When do you do your best creative thinking? In the shower? During a run? While walking the dog?
While you’re sitting at your computer responding to emails and staff walking in and out of your office?
Right, odds are, the latter is not the case, which proves the point that getting away from your desk and your office is key to getting creative thinking done.
Interestingly, a study conducted by University of Pittsburgh and UC Santa Barbara called Lost in the Sauce shows that, according to CBS MoneyWatch, alcohol enhances creative thinking.
They divided the group into two, giving one a vodka/cranberry juice cocktail and the other a placebo.
Those with cocktails found solutions to a word puzzle faster while the others were more focused, but didn’t find the solution as easily or quickly.
If someone were able to find the solution to creative thinking and could bottle it up, they’d of course become very wealthy.
The truth of the matter is, it’s not something that can be outlined in six or eight steps. Also, having a drink isn’t an option for many for a variety of reasons.
Neuroscientists have been trying to crack this nut for a long time. They now think creative thinking isn’t linear. Great ideas come from observations and knowledge of disconnected things. This might explain why having a cocktail which unleashes inhibitions, allows the mind to connect unrelated things, into great ideas. It might be where the whole idea on a cocktail napkin came from.
Most people sell themselves short thinking they aren’t “creative types.” Don’t listen to that voice in your head. There are few original ideas left, but only good curation of ideas. In other words, look for inspiration in other places and industries. Don’t copy, but take good ideas and see how they can be modified to fit your own needs or business model.
Try starting your day off (or whatever time of day works best for you) with a cup of coffee and a notebook, in a quiet room and see what happens. It can be pretty magical.
When do you do your best thinking?
Thanks to Amazing Data for the image.
Does this sound familiar? One minute your mind is overflowing with great ideas to grow your business, and the next, it feels like your mind is a vast and empty “thought desert.”
It is a worst-case scenario for entrepreneurs and business owners, who depend on new ideas to fuel much-needed innovation.
So says Victor Hwang, CEO and co-founder of T2 Venture Capital. He says the key is unlocking what he calls our “Rainforest—an ecosystem of innovation where new concepts can grow and businesses can thrive.”
In an Entrepreneur article, he offers seven steps to be rid of the thought desert and unleash fresh ideas as often as you need them.
For Hwang, there is little more frustrating “than being on a team where the leader is insecure and lowers everyone else’s performance.”
Entrepreneurs and business owners are prey to self-doubts like everyone else, “but transmitting your worst insecurities to your team makes others stop talking to you or trusting you.”
What can you do to get yourself together? “Take leadership training. Meditate. Ask friends how you can do better.”
The goal is about being authentic to yourself. (more…)
