I hate to be the one to break this news…but Dave Matthews was wrong. Where you are really does matter – at least when it comes to finding great ideas.
Last week a few of us from Catalyst met with the folks from Idea Champions, who seem to have perfected the delicate art form of “ideation.”
We covered (or more appropriately, uncovered) a ton, but my big takeaway was that the environment you create for yourself is at least as important to your creative success as what you’re actually doing and who you’re doing it with.
My wife, a supremely talented interior designer, has long preached the importance of one’s surroundings. In that world, conventional wisdom dictates that the space you create influences how happy and productive you’ll be as anytime you’re there. I probably don’t say this often enough, but turns out the wife is right.
If you and your team feel like you’re struggling to find great ideas, here are a few really simple tips to immediately enhance your game:
First off, understand that less than one percent of your best ideas are found when you’re in the office. It’s about the least creative place you can be: distractions of every kind are incessantly competing for your attention. The people who designed the space probably had no idea what you would be using it for, they built it to be just as appealing to a tax attorney as a creative marketer. You’re much better off finding a place of inspiration. Visit a museum, enjoy nature, or go to the marketplace and interact with and observe consumers.
Second – if you do choose to stay in the office, at least alter the space. Sitting in chairs around a conference table is an excellent venue for most types of meetings but will lull your creative sessions into a pattern of stale thinking before long. Surprise yourself and your team by changing it up. Hide all of the chairs and sit on the table or the floor. Change the lighting. Decorate. Find a new perspective in that familiar space.
Lastly, crank some tunes. As participants arrive it welcomes and energizes, and just serves to fill the room while you’re waiting for people to trickle in. When you’re doing a timed creative exercise, turn it back up and it will help keep people from getting stuck as their minds move forward with the melody. If you’re lucky, something seemingly random about the music or the lyrics will suddenly reveal itself as relevant to your current creative challenge. You’ll be surprised how often it happens.
And if you’re still stuck…take a shower. According to Idea Champions’ poll, it is in fact one of the best places to get an idea.
Where and when are you at your creative peak?
