Let's give our brain a proper workout. No lifting weights or running but an exercise that boosts our proactive and creative mind. Very often, creativity is an undervalued part of business. To tackle situations and problems with a creative mind is the difference between doing things by-the-book or to move above and beyond, to create a new vantage point to build upon. The opposite is a very safe way of doing things, attaining results that are equal to expectations. Unexciting but proven to reach adequate results. Let's be honest, 'adequate' is a terrible word. People who read my blog are not aiming to be adequate. Let's take a look at a real-life example the creative mind can do: The Cold Caller: When Tim Ferris (author of the 4-hour work week and Tools of Titans) used to have a job cold calling potential clients, everyone was calling clients during business hours. Wanting to differentiate himself and increase his performance he thought about it in a creative way. What if he did the opposite? Instead of calling on business hours he would start cold-calling outside these hours. What happened? Instead of talking to a gatekeeper (assistent) who wouldn't redirect his calls to decision-makers, he would reach them directly. Why? The gatekeeper (assistent) was not working these hours and more calls would directly reach the decision-makers, increasing his sales greatly. Another important benefit is a double whammy: His effectiveness per hour went up, allowing him to work less hours cold-calling with increased performance. When brainstorming ideas you have to remember that perfection is the enemy. If you judge every idea that pops into your mind you will find mistakes in anything. Remember the rules of the game: You need 5 ideas a day. They don't have to be perfect. They don't even have to be realistic. You are training your idea muscle, you are not changing the world. Time for action: Let me give you some examples to give you a kickstart. To keep it realistic we will set a real-life goal: You want to increase your personal productivity. Let's brainstorm 10 ideas. What the hell, make it 20. Remember: Quantity, not quality. Some may seem silly, but that doesn't matter! In order to increase my personal productivity I can:
Need more practice in other subjects? There is a great website called ideas-a-day.com, which gives you a subject to brainstorm around. Ideal for some quick brain exercise . The ability to confront problems in creative ways can be the difference between adequate and groundbreaking. You don't want to be adequate , do you? 5 ideas per day, go for it. Discover my other blogs about:
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