creativity posts, articles, and infographics

Why Your Brain Is Trying To Make You Less Creative And How To Fight It

December 2, 2011 by Tac Anderson with 41 views

Have you ever struggled with a problem you can’t seem to find a unique (dare I say creative) solution to a problem at work? Do you keep coming up with the same ideas and the same tactics for every initiative? I doubt there’s a CEO in the World who thinks there company has enough creativity and innovation, let alone too much. [read more]

Stuck Coming Up with a Big Idea? Host an 'Idea Party'

October 20, 2011 by Pamela Slim with 116 views

You know the feeling, staring into a blank computer screen, desperate to come up with Your Great Novel or Next Big Startup Smash or Fancy New Program That Will Delight Everyone. [read more]

Don’t talk to me about creativity, I’ve got a business to run

January 21, 2010 by Editor Bloggertone with 230 views

When times are hard and money is tight, I hear this often. The belt-tightening process seems to automatically result in ditching the creative. It’s ironic, because when anyone starts a new business, it surely springs from a creative inspiration. So, why is it that the very thing that inspired the whole thing is seen as expendable? I... [read more]

How do you get the creative juices flowing?

October 17, 2009 by Drew McLellan with 136 views

There are many ways to spark creativity. Most of them involve a shift in perspective and a willingness to be playful, even though the work is "serious." Here are some of the ways we go at it for our clients at MMG. View the problem/product/desired result from a different seat on the bus. In other words, how would a six-year old... [read more]

4 easy ways to increase idea flow

July 24, 2009 by karenpost with 172 views

4 easy ways to increase idea flow and connect more dots. One of the most important attributes of a being a successful entrepreneur is having the ability to generate fresh and meaningful ideas, often. Then, connect the dots to move your business forward. Many times circumstances for entrepreneurs make this pretty darn challenging.... [read more]

What Does an Imaginary Brick Have to do with Creativity?

July 22, 2009 by Tim Berry with 106 views

Try this exercise with a group of people: take out a piece of paper, take three minutes to list uses for a brick. Be creative. List as many as you can. After the three minutes are up, share your results. What’s this about? It turns out that most experts agree that creativity is about quantity of ideas, not quality of ideas. Long lists... [read more]

Are You Holding Back Your Creativity?

July 15, 2009 by Danny Brown with 231 views

Did you doodle at school as a kid? Did you play make-believe games with your friends that took you to other worlds real and imagined? Did you have an invisible friend? Our minds are so free as kids. We imagine anything and everything. Our creativity knows no limits and our imagination is boundless. When do we lose that? When does our... [read more]

#14: Here's a thought...

June 20, 2009 by BrianRoger with 121 views

An occasional series in which a review of recent posts on MyVenturePad reveals the following nuggets:Be grateful for what you don’t haveLiving with constraints and challenges is one of the best learning opportunities you will ever get. By succeeding in a tough economy, you will be much better prepared for life than peers who graduate... [read more]

Creativity Comes from Constraint

April 10, 2009 by Jeff Nolan with 130 views

This is a great quote. Biz Stone likes to think small. “Creativity,” he says, “comes from constraint.”[From What is Biz Stone doing?] Great because it is true. Companies with excessive resources rarely deliver the return on new product creation that companies constrained by cash do. When you don’t have anything to waste you tend... [read more]

5 eBooks Every Entrepreneur Should Read

April 9, 2009 by Brett Duncan with 182 views

Over the past few months, I’ve been on quite a voracious schedule of ebook reading. It’s truly amazing just how much resourceful content there is out there. Here are five great reads that every entrepreneur should read at some point: 7 Steps to Small Business Marketing Success by John Jantsch, DuctTapeMarketing.com: John really covers... [read more]

Brain Freeze. How to thaw an overwhelmed mind.

April 2, 2009 by karenpost with 191 views

The past few days I’ve suffered from a less than productive head. I absolutely could not get anything finished or even put a dent in a project. The more I tried, the less I achieved. It was like my brain was at a stop sign and then I ran out of gas. I could not think, create or solve any problems. After a couple hours of useless work,... [read more]

Great Talk on Creativity

March 3, 2009 by Tim Berry with 253 views

When I saw that Bob Sutton called it "the best talk on creativity I ever saw," I had to see it myself. He's the author of several books I really like, a Stanford University prof, and his Work Matters blog has been on my list of good blogs for more than a year now. When I saw it, I couldn't resist; I wanted to share it. Here's just a... [read more]

Meet your idea critics

March 3, 2009 by Binnur Al-Kazily with 152 views

We are all creative, even when we don’t acknowledge our creative powers. How we take ideas and combine them in unique and unexpected ways is what creativity is all about. Motivation, inspiration, exploration, constraints and sharing are the ingredients of creativity. Sharing is also the igniter that starts us on the path of invention... [read more]

Don't just think - create a right-brain file

February 27, 2009 by Curt Rosengren with 395 views

In a culture that places a high value on taking a left-brained, analytical approach, many of us are only tapping into part of our brain's potential. We completely miss out on the right-brained, intuitive, flash-of-brilliance-out-of-nowhere potential each of us have.Of course, it's easy to pay lip service to expanding our approach to... [read more]

Hidden Secrets to Crack the Voicemail Gatekeeper

November 29, 2008 by Kendra Lee with 31 views

Voicemail is perhaps the hardest gatekeeper to get past in the SMB market space. Executives play many roles and have little time for sellers. They use voicemail as their screening tool and you need not only a great message, but perseverance and creativity to crack through. Try these secrets to reach your top SMB prospects. Leave a... [read more]