Westside Toastmasters is located in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, California
Introduction
Whether you believe it or not, you are naturally creative; the secret lies in knowing how to tap into your inner creativity. This resource takes the mystery out of the creative process, describing a new way of thinking you can use to produce fresh, practical, money-making ideas guaranteed to revolutionize your firm’s strategies and products and drive its growth.
We detail proven techniques for producing high-voltage concepts from your right brain, then using your left brain to shape them into useful solutions. This thought-stimulating guide features:
- The Enemies of Innovation - how to recognize and avoid them
- Brainstorming techniques for “graphing” proposals and ideas in order to evaluate which address the stated problem and which fall by the wayside
- Tangible steps for going beyond market research to determine what could be - and what you could do to help your organization make it happen
- A new innovation process for identifying valuable brand imagery and then for coming up with tangible product features that bring it to life
We show you how to bring your natural creativity to the forefront by implementing a step-by-step process for producing exceptional and profitable ideas - whenever, wherever, and “whyever” you need them.
Describing Creativity
What do you think of creativity? Right now, before we get to the heart of your current beliefs. Consider it a gauge that pinpoints the starting point of your journey.
Write down or draw everything you really believe about creative people. Do you think they're geniuses? Impractical? Inspirational? Weird? Powerful? Wear too much black? Be as detailed as you possibly can, and get it all out!
When you've written everything you can, examine the list carefully. Where did those ideas come from? Are they grounded in your experience? Something you saw online? How attached are you to these beliefs?
A person's attitude toward creativity is one of the chief factors that determine whether he or she is able to tap into it. How many of the beliefs you listed may actually keep you from accessing your own creativity, either because they don't seem worthwhile, or because they seem like something beyond what ordinary you can aspire to?
Consider your descriptions again. Would they match Thomas Edison? Benjamin Franklin? Ghandi? Steve Jobs? Queen Elizabeth the First? These were all deeply creative people who used those abilities to change the world.
You just finished the first of many experimental exercises you'll find in this resource. Please complete each one as you come to it, and don't read any further until you've done so. Each exercise is carefully designed to help you understand new ideas instinctively and emotionally, not just intellectually.