Idea Tango

Creativity's Dark Night of the Soul: Success out of Struggle

By now you know that I’m a huge fan of Project Runway. I love seeing what the designers come up with each week and I like imagining what I’d do to meet each challenge if I were competing.

But even more, I love witnessing the contestant’s creative process and soaking up the lessons that come along with that insider's look – and this season did not disappoint. 

Michelle Lesniak, season 11’s Project Runway winner, had the unique pleasure of publically riding out one of the most intense creative roller coasters in the show’s history.

Starting out on the bottom in almost every challenge – thanks to the show’s new team concept in which the worst designs often meant that great work was on the chopping block – and ending up almost being eliminated close to the end in a do or die moment, Michelle was almost "out" too many times to count. Making her emotional state take an even deeper plunge, was the fact that she was also not allowed to travel with the other contestants in a last-minute trip to European city where they were able to gather inspiration for the final pre-New York Fashion Week challenge.

Instead, Michelle got to visit someplace, well, not so inspiring:

Creativity’s Dark Night of the Soul

If you're a practiced creator, you've likely been there at some point, too. It's that emotional and psychological place where you cannot stop beating yourself up; where you start to think that maybe the struggle is a message, that this is too hard and not meant to be; where you feel that you’re supposed to give up.

But the thing is, Michelle didn’t.

She cried (probably more than the viewing audience realized, per her after-season interviews). She asked the producers for a bottle of wine, which she probably drank very fast. And, then, she did something amazing.

She WON the whole darn thing.

If you have been to that dark creative place, you know that Michelle wasn’t just upset, but was literally defeated.

You know that she had to dig deeper than she’s probably ever dug before.

You know that she had to make the conscious choice not just to finish, but to truly give herself the chance to win – even though she felt humiliated, was full of self doubt and oh so ready to just go home.

Making the decision to allow yourself to move forward creatively, even as you are “losing,” is not easy. As I mentioned earlier, some people will even tell you that if you feel too much struggle, something’s not right, that you're not on the right path. 

Granted the idea is to move out of struggle and into ease - eventually - but if you throw in the towel when things get VERY HARD (not just a little difficult, but fall on the floor in a heap difficult), you risk cheating yourself out of possibly the best thing you’ve ever created. Not to mention, the chance to reach the top (meaning YOUR top, YOUR best, YOUR talent, at whatever level, totally realized).

I have the tendency to be fueled by creative struggle, I don’t give up easily in that dark place, but I’ll tell you where I do give up: When I’m “winning.”

And that’s a whole other side to Creativity’s Dark Night of the Soul – and to the practice of giving yourself permission to win (in struggle and also in success). More on that dark side of the equation soon.

I feel fortunate to have to witnessed Michelle's process and I'm blown away what she achieved and what she created. She even used her dark night as inspiration for her final collection (a lone wolf-woman who's lost her pack). No one would have gotten the pleasure of seeing her work if she had given up and gone home; but more than that, we wouldn't have had the opportunity to learn from her experience.

To see that struggle - even the worst struggle possible - can and IS part of the creative process - for even the most talented. To undersatnd that if we are pushing ourselves to the edge creatively, we have to be willing to fall off.

How else will we know that we've truly stretched ourselves?

To surviving and thriving even when things are harder than you ever thought they could get,

Susan B.

Unlocked Box – coaching for risk-takers, box-breakers and wannabe’s. Sign up for the eZine Guts at UnlockedBox.com and get the 10 Un-Rules of Creativity.

 

 

Creativity Saboteurs - Busting Through Our Internal & External Nay-Sayers

It doesn't matter if we're just beginning to explore our creative process or have been at it for years, internal (and external) saboteurs still tend to be the biggest roadblock to creative success - affecting our ability to even get started, see creative projects through to finish and generally be as prolific as we'd like.

But the good news is that we never have to banish our saboteurs completely, we can simply learn how to better navigate and manage them.

To that end, here are three past Idea Tango articles that offer a little "how-to" for beginning to bypass three of the most common creativity saboteur categories: Internal Creativity Saboteurs, External Creativity Saboteurs (a.k.a. Others) and what can actually be the trickiest creativity saboteur of all, Technique:

Tips & Tricks for Navigating Your Internal Creativity Saboteur

Others - The External Creativity Saboteur

Technique - The Sneaky Creativity Killer

 

To Happy (and productive) Saboteur Thumping,

Susan B.

Unlocked Box – coaching for risk-takers, box-breakers and wannabe’s. Sign up for the eZine Guts at UnlockedBox.com and get the 10 Un-Rules of Creativity.

 

Sandbox Challenge: Debriefing An App of One's Own

A couple of weeks ago, I invited you to participate in another Sandbox Challenge with this question:

If you created your own App, what would it be?

I asked for the name of your App, a description of what it does and your inspiration.

This week, I’m sharing two responses right here – and there’s still time for you to throw your App ideas into the ring, too – just continue reading to find out how to do that.

Okay! Here we go:

Ann Quasman’s App (Ann is the host of WomanTalk Live which airs on WCBM Talkradio 680 in Baltimore)

App Name: The Get Your Ass in Bed App

Description: This App ensures you go to bed at a reasonable hour.

How it works: The App gives you a pulsating electric shock through your phone until, well, you go to bed. Side note: I threw out the idea that the App could shut your phone off, lock it and not turn it back on again until it’s been off for the requisite number of sleep hours, but Ann was having none of that. She felt the electrocution aspect sent a stronger message.

Inspiration: Needing, desperately, to go to bed.

The next contributor shared her idea, but didn’t give the details so I’m filling it in a bit just because I think it’s really interesting.

Carole Cohen McCracken’s App

App Name: The Happ App (no name was given – so, Carole, if you have one, please share!)

Description: This App measures your level of happiness. 

How it works: (again, no details were given, so this is my version of Carole’s idea) The App reads your vital statistics, body chemistry and also other current data about where you are, the audio or visuals around you, your answers to a few questions, as well as your answers to questions about what makes you happy that you answered when you first set up the App, to gauge your level of joy, contentment and excitement. It combines these three metrics to come up with your overall Happiness Quotient for the day. I love Carole’s idea and was thinking that if everyone had this App, we could get a nationwide or global Happiness Quotient for the day, and also see which geographic regions have the happiest people at any given moment.

Want to contribute your idea? Go to Sandbox: Innovation - An App of One’s Own and share your App in the comments section. 

To whacky, WONDERFUL and useful ideas,

Susan B.

Unlocked Box – coaching for risk-takers, box-breakers and wannabe’s. Sign up for the eZine Guts at UnlockedBox.com and get the 10 Un-Rules of Creativity.

 

Creative Success in Business - It's All in Your Head

A recent episode of comedian Dana Gould’s podcast, The Dana Gould Hour, starts with a sketch titled, "Political Talk with Two Guys from Boston – a working man’s look at the socio-political issues of our day.”

The premise is simple: Two heavily accented Boston guys, Johnny and Robby (who work in the air conditioning repair industry), go against stereotype, sprinkling their commentary with intellectual and philosophical gems. 

In this particular interaction, the news of the day leads into a discussion about creative types and the mindset required for business success. Johnny says:

Here’s my problem: Some guy will drive by a bank and look at the door and think, “I should walk into that bank and take out a small loan and use that loan to micro-finance 17 small businesses and then amortize my percentage of their profits to fund a larger business. Over 20 years, I’ll have like a giant business.”

I’ll drive by that same bank and I’ll look at the door and think, “I wonder what they’d pay me to clean that door.”

So, which person are you in the story?

Do you see the biggest opportunity and believe that success is possible for you?

Or, do you see only the smaller opportunity, the opportunity that suggests you’ll feel lucky if you can just scrape by?  

The fact is, mindset matters in business. Especially, for entrepreneurs - and maybe even more for creative types and innovators. It dictates whether or not we allow ourselves to dream big and, therefore, it also dictates whether or not we give ourselves the opportunity to succeed. 

Certainly life can throw us curveballs even when we have a “possibility” mindset. But it’s how we choose to look at those curveballs that makes the difference.

Do we see bumps in the road as further proof of our inability (See! I really can’t do this.)? Or, do we see them as a chance to further fine-tune our ideas?

What I love about the bank story in terms of creativity and innovation in business is that it drives home a really important point – and one that I feel a lot of us forget (at least, sometimes):

Adopting a mindset of POSSIBILITY, so that we’re able to see potential, rather than limits, is actually essential to achieving tangible success. After all, if we can’t allow ourselves to picture our biggest game, how are we going to play it?  

While logic, judgement, feasibility, practicality, etc., do (and most often must), come into play at some point in our creative process, if we let limits in too early in that process, we don’t stand a chance of going all the way.

We end up “but-ting” ourselves right off the bigger game playing field.

In my coaching practice, I work primarily with entrepreneurs and creative professionals, and one of the reasons they inspire me so much is because they demonstrate a handful of traits that I think are common to most highly successful people:

• They are really curious about what’s possible.
• When something seems to get in the way of their idea, they get even more curious, rather than discouraged.
• They ask, “what if?” as part of their creative process – A LOT. In fact, many of their sessions start with something like: “I was thinking, what if I …”
• They deflate or shut down when others try to limit their thinking – they don’t stop, they just won’t go to that person for feedback anymore. They want to be around others who are open to BIG possibility.   
• They accept failure as part of the process. They understand that they might not be right, but they are open to the possibility that they are.
  
• They work from a “this will work” premise, saving testing for after the basic idea is fully formed.
• When their internal saboteurs appear, they work directly with them. In other words, they don’t ignore the fear that comes with playing a bigger game, they embrace it, learn from it and move forward anyway.

In short, when they see a door (bank or otherwise), they simply see it as open.

To coming from possibility,  

Susan B. 

Unlocked Box – coaching for risk-takers, box-breakers and wannabe’s. Sign up for the eZine Guts at UnlockedBox.com and get the 10 Un-Rules of Creativity.

Sandbox: Innovation - An App of One's Own

It's time for another Sandbox Challenge - Unlocked Box's creative showdown that's all about two things:

1. Stretching ourselves creatively
2. Having fun

This particular Sandbox Challenge was inspired by Facebook Media's new show, Start-Ups: Silicon Valley where every person is an entrepreneur, every entrepreneur has a vision and every vision has, well, an App.

So, our challenge is called An App of One's Own and it's really simple to throw your hat into the ring. Just answer this question:

If you were to create an App of your own, what would it be?

Share your idea(s) in a comment to this blog post, then I'll be sharing all your contributions in a later blog post, as well on Unlocked Box's Facebook page and Twitter, too. Here's what to include:

1. The name of your App
2. A description of your App: What does it do? Who's it for? Why is it needed/or why would it be successful?
   
3. Your inspiration for your App: Why this App? What sparked your idea?

I have to say that I'm BEYOND EXCITD to read (or maybe even see) what you all come up with - and to think about an App of my own as well. Of course, I got a little bit of a headstart, so I hope you'll play and join me soon.

To our big, bad App ideas,

Susan B.

Unlocked Box – coaching for risk-takers, box-breakers and wannabe’s. Sign up for the eZine Guts at UnlockedBox.com and get the 10 Un-Rules of Creativity.

 

The Realities of Innovation - What Silicon Valley has to Teach Us About Risk & Reward

Although there’s currently a call for greater innovation in the U.S., and although many people (including myself) are predicting an upcoming Age of Innovation, there’s no question that true innovation not only does happen regularly in certain places around the globe, but also seems to breed even more innovation.

Okay, maybe in one place in particular. Namely, Silicon Valley.

While certainly the technology industry is more primed for innovation than many other industries (especially, those in which the last time an innovation occurred there was not even a place to post, tweet or meet-up about it), the impressive pace at which tech geeks innovate is, well, kinda staggering. No sooner do they sell their start up to Google, than do they start up with their next idea. In fact, it’s likely that next idea was already brewing before the negotiations for the original start-up started. One example is Dwight Crow who sold his company, Carsabi, to Facebook and used the month off he was given between the sale and the first day of his new job at Facebook shepherding the further development of Carsabi to work on his next big what’s next. 

How do I know this? Despite the fact that the nature of Silicon Valley is fairly common knowledge, the start-up technology company scene is now being well-documented on TV – thanks to Facebook Media’s new show Start-Ups: Silicon Valley which gives viewers an insider’s look at least one aspect of the technology industry – the aspect that involves very young people with very big ideas meeting with slightly older people with very big pockets – who not long ago were the very young people with the very big idea themselves.

Even though Start-Ups is reality TV and, therefore, by definition, not reality at all, there’s still much you can learn about innovation from watching these innovators in action. Not to mention, something to learn about business in general, start-ups specifically, drive, failure/success, creativity and much more.

That is, if you’re open to the message.

Because what the message is, boils down to this:

Achieving the end game of your dreams requires major risk taking, extremely hard work and a constant dance between pushing and patience. 

And those who do succeed have, without a doubt, failed exponentially more often.

It’s not far fetched to say that a single successful Silicon Valley-born company is probably built on 25 other “ideas” that not only flopped, but flopped fantastically, leaving the start up DOA and the founders floundering. 

The thing is, though, they keep at it.

They pick themselves up and start again. And because they know a thing or two about how to innovate – because they took the chance before – they get smarter as they go. It doesn’t mean the next idea or company will succeed, but it does mean that, with practice, they (and we) can get better at innovating – and better and faster at standing tall in the face of failure. Truly seeing that it’s the idea that failed, not us. And only this time.

In Silicon Valley, it would seem that every creative person recognizes the need for an app of one’s own. An idea that inspires them to take on the challenge of creation and drives them to make the space and time – and the chance – for an experience that is, no matter the end result, likely to be nothing less than remarkable.

Which leads me to the next Unlocked Box Sandbox Challenge: An App of One’s Own

Visit Part #2 of this blog post for details and to participate.

This is one Sandbox that will not only be a ton of fun, but which might just be the spark for your own what’s next.  

To the start-up called YOU,

Susan B.

Unlocked Box – coaching for risk-takers, box-breakers and wannabe’s. Sign up for the eZine Guts at UnlockedBox.com and get the 10 Un-Rules of Creativity.

 

Creativity vs. Innovation: What’s the Difference? What’s the Innovative Process?

There are many articles already written on the difference between creativity and innovation. In researching the topic for myself, I was interested to find that I agreed only with a small handful of writers (at least, of those I was able to find). 

On one hand, I’m not surprised, since there is obviously significant crossover between the two concepts. But what did surprise me were the definitions themselves. Creative/creativity was often defined as something new or original; and innovative/innovation as something implemented. In other words, new seemed to be the differentiating factor on the “creative” side, and implementation appeared to be the differentiating factor on the “innovative” side – the logic being that an idea can be creative, but that it can’t be an innovation until it’s implemented; and also that creative = new/original, which I do not believe to be true.

While I do agree that an innovation needs to be realized to be usable (to be more than simply an idea or concept), I don’t think this distinction gets to the core of the real difference between creativity and innovation.

For example, an idea can be innovative or creative, or both, but the fact that an idea itself can be innovative suggests that the implementation factor is more of a desired outcome (what individuals and businesses want and may need to happen to make the process worthwhile), but not the defining difference. To the same point, I’ve heard and seen countless ideas and things that are creative, but not innovative (and not original), and it wasn’t the fact that they were not yet implemented that made the difference.

In the very first article in the creativity and innovation at work series, I shared a definition of innovation (conceived by Jeff Dance of the digital marketing firm Fresh Consulting) that really works for me on all levels, because it points to what I think is actually the core difference between creativity and innovation, and it also leaves the implementation factor out altogether:

Innovation is a new idea, thing, product, process, etc., that creates/adds value.

In the same article, I also wrote that I felt that knowing and understanding the definition of innovation is the critical first step in actually innovating, because the definition holds the clues to “how-to.”

So, using Fresh Consulting’s definition of innovation the starting point, what are the key components for innovating? What is the Innovative Process?

Before we get to that, though, a somewhat brief note about creativity:

By definition, the Innovative Process includes the Creative Process – in fact, the Innovative Process is a creative process. However, I feel innovation must go beyond the Creative Process because, per the definition of innovation we’re using, an innovation includes attributes that are not absolutely necessary for creativity alone.

In explanation, I define “creative” as a thing, person, process, product, etc., that stands apart from others in one of two ways (with “new” and “creates value” not part of either):

1. By standing apart from the norm (not necessarily by being new); and/or
2. By offering a different perspective (not necessarily an innovative perspective); and whether that different perspective creates value or not, is a bit irrelevant, I think, in terms of creativity. It might create value, and if it does, it moves of from being purely creative to also being innovative.

So, with both the above thinking around creativity in mind and the definition of innovation from Fresh Consulting, here’s my take on the Innovative Process and why it is different from the Creative Process:

Innovative Process = Creative Process + Strategic Thinking + Practical Application

Breaking it down:

Creative Process: The Creative Process is part of all creating (including innovation). It is how ideas come to be. It’s phases, as outlined in the Idea Tango series on Creative Process are: Sponge Work (absorbing, noticing, collecting fodder, but not judging); In the Flow (making connections, begin to judge what’s working, what’s not); Inspiration & Insight (getting the big idea, the ah-ha moment and the point in the process at which the creator makes a choice about what will be created); Making it Real (completing the idea, moving from concept to tangible outcome – and, YES!, this is implementation. But again, if we believe an idea can be creative – or innovative for that matter – than whether or not it’s produced has nothing to do with its inherent creativity).  

Strategic Thinking: Strategic Thinking is looking at the total environment and asking questions like we asked in the how-to innovate exercises What’s Broken? What’s Brilliant? and What can I Borrow? What can I Balance?. Strategic thinking sees what’s out there now, finds gaps and missing pieces, combines ideas (which all can also be part of the Creative Process), but ultimately strategic thinking serves to provide key insights as to whether or not the idea will create value or not (which is not a necessary part of the Creative Process) – and this is where the line blurs into the final component of the formula, in that strategic thinking is what lays the groundwork for discovering:

Practical Application: Will it be useful? Will it really create value – will it give us something that makes life easier, better, faster, slower, etc? Logic comes into play in a major way (implemented or not), and it’s also easy to see why practical application does not have to be part of creativity. In fact, something can be completely useless (in the hard-nosed sense) and still be quite creative.

As mentioned above, it’s true that strategic thinking and practical application, can and often do, play a part in pure creativity (i.e. strategic thinking is part of getting In the Flow and in finding Inspiration & Insight; and practical application has elements that can certainly be part of Making it Real; but the point is that while they can be part of the Creative Process, they are absolutely essential to the Innovative Process.

In short, where the Creative Process doesn’t demand a formal approach around strategy and practicality – or even require them at all – the Innovative Process does. Those pieces are necessary for real innovation exactly because of Fresh Consulting’s definition of innovation: That to be an innovation, something has to be new and it has to create value.

What are your thoughts on the differences between creativity and innovation? What is your formula for innovation? Shoot my theory down or build on it, it’s all in service of something important: The thrilling opportunity to innovate better and more easily – to take our society and planet into the future with genius and in ways yet to be imagined.  

To the work of the coming age,

Susan B.

Unlocked Box – coaching for risk-takers, box-breakers and wannabe’s. Sign up for the eZine Guts at UnlockedBox.com and get the 10 Un-Rules of Creativity.

Related articles

Creativity at Work: The Big What's Next

Creativity at Work: What is Innovation?

What I've Learned About Creativity from Watching Project Runway

Some of you already know that I have a love-hate relationship with television. 

On one hand, I consider television a major destroyer of time – specifically, of time to create and pursue creative endeavors. I’ve even gone so far as to stop watching TV for years at a time, more than once.

TV as distraction.

On the other hand, I’ve been known to sit myself right down in front of the television in search of creative inspiration. Whether it’s to be awed by performance and other people's ideas or to find fodder for what I want to create next.

TV as instigator.

But whether I’m watching or not watching in service of my creative self, one thing is certain: I’ve learned a lot about creativity from watching TV. Especially, from watching other people create on TV.

What I've Learned About Creativity from Watching Project Runway

Have a point of view.  Creative confidence comes from knowing that all your ideas have value. When you know that, you start to realize that you might just have something to say. And once you realize that, say it! Let your perspective show through your creations and, even as you evolve as a creative person, people will recognize your work as yours. That's an exciting place to reach as a creator. As a creative person (and related to what you create), what's you're point of view? (Or, in Project Runway speak: Do people know who you are as a creator?)

Share your resources. Helping someone else be the best they can be, won't dim your light. Being free with your ideas, your resources, and offering limitless support, are often attributes of people with great talent. The best creators are usually the ones offering an endless stream of encouragement - and their best thinking - to others. How generous are you with other creators when it comes to your ideas, resources and support?

Even the best mentors aren't always right. Tim Gunn is, in my opinion, the single best mentor on TV. Yet, he's been wrong about what Project Runway judges will like about a gabillion times. Trust the people you've chosen to guide you, but remember they are human, and that what's great, beautiful, impactful, etc., is very subjective. Be open to input and, at the same time, know that you ultimately have to trust your gut. Do you go with your heart even when those you respect are not on board?
 

Choose an idea. Set a course. Stick with it. Life is full of deadlines and we often don't have unlimited time to stay in the idea generation process until we're certain. Sometimes we've just got to get it done. At those times, sticking with your idea and "making it work" (Tim Gunn's favorite phrase), is essential. And ...

When things aren't working, don't be afraid to choose a new idea and plot a different course. Hold your creations loosely enough that you can still step back and assess what's working and what's not. If your heart (or your eyes, brain, ears, mouth or nose, for that matter), tells you it's time to jump ship - DO IT. Often the greatest genius is in the second, or third, or fourth draft. Do you know how to stay the course - no matter what? Are you willing to ditch all when you're just not feeling it?

You can fail and still be extremely talented. Even the ultimate winner of Project Runway typically does his or time at the bottom. If talent is something we have, then we always have it - even when our creations are not providing the best proof. The creativity is within you always, and knowing that, hanging onto that, can get you through the flops with much less drama. Do you know how talented you are, even when you fail?

Defend your work (even when you know it sucks). This Project Runway lesson blew my mind the first time I witnessed it in action. The designer knew her dress was bad (she said so in front of the camera), but in front of the judges, she defended her work - stood by it. The judges hated it, and I expected their reaction to her stance to be negative (e.g. "How could she defend that? Where's her humility?). Instead, they said, "At least she stood by what she created." Now, I've also heard the judges say, "How we can we keep this person if they don't even know their design was horrible?" But most of the time, they respect creators who stand up for their creations. When you love something you've created, do you stand by it? Even in the face of negative feedback?

Recognize that not everything you do is genius and don't take it personally. ...and sometimes it's better to admit defeat. After all, it's not YOU that's not brilliant, it's your creation that, for whatever reason, this time fell short. When we can learn to step back and look at our work objectively - as well as hear other people's critiques without fear, anxiety or stress, it's a sign that we've come a long way as a creator. While I'm a fan of defending work you love, I'm also a fan of allowing a dud to be dud and letting the experience simply roll off your back. Can you admit when your creation is less than good without putting yourself through the wringer?

Dark nights of the soul are often followed by the brilliance of inspiration - almost without exception. The worst bout of creative stuckness I've witnessed on Project Runway led to the designer winning the first All Stars season - partly because he recognized the creative black hole as part of the creative process, and even used the hole itself for inspiration. While we are constant creators, there is a real ebb and flow to creative inspiration. If you're up, you can be sure that, at some point, you'll come down. And what's gorgeous about that is that the opposite is true too: If you're down, you can be sure that, at some point, you'll be back up. Do you accept your creative black outs as part of the creative process? Do you flow with them or fight against them?

You will always come up with something. In all the seasons of Project Runway I've watched, I've never seen a designer not put something down the runway. Come to think of it, in ALL of the creativity- and contest-based TV shows I've watched (Work of Art, Face Off, etc.), I've never witnessed a single creator have nothing to show in the end. The truth is, you can always come up with something. It may not be the best something you've ever created, or it might be, but if you simply choose an idea, anything, after awhile you'll see that you will never really be out of ideas. This lesson gets much, much easier with practice - and it's where creative professionals have an advantage. But all of us, with just a little creative confidence under our belts, are but a few tight deadlines away from knowing it for sure. Do you believe you have access to an endless flow of ideas - that, when push comes to shove, you will have something to show when your deadline arrives?

One day you're in. The next day, you're out. People will love what you create one day, and hate what you create the next. If you're bold and courageous enough to allow yourself to be in the public eye, to be seen (whether by a viewing audience of millions or simply by a small group of friends or co-workers), you will, at some point, be "out." The trick is to keep coming back. Because the people who say, "you're only as good as your last idea" are, frankly, full of shit.

Television allows us to glimpse parts of the world, the universe and each other that we might never otherwise have the privilege of seeing. It also allows us to share in other people’s creative experience – their fear, their passion, their path to genius. For that reason alone, television can be a gift.

To the rare opportunity to witness someone else’s creative process,

Susan B.

Unlocked Box – coaching for risk-takers, box-breakers and wannabe’s. Sign up for the eZine Guts at UnlockedBox.com and get the 10 Un-Rules of Creativity.

 

 

Creativity at Work: Innovation Exercise - Borrow & Balance

In the last Creativity at Work: Innovation Exercises post, I shared the practice of using questions related to What’s Broken? What’s Brilliant? as a way to lay the groundwork for innovation (developing a new idea, creation, offering or process that adds value). 

Broken & Brilliant types of questions prepare you to come up with ideas that add value by helping you find the gaps (what’s missing) within the space in which you want to innovate.

While you’ll likely begin to come up with innovative ideas just by playing with Broken & Brilliant questions alone, the next exercise – Borrow & Balance – will give you just a little more structure for starting the innovative idea generation process.

Borrow & Balance types of questions work particularly well as a second step toward innovating because:

1. They’re all about making new connections, which is a tried and true cornerstone of creative thinking; and,
2. They point the innovator toward the types of new connections that have been the foundation for countless past innovations – the types of connections that specifically add value.

Borrow & Balance

Borrow & Balance questions ask:

What can I borrow from another industry, field, market, category, etc., and apply to mine?

What can I balance this with that might add a new and valuable dimension to what I’m doing?

What can I Borrow?

On a recent episode of ABC’s Shark Tank, entrepreneurs pitched a new way of protecting digital devices. They had asked themselves, what if we applied the way cars, health and homes are protected to what we’re doing?

By “borrowing” from the insurance industry, they innovated a whole new way for consumers to protect their cell phones, tablets and other digital devices, an idea with the potential to change the digital protection industry completely. The fact that the sharks thought they were out of their minds – that the innovation opened the door to all kinds of problems – doesn’t negate that the idea was developed via borrowing.

Ask yourself: What can I borrow from the _________ industry/category/field, etc? (generate multiple possibilities for filling in that blank, borrowing from spaces that are both similar and vastly different from yours).

Then, in relation to the gaps or missing pieces you uncovered in your Broken & Brilliant exercise, ask yourself: In what industry/category/field, etc., has this missing piece (or challenge) already been solved? AND: What would it look like if I borrowed from that solution?

You can also borrow from things besides industries, categories and fields.

Ask yourself: What can I borrow from the animal or insect world? What can I borrow from color? From the idea of celebrity? From love? 

Get even more specific: From the insect world, what can I borrow from ants?

Go further still by examining concepts, objects, ideas, etc., that are extremely related to what you’re working on.

As an example, let’s say you’re a business consultant who provides strategic support to clients and you’re looking to innovate. You might explore those animal categories that have an inherent connection to support, such as Canada Geese, a bird that honks its support to the “team” as it migrates; or Meerkats, an animal that takes turns it turn standing watch for other members of its mob.

In borrowing from other places, you can find new solutions that might add value to what you’re doing and that lead to innovation.

What can I Balance?

Classic examples of balancing for innovation can be found in the culinary category. Chefs ask themselves: What would happen if I balanced the sweetness of chocolate with the spiciness of jalapeno pepper? 

While balancing is not solely game of opposites, balancing with an opposite can be a great place to start.

Ask yourself: What are the qualities or attributes of what I’m working on or what I already have? Then ask: What are the exact opposites of those qualities or attributes? 

Once you have your opposites, ask: What would the balance of these two qualities look like?

More examples of balancing for innovation:

Coming up with an innovative concept for a TV show: What would the reality TV show Survivor look like if it were balanced by the corporate world? (The Apprentice). 

Coming up with an innovative idea for transportation: What would driving look like balanced by a library? (car sharing).

Just as What’s Brilliant? questions are valuable, in part, because they shift your perspective and allow you to find more What’s Broken? answers (thus, more gaps and missing pieces which can be filled by your innovation), What can I Balance? questions, in a big way, simply provide a perspective shift for finding more combinations than you might uncover using What can I Borrow? questions alone.

Which points to the two underlying concepts that are behind everything we’ve discussed so far – and to what are probably the most important tools for enhancing creative thinking and coming up with innovative ideas:

Looking at things from various perspectives and making new connections.

The problem is that just saying I’ve got to look at this differently, or I’ve got to make a new connection, isn’t enough. You have to get specific: What new perspectives? What new connections?

Exercises like Broken & Brilliant and Borrow & Balance provide a concrete starting point for innovating, by giving you specific perspectives to explore and new connections to make.

And, really, this is where your creativity comes in – and why working on enhancing your creativity is actually the most important step toward being able to innovate.

Do you have your own What can I Borrow? What can I Balance? questions or examples that have helped you innovate, or that might help someone else?

I hope you'll share them in a comment to this post. 

To borrowing and balancing for new combinations,

Susan B.

Unlocked Box – coaching for risk-takers, box-breakers and wannabe’s. Sign up for the eZine Guts at UnlockedBox.com and get the 10 Un-Rules of Creativity.

Creativity at Work: Innovation Exercise – Broken & Brilliant

Now, that we’ve pondered, What is Innovation? in order to come up with a working definition (A New Idea, Creation, Offering or Process that Adds Value), it’s time to ask the big duh question: 

How do you come up with that new idea, creation, offering or process that adds value?

While the answer will take you straight to the creative process itself (Sponge Work, In the Flow, Inspiration & Insight and Making it Real), the definition of innovation – the quality or attribute that makes innovation different from creativity – suggests that there might be tools and practices that work ESPECIALLY WELL in encouraging innovation specifically.

In other words, certain creativity tools and practices are inherently more adept at fostering “new + value” thinking.

While over the next few weeks we’ll cover lots of ways to spark and support innovation, we’ll first primarily zero on those tools that most naturally lead to innovation – starting with two practices that I call:

• Broken & Brilliant (laying the groundwork for innovative thinking by identifying what's missing)
• Borrow & Balance (getting the idea ball rolling faster through new combinations and perspectives)

Broken & Brilliant

Because innovation includes the creation of additional value, a perfect place to start the process of innovating is to look at the environment in which your idea will exist (at work/in your industry or category/in your customers’ or audiences’ lives, etc.) and ask:

What’s Broken? What’s Brilliant?

What’s Broken? (You’ll notice there is a little repetition in the questions below – often even slightly changing the way you ask something can shift the brain; help you see things from a different angle.)

Ask yourself – Related to my work, industry, category, product/service, creation, customer/audience – or whatever I’m working on:

What’s not working?

What’s not working as well as it could? What could be done better?

What customer or audience needs are not being met?

What are people not saying or doing?

Where are the hiccups, bumps or obstacles – no matter how big or small?

Where is there a gap or a glitch? What’s missing here?

What do I wish existed? What do my customers/audience wish existed?

What needs to change? Design? Smell? Touch? Feel? Taste? Texture? Timing? Style? Performance? Result?

How or where could this (look, smell, feel, go, be) better?

How could this get or be worse?

In finding the gaps, you can find the space to innovate.

What’s Brilliant? (Again, you’ll notice a little repetition.)

Ask yourself – Related to my work, industry, category, product/service, creation, customer/audience – or whatever I’m working on: 

What’s perfect? What’s almost perfect?

What’s breakthrough? What’s about to or needs to break through?

What looks, smells, feels, etc., great?

Where is design, performance, style, touch, feel, taste, texture, timing, results top-notch?

What are people saying or doing that tells me this is brilliant?

What does this make me want more of? What does this make my customers/audience want more of?

What do I want my customers/audience to do/say more, or more often?

What do I love about this? What do my customers/audience love about this?

How could this get or be any better?

In finding the perfection, you find the space to innovate even further through the parts that aren’t quite yet as good as they could be. In this way, the What’s Brilliant? questions offer a perspective shift that can help you find additional fodder for your What’s Broken? exploration.

Do you have your own What’s Broken? What’s Brilliant? questions that might help someone else find space to innovate? I hope you'll share them in a comment to this post.

Next Week: The innovation tool Borrow & Balance

To seeing the what’s missing,

Susan B.

Unlocked Box – coaching for risk-takers, box-breakers and wannabe’s. Sign up for the eZine Guts at UnlockedBox.com and get the 10 Un-Rules of Creativity.