http://www.inventium.com.au/ Back in 2006, Inventium’s founder, Dr Amantha Imber was working as a consumer psychologist in a big advertising agency. The agency had put her through a lot of creative thinking training which she loved. However, when she started getting deeper into researching the field, she realised that all these training companies had done was rip off Edward de Bono techniques from the 70s and re-package them as their own. She thought that, ironically, this was pretty uncreative.

1. p. +61 3 9018 7455
f. +61 3 9528 4787
m. +61 (0) 412 6565 38
e. info@inventium .com .au
PO Box 1251, Brighton Rd LPO, Elwood,
VIC, Australia 3184
Inventium
http://www.inventium.com.au/
Back in 2006, Inventium’s founder, Dr Amantha Imber was working as a
consumer psychologist in a big advertising agency. The agency had put
her through a lot of creative thinking training which she loved.
However, when she started getting deeper into researching the field,
she realised that all these training companies had done was rip off
Edward de Bono techniques from the 70s and re-package them as their
own. She thought that, ironically, this was pretty uncreative.

2. p. +61 3 9018 7455
f. +61 3 9528 4787
m. +61 (0) 412 6565 38
e. info@inventium .com .au
PO Box 1251, Brighton Rd LPO, Elwood,
VIC, Australia 3184
Amantha had always been a bit of a science geek and kept reading the
jargon-filled academic journals long after leaving university. She noticed
that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of studies being conducted
around the world that looked at what variables increased a person’s
ability to think more creatively and a company’s ability to innovate.
However, she realised that there was a great divide between this great
research that was being done in the world of academia, and what was
actually getting used in the ‘real world’.
So in 2007, she had the idea of starting a company that applied the
science of psychology and neurology to boosting creativity and
innovation - something that had never been done before. Since
Inventium opened its doors, Amantha and her team, have helped
literally thousands of people across Australia, the United States, the UK,
Europe, Africa and New Zealand improve their ability to generate great
ideas.

3. p. +61 3 9018 7455
f. +61 3 9528 4787
m. +61 (0) 412 6565 38
e. info@inventium .com .au
PO Box 1251, Brighton Rd LPO, Elwood,
VIC, Australia 3184
What Our Brains Can Do
Do you know that your brain is only 2% of
your weight and consumes 20% of your
body’s energy? Indeed our brain is very
powerful, in fact more powerful than our
muscles. A wise person can change the
whole world, but why is it that a company
with so many smart employees still finds it
hard to succeed? Every kind of business
requires employees that can generate
efficient creative thinking techniques that
will help the company adapt to changes and
create products that will meet the demands
of their clients. Generating ideas is a
process and there are so many firms
nowadays that offer guidance to various
business establishments so that they will
gain the maximum benefits of the process.
Many people do not know the certain
preparations and tools for this productive
method and these are a few of the reasons
why they need professional help. You must
understand that your brain cannot create
good ideas all the time. It always depends
on its condition and the condition of your
body as well. It is hard to generate
productive thoughts once you are mentally
weary. Acquiring a fresh and active mind is
simple. Enough sleep can greatly help. Just
like your body, you cannot run more if you
are very tired. Even machines need rest. If
you sleep well, the brain can process the
information well. It helps your brain
function and develop efficiently.
When you are in the process of generating
tactics for your business, make sure to let
go of other concerns. Take a bath and relax
before the task since it takes away stress
and pressure. Never hesitate to think freely
as well since it expands your capacity to
imagine wonderful things. Thinking outside
the box enhances creativity. If you are a
business owner, you can encourage your
employees to read books and magazines
that have nothing to do with your industry.
When they are introduced to the variations
and possibilities in life, they are able to
think flexibly, allowing creativity in their
minds to flow. Ask them to list down all
their generated thoughts so that they will
never forget them.

4. p. +61 3 9018 7455
f. +61 3 9528 4787
m. +61 (0) 412 6565 38
e. info@inventium .com .au
PO Box 1251, Brighton Rd LPO, Elwood,
VIC, Australia 3184
Keep in mind that small and simple ideas
can make your company great. Nothing
begins big since creating ideas is a simple
task as well. Focus on how you can make a
difference when introducing and providing
your products and services to people. Think
like a customer and know what you want
for a certain product. Meeting the needs
and demands of your clients can be very
daunting if you cannot connect to them. It
will help you a lot if your company has a
website and a certain webpage where your
previous clients can post their feedbacks.
Invest on innovation training and you will
see positive changes in your employees,
products, and services. Understand that it is
not only your equipment that needs
upgrading, your employees as well. Teach
them how to use their brains efficiently for
your success.
How to overcome
“Team-think”
Most of us have been a victim of groupthink
at some stage in our working lives. If you
have been sitting with the same team for
the past year, you’ve probably also become
a victim of ‘team-think’.
This happens a lot in companies that deal
with similar problems for their various
clients. I work with several advertising and
media agencies and often the key issue for
many of their clients is generating
awareness for their products. When the
agency tries to generate ideas on how to do
this, the strategies tend to revolve around
the same few media channels, such as TV,
print and outdoor campaigns, or creating a
viral video and posting it on YouTube.
Research suggests that teams which have
been together for a while develop a set of
entrenched assumptions, ways of doing
things and set patterns of behaviour. The
good news is there is a cure: introducing a
new member to the team. Studies show
that when a new member joins a team,
existing assumptions, attitudes and
behaviours are far less likely to be
activated. The new person triggers new
thoughts and behaviours.

5. p. +61 3 9018 7455
f. +61 3 9528 4787
m. +61 (0) 412 6565 38
e. info@inventium .com .au
PO Box 1251, Brighton Rd LPO, Elwood,
VIC, Australia 3184
While it can be tempting to leave
harmonious teams alone, rotating
employees around to different teams
regularly, say every 6–8 months, can
considerably enhance creativity.
When I run idea-generation sessions for
clients, I almost always insist they invite
people who do not work for their company.
I encourage them to include as diverse a
mix of people as possible. For example, in
one workshop for a national postal services
organisation, we had the artistic director of
a circus troupe, a creative director from an
advertising agency, an 18-year-old
university student and a TV host. Needless
to say, the ideas generated in the workshop
were wonderfully varied.
So, rather than try to think creatively on
your own, try to partner up with someone
you don’t normally work with. Use them as
a springboard for fleshing out your ideas
and let them go in directions you wouldn’t
if you were working on your own. Most
importantly, listen to their input and be
open to going in directions you would not
normally.
Creativity loves
boundaries
Letting your mind wander wherever it
needs to, starting with a blank canvas and
being free of rules are all considered
conducive to creativity? However, the latest
psychological research has shown the
complete opposite.
In one study, a group of adults was asked to
make a construction using Lego. One group
was given no constraints; they were told
that they could build whatever they liked.
The other group had several constraints
placed upon them; they were told that their
construction must contain no right-angled
joints and they could only use one kind of
brick.
The constructions built by the ‘constraints’
group were judged to be significantly more
creative and lateral than those in the ‘free
expression’ group.
So why does this happen? When completing
tasks, we typically draw on what we know
rather than seeking new ideas and opinions.

6. p. +61 3 9018 7455
f. +61 3 9528 4787
m. +61 (0) 412 6565 38
e. info@inventium .com .au
PO Box 1251, Brighton Rd LPO, Elwood,
VIC, Australia 3184
Often, information retrieval becomes
automated in our brains because it is useful
and saves us having to come up with new
solutions every time we face a problem. In
other words, when we are assigned a task
to complete, our brains switch into
autopilot if it is a familiar problem.
However, this autopilot mode dramatically
impairs performance when we have to think
of completely novel ideas. Constraining the
way we think forces us to search for new
and creative ways of completing the task or
solving the problem. In a paradoxical way,
putting constraints on our tasks lifts the
constraints on our thought processing.
Here are a couple of tips to help apply these
findings:
- Try to avoid taking on tasks that are
open-ended and overly broad. If you find
yourself in this situation, challenge yourself
to apply a constraint to the task to make
yourself perform more creatively.
- Whenever you feel yourself going into
autopilot, ask your boss to apply a
constraint to the task (or do it yourself).