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PM Forum - Edinburgh
Ideas are the Catalyst of Change
How to have more ideas and better ideas – more of the time
Hudson kindly provided the setting for the seminar Ideas are the Catalyst of Change, given by Kenny Harris from Headsurf to the Edinburgh PM Forum.
Kenny’s excellent presentation focused on how we can tap into the power of the creative side of our brain and harness its power to generate ideas. Kenny provided numerous examples of companies that have launched during a recession and their strategy of investing in research and development, personal development and marketing during tough times. He gave a series of easy to use tips and hints including:
- How to stimulate right brain (creative side) thinking:
- Listen to music you don’t normally listen to,
- Go for a walk,
- Laugh,
- Use your left hand (or the hand you don’t normally use),
- Exercise,
- Daydream,
- Use colour.
- The best times for ideas:
- In bed,
- In the shower,
- Driving/ during a regular train journey,
- Exercising,
- Reading,
- Talking/ meeting people about another issue,
- Basically a time when the brain ‘switches off’.
- Tips:
- Find a place that inspires you inside or outside the office,
- Capture your genius – keep a notepad and pen with you to write down your ideas,
- Whatever works for you, do it. If you get ideas on the train, take the train. If you get ideas in the bath, take a bath,
- Change from ‘Yes, but...’ to ‘Yes, and...’,
- Don’t write a brief, write a wish. ‘I wish that...’,
- Tackle a problem from a different perspective. Instead of asking your team ‘What are the top 10 ways to give a good service’, ask instead, ‘What are the top 10 ways to give a bad service’ and flip back – it’s more fun and easier to be creative,
- Every week, do something different that you’ve never done before.
For ways to generate creative thinking in others, Kenny suggested that at the start of a meeting, ask everyone to bring a joke or a cartoon they like – get the creative side of the brain stimulated.
Kenny ended the session on a very helpful note that when thinking of ideas, don’t stick to just one or two – they are the ideas your competitors will use, instead keep generating ideas and eventually the third, fourth or even the twentieth is the idea that is the best. Creative ideas are about divergent thinking, the first answer is the most obvious answer – what is the next idea and the next? The only way to have good ideas is to have lots of ideas.
Overall the presentation was stimulating and thought provoking – so successfully achieved the subject matter!
Carol Flockhart
Chiene + Tait
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