A Brilliant Idea Every 60 Seconds – A Primer

Is it really possible to come up with a brilliant idea every 60 seconds?  Early in my career as a professional creative (adjective as noun), I established a 60-second time challenge: to state a creative idea within 60 seconds in a meeting, which would make at least one person at the table take notice.  This powerful connection would eventually draw in all the other participants and a far different meeting would unfold.

What kinds of ideas have the power to get this kind of attention?  The answer to that question is not necessarily about the ‘Big Idea’.  In fact, it’s more about the not-so-big idea, which, when examined closer, can yield incredible things.

What many people think about creativity, whether it is associated with art, music, advertising, fashion, writing, films — even business and sports —- is heavily influenced by the creative machines in Hollywood and New York as well as radio and television

Films, TV and radio programs, commercials, music videos — they all take us somewhere, creatively; they all shape our perception of what we think is highly creative and, by implication, what we think — or don’t consider — about our own creativity.

Ask the pedestrian on the street what he or she thinks is an example of creative thinking, and rarely does anyone say anything about an idea of their own.  What do you think about your own creativity?  Have you had a good idea lately?  Would you know if you did?

I wish I had a quarter for every person who has said to me, “I wish I could be as creative as you.  How do you come up with ideas like that?”  The truth is, I don’t really “come up with ideas”.  I find them.  Sometimes, they find me.

 

A Few Creative Truths

1.  There is no such thing as stupid idea.  This is not a rule of my invention.  It was stolen from the public domain.

2.  Only God, Allah, Buddha, Brahman — all capital ‘C’ Creators — actually “come up” with big ideas.  I mean — I just don’t have the qualifications to create a universe of reality with spirituality as a subliminal influence.  Do you?

3.  Creativity is a thousand doors.   Pick one.

4.  Your children, mother, father, grandparents and favorite school teacher think you are creative.  Are they wrong?  On this rare occasion, they are right.

5.  The moment you yell, “I’m such an idiot!” and whack yourself on the side of your head, is a moment of pure, absolute creativity.

6.  Have you ever lied?  C’mon, it doesn’t take creativity to tell the truth, which is why politicians and lawyers are the most creative people I know.  (How many lawyers become politicians?  Crazy circle, isn’t it?)

7.  When you were a child, you pretended to be someone else at Haloween. (Some of us still do.)  You also turned an inanimate object into a weapon of destruction, transformed yourself into royalty with a handful of clothes, and managed to convince your parents that you were too sick to go to school.  In some cases, you did this all on the same day.

8.  Creativity is not exclusive to one person.  It is a shared process, an ongoing collaboration that happens either by design or spontaneously.

9.  Everyone is creative.  People who say they are not creative are lying to themselves, and that’s very creative.

10.  Perfection is imperfection at work.  Just as there is no such thing as a stupid idea, there is no such thing as a perfect idea.