How to Find Your Creativity in Business

As the corporate business world evolves and grows, creativity is an increasingly essential part of running a successful organization.  Not only thinking creatively yourself but encouraging those around you to be creative is vital to leading a successful company.  While creativity is hard to define and eludes many of us when we need it the most, if you start to think in new and innovative ways you can indeed tap into your creative mind.  In essence, creativity is a muscle you need to flex every day and learn to make it grow stronger with each passing milestone.  So how to find your creativity in business?

While it might go against everything you know and have been taught in the past, question authority.  Ignore the status-quo and go beyond it.  While you may have had a boss in the corporate world, being an entrepreneur means being your own boss and so therefore, you have the power to decide who you want to be in corporate America and where you want to take the vision of your company and help it grow.  While you don’t want to forget every lesson you’ve learned, you should still learn to think outside the box.

Don’t act your age.  You might want to consider tapping into the creative mind you had as a child.  Think about what your passions were and revisit them.  How did you think when you drew a picture in art class or when you needed to complete a creative writing assignment?  Again, flex that creative muscle.  Age is just a number so no matter how old you are or how late in life you’re pursuing your dream as an entrepreneur, try to connect with all that was wonderful about your youth.  This will enliven your creative mind.  Get lost in your work just as you did as a child and remember how those endless days of freedom made you feel.  Delve into a project and get lost in it and lost in time.  Don’t watch the clock.  Just because your business doesn’t take off from day one doesn’t mean you can’t take time to explore the road you want to take to get there.

Be generous with yourself and others.  Make sure you get enough sleep and exercise and you will nourish your creative mind.  Give yourself space to create and a place where you alone dictate the rules.  If you have employees, give them paid time off or the ability to go to personal appointments.  Allow both yourself and them to take breaks and give your mind muscle time to relax.  When you refresh your brain, creativity follows.  “Know what you need in order to create and do not relinquish the parameters you have set.”

Exchange ideas with others.  Brainstorm with your team and take their ideas seriously.  They may have inspiring thoughts that will inspire you and your own creativity in return.  Once you’ve created an environment that works for you, you should definitely turn to others for advice, whether it’s a mentor, friend or colleague.  Even though you might find yourself with less time, the more you expose yourself to others and what they have to offer in terms of idea exchange and experience, the more you open yourself up to the world and can tap into your creativity.  You can learn a lot from the world around you if you take the time to sit up and take notice and take in all it has to offer.  This doesn’t mean you have to take everyone’s advice and ideas to heart but try to listen and be as open-minded as possible and creativity will follow.  That I can promise you!

Get honest with yourself and be truthful.  There’s no point in creating if it doesn’t ring true to you.  Of course the truth is always relative but still you must always follow your gut instincts.  No two people think or feel the same way about a situation but it doesn’t mean you can’t listen and embrace what other people have to say and then take a deeper look at your ideas as a result.

Always observe and question, whether it be authority or another person’s take on your business ideas and goals.  Don’t be naïve and just follow the pack.  Be a leader.  Step out on your own and stand up to authority and the strict rules and regulations of the corporate world.  This will allow your creativity to flow freely.  The power of your work always resides in your truth.

Be a dreamer.  There’s nothing wrong with chasing your dreams because if you do and don’t give up, you can very likely achieve them.  Remember dreaming inspires creativity and creativity inspires dreaming.  If you dream about your success and where you want to take your business, you can indeed take it there.  Envision what you want your future and the future of your company to look like and you can achieve it!

Evaluate.  There always comes a time in the creative process when you must think critically and use your judgment to the best of your ability.  In fact, it’s indeed necessary to business success.  You want to be in the right mindset when you create your ideas so you can implement them into business solutions that every entrepreneur needs to meet.

Lastly, dive in head first and don’t be afraid to do it.  Remember as a child when you reached the highest diving board?  Maybe you stepped back for a second and pondered whether or not you should in fact dive in.  If you were brave enough to do so, do the same in business.  After you’ve figured out how to implement your ideas, embrace them and immerse yourself fully into them and you will arrive at your goals and can make your business dreams a reality.

While some of these suggestions I’ve raised today might seem out of the ordinary for an entrepreneur, consider them thoroughly.  Being as creative as possible, leads to new ideas that your competitors may not have already thought of and that can obviously make you stand out as an innovative thinker and lead yourself to build an exciting and innovative company.  Open yourself up to creativity or rather, find your creativity and express it and business success will follow.

So what have you learned here today?  Do you agree with my thoughts on finding your creativity in business?  Are there other techniques you’ve implemented in your own business that have led on to success or have you used some of the recommendations listed above?  Leave a comment and let me know how you feel so that we can bounce ideas off each other, that is in fact one of the most important aspects to thinking creatively.

Here are some articles you might want to check out about how to find your creativity in business:

“Reclaim Your Creative Confidence”: http://hbr.org/2012/12/reclaim-your-creative-confidence

“The Business of Being Creative”: http://www.thebusinessofbeingcreative.com/

“How to Be More Creative and Productive at Work”: http://www.good.is/posts/how-to-be-more-productive-and-creative-at-work-play-more

“9 Tips to Amplify Creativity in Any Business”: http://brainzooming.com/creative-thinking-9-tips-to-amplify-creativity-in-any-business-by-john-q-harrington/19083/

Until next time...