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.

Our brains (the source of our creative “output”) are very efficient. I’d even say they’re very lazy. They create patterns so that we can get things done. We do the same things, in the same way so that we don’t have to think about everything we do. We can just do them. If we didn’t do this we’d never make it out the door in the morning. Your brain is so good at this it even creates patterns and routines for things you don’t want it to, like problem solving.

Everyday you  go to the same place to work, in the same environment. You see the same people and you are surrounded by the same sensory inputs. And you usually have to solve the same problem over and over again. Your company is usually selling to the same customer set and you are selling the latest version of the same product. Yet when the same tactics don’t work anymore you’re expected to come up with new ideas. Even though everything is still the same. Our brains don’t work that way.

We even see this with social media. People attack this new channel in the same way as they did the old channels. Sometimes, this is a good thing, some things don’t change. But often it leads to the same problems, the same wasted efforts, the same poor customer response.

So how do you fix it? Break your patterns. It’s that easy. Here’s a list of things that work for me:

  • Go work from a new place. Go to a coffee shop or a co-work space.
  • Take a break, download a new game on your phone and play it.
  • Come up with ideas for a completely different product targeted at a completely different customer.
  • Read a book about an industry you know nothing about like art or architecture).
  • Play with LEGO’s.

At work we have developed our own form of ideation. Lot’s of companies use ideation, some more effectively than others, but IDEO is probably the most famous with their design thinking approach. I’ve found that it’s the best way to systematically break down a problem, disrupt your pattern of thinking, in order to come up with new solutions.

If you’re not familiar with ideation or design thinking doing things to disrupt your pattern thinking like changing your physical surroundings and doing different thing still works, as does getting some fresh outside perspective.

Do you have any tips for thinking more creatively? Feel free to share them here.