In marketing, creativity counts for a lot.  We need it for just about everything we do, from coming up with attention-grabbing imagery and compelling copy to strategizing about business plans or the next exciting promotion.  Working your creative muscle helps you articulate ideas relating to your marketing message, products and services in ways that ultimately shape the consumers’ perception of your brand.

Many people assume that creativity is an innate ability – you either have it or you don’t.  However, according to an article published in Scientific American Mind (June/July 2008), all of us have the potential to unlock and develop creative expression.  Just like any other muscle though, we need to make a conscious effort to strengthen and grow its capabilities.

The article featured a discussion among creativity experts in different fields – a playwright/filmmaker, a psychologist and a scholar.  The discussion not only revealed that creativity can be taught, but that there were some skill sets, exercises and tactics we all can use to unlock the creative genius within our minds.

Robert Epstein, a scholar and expert on the subject, outlined four skill sets that highly creative people can do very well:

Capturing – Generate and capture ideas without altering or over thinking them. Allowing ideas to flow through your mind is essential to maintaining creativity.  Writers sometimes do this with a technique called ‘stream of consciousness writing’ where they simply record immediate ideas to paper, even if they make absolutely no sense. They can later review what they’ve written and pick out interesting pieces to further explore.  Artists do this by keeping a sketchbook handy at all times. The ideas that are recorded can be organized, further developed or reference at a later point.

Challenging – Exercise your mind through problem solving.  It’s often said that sudoku and crossword puzzles are great for keeping the brain strong and healthy.  This is true because problem solving forces the brain to manage multiple behaviors, dig deep into our memory banks and create new ideas.

Broadening – The more you know, the more you grow! Learning about new things outside of your professional designation helps to spark new ideas.  Broadening your knowledge-base forces your brain to think about things in different ways, spawning creativity.

Surrounding – Artists, writers, scientists and other creative people are often inspired by their environment.  They’re surrounded by different types of people, colors, sights, smells, shapes, etc. that spark their creativity.  And, as Epstein stated in the Scientific American Mind, “the more interesting and diverse the things and the people around you, the more interesting your own ideas become.”

In addition to this insight provided by Epstein, the other experts involved in the conversation agree that to promote creativity and productive problem solving, people must be persistent in working to achieve a consistent flow of creative thought.

So, what type of tactics do they suggest to boost creativity?

Julia Cameron suggests an exercise she calls ‘morning pages,’ very much like the stream of consciousness writing technique. Every morning she takes time to write out anything that’s on her mind – ideas, feelings, tasked needed to be accomplished for the day – anything that comes to mind.  She states that by cleaning out the clutter within your mind, there is more room and energy left for creativity.  Cameron also urges that people need to continually practice creative thought, even when it’s difficult to do so.

Epstein mentioned an activity he calls “the shifting game.”  Seeming to be particularly helpful in the office environment, he suggests getting a group of people together and coming up with a problem solving task.  First, the problem is discussed together among the group.  Then, members of the group are asked to break away to brainstorm on their own for 15 minutes before returning to the group.  In his experience, he discovered that groups practicing this tactic produced twice as many ideas than groups that did not break away for ‘individual brainstorming’ time.

Journal keeping, daydreaming, and walks away from the office setting were other activities mentioned that boost creativity.  I think the main point is to step outside of your comfort zone and experience new things.  Who knows where your inspiration will come from or what form it will take.

What do you do to keep creativity flowing?