ThoughtOffice

L-Pyroglutamic Acid and L-Tyrosine. Take the former with Vitamin B (a good multi is great) at night before bed. Then L-Tyrosine during the day (take both with water, away from protein-based foods). Those two provide phenomenal neurochemical activity, making it easier to be creative for longer periods of time, and to increase your associative thinking capability. When you are operating with excellent biochemistry, creativity flows naturally. [about 16 years ago]
100 Tips For Improving Your Creativity

Work to a soundtrack: Find a song that resonates with you, and one that drives you. Momentum is critical to idea generation. There's a song I have played in my mind since my road racing days: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbxswV2a6l0. It's called 'Los Endos' (The End). The genius in the song is that it's made of the key melody in each of the songs on the album. As a result, it's all hooks and a number of different rhythms (9:8 time is my fave... always playing catchup). A ThoughtOffice Fave. [about 16 years ago]
100 Tips For Improving Your Creativity

Humor. A successful joke is most often based on associative thinking. So connect with some humor, and "riff" on it. My key employees and I make sure to riff at least a few times a week... it's a great way to get into a new mindset. More often than not, we arrive at an "a-HA!" moment that gets us to a new level in our innovation process. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8kThoZpF_U and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHI-foSNccA are great examples. (thanks to Brian Regan). [about 16 years ago]
100 Tips For Improving Your Creativity

Watch this video: http://www.gofish.com/player.gfp?gfid=30-1025863. This is the classic Eames "Powers of 10" video, expanding to the mega-universe level, then to the subatomic level. Now, watch for the noise level at each phase. See that? There appear to be sequences in nature that move from quiet to noisy in a rhythmic pattern. Look for those patterns in your work and idea exploration, and you can often tap the noise (or the whitespace) for the next big breakthrough. [about 16 years ago]
100 Tips For Improving Your Creativity

Read the free newsletter from Roy Williams of the WIzard Academy at http://www.MondayMorningMemo.com. This one weekly insight has provided more powerful insights and is a great way to start your week. [about 16 years ago]
100 Tips For Improving Your Creativity

Act like Bowfinger: (Google that one if you missed the reference). Take sticky notes and imagine you are writing a movie. Take each "scene" (or problem, or list of issues) as a separate sticky note. Then craft solutions, expansions, contractions, corrections, etc... one each per note. Then put them all on a whiteboard and rearrange as they make sense. Arrange vertically for "Scenes", and horizontally for either Time, company division to handle, or person/personality to handle. Amazing results. [about 16 years ago]
100 Tips For Improving Your Creativity

Cross-pollinate Ideas: Read. Everything. I read 31 print magazines a month, 100 email newsletters and 4+ books. By reading diverse text covering every field, you develop threads that help expand the mind and discover creative solutions across ever field. There may be "no new ideas", but the combinations of existing ideas is limitless. [about 16 years ago]
100 Tips For Improving Your Creativity

Gmail. Yes, get your free Gmail account (that's Google Mail, FYI). Then send email to yourself with random words, phrases and posts. On the right edge of your email you'll see Google AdWords that are a result of keywords within your emails. Many times you'll find some very interesting phrasing, associations, and other fun explorations to play with (these AdWords are slightly different than the ones on a typical search on Google, because they are AdSense versions). [about 16 years ago]
100 Tips For Improving Your Creativity

http://unboxing.gearlive.com. There is a certain combination of thrill, anticipation and "Scooby Do" moments when you open a well-designed product package. UnBoxing does it well, with pictures and descriptions for all kinds of products. And if you haven't opened an Apple product box, do so immediately. It is a study in user experience and innovation. [about 16 years ago]
100 Tips For Improving Your Creativity

http://shopliftwindchimes.com/videos.html. This is the video portion of poet Rives. Brilliant. If you can't find creative inspiration in his "Def Poetry Jam" video, you need work. Also: http://www.virtualpoetryslam.net/main/contests/2007/all. Some great inspiration in their words, cadence, rhymes and rhythm. [about 16 years ago]
100 Tips For Improving Your Creativity

www.TED.com. Watch a video a day, and take notes. We do it in the office daily, and I get more creative improvements and positive feedback from our crew by watching a 5-30 minute TED video than almost any other single source. [about 16 years ago]
100 Tips For Improving Your Creativity

Go wide. Once you have a clear idea of the situation, do a "stream of consciousness" brainstorming session, using words, images, objects and music/lyrics to expand the idea. Think of it as "6 degrees of separation", knowing that you can get to any solution through a short series of associations. [about 16 years ago]
100 Tips For Improving Your Creativity

Ask every question you can think of related to the task at hand, problem or opportunity. This "drilling-down" will ALWAYS produce high-quality possibilities and answers – and crystallize your idea, problem or opportunity so you can produce very clear responses. [about 16 years ago]
100 Tips For Improving Your Creativity