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When Dan Pink published A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age, we learned about the business relevance and importance of design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning.
Truth be told, no matter how hard we try, we are not going to outpace the computational capacity of machines. And if we can't beat them, we should be in an entirely different business -- that of finding creative ways to move forward as we face the dilemmas of our age.
Which doesn't mean thinking harder. Have you tried thinking harder when on deadline? It's a fine line between creative constraints and no space at all to think. More often than not, we are in the latter predicament.
How do you build new capacity? How do you get more creative?
1. Take a step back
Hit pause and do something else. Once you take the foot off the pedal, your mind is more likely to roam and process the information you fed it.
Better yet, if instead of sitting in front of the computer looking for your google-fu moment (thank you, Michael) you get up and take a short walk around the office -- I like climbing stairs, it gets my heart rate going, too.
We do think with our bodies (and plenty of evidence shows we Italians talk with our hands).
2. Replay the problem differently
Another option is to ask someone else to define the problem for you, to play it back in her own words.It will help you see it from a different perspective.
The idea is to see the bigg(er) picture, gain an appreciation of the context, and seek a moment of serendipity.
When we spend too much time in our own heads, we tend to discard ideas because they are obvious to us, we're used to the way we think. A slight change in point of view does help reframe the story, or at least some of the key elements.
Sir Ken Robinson believes that everyone is born with extraordinary capabilities -- and so do I. Reach out more, and you'll be surprised at the outcomes of combining your creativity with theirs.
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What do you do when you're stuck?
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Valeria is an experienced listener. She is also frequent speaker at conferences and companies on a variety of topics. To book her for a speaking engagement click here.