Practical tips for generating ideas 'for fun or money'

1. How to be more creative for fun and money Tudor Rickards

2. No theory today … Much is know about personal creativity and how to unblock it Today we concentrate mainly on practical suggestions By creativity we mean “ the process of getting new and useful ideas at home or at work”

3. Assessing your creativity thermostat How creative do you think you are (1-9) Very creative (8-9) Quite creative (6-7) Don’t know (5) Not very creative (3-4) Low (2) Very low (1)

4. Another indicator of creativity I think of ideas most days (8-9) Most weeks (6-7) Every month or so (5) At least once a year (3) Can’t remember the last time I had an idea (1)

5. Do you under-estimate your creativity Tip No 1 Assess creativity on evidence - not on assumptions You and your team may be under-estimating the value of your new ideas 70% of people under-estimate their creativity

6. You may be higher up the mountain than you think … 1 2-3 4-5 6-7 8-9

7. Most people can climb higher up the mountain … 1 2-3 4-5 6-7 8-9

8. To climb higher Tip No 2: Develop new and improved skills through deliberate practice every day Practice every day noting new ideas when: You read a professional text You have a discussion You listen to a news bulletin You experience anything new

9. Use benign structures to get better ideas To get better ideas regularly you need new structures to help your idea awareness and skills in improving implementation potential These are so-called benign structures which support creativity A benign structure supports creativity by overcoming personal habits which are restricting idea generation

10. Idea Capture Tip No 3 Improve your personal idea-capture systems: Post its Mobile phone Idea notebook Twitter ‘ Treasure chest’ * * One company has a Treasure Chest of shared best-practices to which it adds new ideas regularly

11. Simple forms of benign structure Tip No 4: Reverse thinking (‘Let’s turn that idea upside down’) Tip No 5 Add-on thinking (‘Yes and …’) Tip No 6 Blue sky thinking (‘If only…’) Tip No 7 Positive thinking (‘What’s good about it..?’) Tip No 8 Inside-out thinking (e.g. ‘Go from technical means to user needs’) ‘ Hybrid Composite For Root Canal Treatment’ Think ‘Food products to meet different needs’

12. Your creativity signature Tip No 8 Practice and practice your creativity skills to find your personal creativity signature ..

13. And finally … An idea is worthless until you know what you are going to do with it … and priceless if it leads to improved ways of doing things - for fun or money