Handy tips for creative thinking

by Dave Birss on Feb 05, 2010

23,272 views

A talk for the Ogilvy Idea Shop. It's directed at small businesses, charities and organisations that need a little help with problem solving. This is a special slideshare version with additional text on the slides to explain them better.

I think the SlideShare download link gives you a Keynote version. If you want a PC-friendly PowerPoint version, try this link:

http://drop.io/creativebreakfast1/asset/problem-solving-slideshare-ppt

If you're the copyright holder for any of the images, please get in touch so that I can credit you or remove them.

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Handy tips for creative thinking — Presentation Transcript

Jolting yourself out of the rut Tips to get the ideas flowing Dave Birss

Hit the pub Go somewhere different. Different environments give you a different state of mind.

Research proves it works. Cows that listen to soothing music produce more milk. The tempo of Baroque music is similar to the speed of the brain waves that are associated with creative thinking. Give yourself a soundtrack

Hit the pub again If you’re putting pressure on yourself, a pint or two might help you relax. Or maybe some coffee. It’s worth a try.

Write down the problem If you ask the right question, you’re half way to solving the problem. Or maybe more.

Keep rewriting the problem Maybe you’re still asking the wrong question. Rewriting it in a different way may help you think about it differently too.

Do something that requires a lot of concentration. It clears your mind and pushes the problem to your more powerful back brain. Solve a sudoku instead

If you can’t solve the problem as you, do it as someone else. Imagine you’re someone extra smart and try to solve it as them. What would Stephen Fry do?

You may be setting your standards too high. Deliberately lower them to get the ideas flowing. You can raise them again later. Deliberately come up with bad ideas

Go read some stuff Maybe you don’t have enough information. Do more. The answer may come from a small insight hidden away.

Have a nap They say that dreams are your brain’s way of sorting out data. Have a nap and let it go to work.

If there’s a way people usually try to solve a problem, think about the opposite way. It probably won’t work but it’ll get you thinking differently. Do the opposite

Map your thoughts It’s a great way of seeing that you’re exploring lots of areas.

Finish those Post Its Don’t settle for the first idea. Set yourself a goal and don’t give up until you reach it.

Hit another pub Buy someone a drink and talk to them. Get their opinion. Business advice for under a fiver (with Pork Scratchings thrown in).

Give up Just for the moment. If it’s not working right Give up now, don’t push it. **** You’ll only push yourself further into the rut.

davebirss.com @davebirss

Moncy Varghese at TOP Academy,NH Bye Pass, Kochi-28 Excellent!! Worthy.... Creative . . Thank u Dave 8 months ago

Are you sure you want to Yes No

Roy Mark , Interim HR Consultant/Director at Total HRM Ltd Particularly agreed with slides 2/ 4 /15 which I am now off to implement 2 years ago

Anderson Cantarino , HSE Manager at BP very good tips. 2 years ago

Ahmer Kureishi thank you to dave for the ppt version.

thank you to chaver4u2 for the insight about facebook not allowing keynote presentations to load. 2 years ago

Dave Birss , Chap at Additive Thanks folks. Your feedback is much appreciated. Especially as none of it has been insulting so far.

I’ve had a couple of requests for a PowerPoint version so I’ve uploaded one here:
http://drop.io/creativebreakfast1/asset/problem-solving-slideshare-ppt - unfortunately you’ll probably have to reformat the text.

Many thanks,

Dave 2 years ago

rwanjohi Great stuff, let me go to the nearest coffee house, no I think the pub's a better option - mid-week blues ? 2 years ago

natália tiberio , designer at looking for one great! 2 years ago

Robert Barzelay , Independent consultant at GlobalStrategists Great presentation. Tried it in reality. Got a bit drunk with all the advised drinking, but I got over it. I will show it as is before pub breaks in my training sessions, if you don't mind.

About linking to Facebook: it won't work because Facebook doesn't accept Apple's Keynote presentations. Though better than PowerPoint, that's a fact of life. Dave could convert the presentation to an inferior [..] PowerPoint file and then the link will work ;-) 2 years ago

Dave Birss , Chap at Additive Sorry Ahmer. I'm not techy enough to know. Maybe drop the slideshare support guys an email describing the problem. Sounds like an issue on their end. Ta, Dave 2 years ago

Ahmer Kureishi I linked this show from my facebook profile, and a friend complained it is not working. I have tested and it is indeed broken; the slideshow loads and then unloads. What could be the matter? 2 years ago

Handy tips for creative thinking

by Dave Birss on Feb 05, 2010

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Handy tips for creative thinking — Presentation Transcript