Think Like a Kid: Get Your Creative Mojo Back Now

 

By: Keir Hart

 

Earlier this week I was with a client, trying to brainstorm some ideas to a problem we were having.  There were managers and engineers of all shade.  With almost ten of us in the room and a combined 100+ years of experience, we could come up with only about 5 ideas.  That’s right.  5!  How could so many smart people only come up with only so few new ideas?  After I left the meeting, I kept thinking about this phenomenon in the back of my mind on the drive home.  Once there, I pondered this off and on for the next couple hours until I was playing with my 2-year-old daughter after her dinner.  We were coloring.  Well, she was furiously coloring and scribbling every conceivable shape with every color crayon she owned.  Meanwhile, Dad was sitting back and watching with wonder.  Here was a little girl cranking out ideas like she was minting money.  Granted, our problems were a little different, but the principles were the same.  I hurriedly scribbled down what I saw in her approach and boiled it down to a few basic ideas.  The next day, I took these concepts and brainstormed on my own.  Success!  20 ideas in less than 10 minutes!  Not all were gold, but enough were usable that we could move forward.  So, here are my basic principles to thinking like a kid and getting your creative mojo back. Give them a try and let me know what you think!

 

#1: Use Crayons

Or big pens, finger-paint, water colors… whatever takes your mind off the problem at hand.  Pens and paper or dry-erase markers and a whiteboard feel like work.  They are too adult.  Too Serious to let your creative juices flow freely.  Using crayons and construction paper instead, tricks your brain into thinking that this is play, not work.  Give it a try and watch the ideas flow.

 

#2: Draw Big

Don’t make little thumbnail sketches.  Instead, create big drawings that go all the way across the paper.  Making small sketches uses smaller muscles and forces you to constrict your movements.  Your brain and body are intricately linked.  Small movements, small ideas.  By opening up your movements, your brain and body relax and this leads to improved blood flow.  More blood.  More brainpower.  More ideas.

 

#3: Focus

Turn off the computer, the TV, the phone, and just focus on one activity at a time.  Despite what we would like to believe, people are very poor multitaskers.  Focus on the task at hand.

 

#4: Make play, not work

Draw some aliens, or spaceships, or horses.  Your clients may think you’re crazy, but it will make them laugh too.  Brainstorming should be fun.  While you want to be sure you are coming up with relevant ideas too, by making it fun, your brain will be more engaged.  You will feel happier too.

 

Thinking like a kid again is easier than you think.  And like anything, it may take a little bit of practice.  But hey, anything fun is worth doing again, right?  Now grab your toys and good luck brainstorming.

 

Let me know your idea generating stories and ideas.  What has worked well for you?

 

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