to admit I barely said anything in that session but it made me realise one thing. Everyone is creative in their own way and its something you have to develop and practice. Despite my fear, I loved the session so much that I decided that one day I would be leading a creative session and 7 years later that was a reality. I also went on develop the new innovation process for Yum globally that replaced the one that I utilised in that first session.
Then I set up Truth be Gold my Insight and Innovation Consultancy. If I can develop my creative skills I truly believe, anyone can. So what did I do to become more creative?
First of all, I learned to build my confidence in this space and as my skills developed I began to believe in myself. You can’t achieve anything without putting away all your old insecurities and just believe you can do this. As your confidence grows so does your success.
Creativity is like a muscle. It gets better the more you use it. I made sure I was at the forefront of all my companies innovation efforts and attended every session available. I also attended conferences and read lots of books in order to open up my mind to the creative mindset.
We at our most creative as children and our imagination is uninhibited at this point in our lives. As we grow up we become incredibly boring, rational and we forget about the child we once were. Whilst building your confidence to be creative you also need to learn to unleash your inner child. This is when the best ideas are born and you will learn to go beyond the normal adult boundaries.
Routine is essential to our daily lives but as a creative person, it inhibits us. Our brains are wired to perform at their most efficient whilst in our routines so it’s painful when we deviate from this. However, in order to become more creative, we need to rewire our brains and access parts of it, we don’t always use. In order to do this, we need to do things we don't normally do. This could be something such as attending a kick-boxing class for someone who has never attended one or listening to a new genre of music. What you do doesn’t have to be extreme but something that takes you out of your comfort zone and challenges the way you think.
In order to be creative, it’s helpful to have an appreciation of creativity pursuits. I discovered a love of modern art and also for great advertising creative. What will your inspiration be?
I hope this inspires you to develop your creativity and if you need an expert, we need to talk!
