Creativity and the Big Idea!

Anyone reading this is capable of coming up with a brilliant idea every 60 seconds. Do you believe you can do it? It depends on your perception of what a ‘brilliant idea’ really is. A brilliant idea might be defined as the notion that there is no such thing as a stupid idea.   How many stupid ideas have you had that were acknowledged as ’stupid’, as opposed to ‘brilliant’.

For over 30 years, I have been ‘finding’ ideas, rather than ‘coming up’ with them – and I don’t mean that I plagiarize; although there is an organic, cumulative experience that one might compare to a form of natural, creative, shop lifting. It’s about searching for ‘inherent values’ within something. I will provide some examples of inherent values and how they are at the heart of inspiration; but, rest assured, from this pool of inherent values comes the creative grist that leads to fresh, bold, and inspired thoughts and ideas.

The “big idea” is the property of Brahma, Allah, God, or, for you quasi-existentialists, the entity or force that compels the electron to keep spinning in the vacuum of the atom it is bonded to.

We can agree, I would think, that if anything unites us all, even as we debate the differences of our diverse faiths or beliefs, it is that ‘creativity’ is at the heart of our existence. Presumably, we were created in the image of the Great Creator, whichever brand you subscribe to. “And then there was light …” And then came light switches. And so on.

We are not Gods. We can’t invoke a universal reality with a time-space continuum, which keeps everything in chaotic sync. Nor can we burn like bushes, reincarnate ourselves, or work mysterious miracles. We walk on solid surfaces, not on water. If we could, it would take the fun out of the vulnerable humanity embraced by the statement, ’sink or swim’.

The “big bang” is a triumphant, God-like exercise of ideas. Whereas, our own efforts to swim to the distant shore and reach it (against the odds) is a triumphant exercise inspired by human desperation. In fact, that’s how many of us feel when we are given the task of coming up with creative ideas – especially in the workplace. However, it doesn’t have to be that way.

What we can do is think and, as we do, connect dots planted within our thoughts and feelings, stimulated by our spiritual, intellectual and emotional experiences. These dots connect us to ‘inherent values’. So, what is an ‘inherent value’?

Some examples:

1. It could be something superficial and visible on the surface. For example, I have found other words and expressions within words. I found “I’m possible” within ‘impossible’.

2. I needed to find an idea for my daughter’s birthday party. I went into her bedroom and looked at the things that inspire her. Anything one sees – from posters on the wall to the play-list in her iPod is an inherent value.

3. A head hunting company needed marketing ideas to find worthy employment candidates for companies searching for ‘heavy hitters’. We asked ourselves, what are some of the values we see around ‘heavy hitters’? They are upwardly mobile and, when they are, they buy new houses or real estate. Real estate agents are a channel of connection to talented people. A marketing campaign was built around that inherent value.

4. The industry of fast food was built around one simple inherent value: two working parents have less time to cook. Domino Pizzas took it a step further when they realized that, the faster they could deliver pizza, the better they could position themselves with the same time-challenged people who preferred to go home and then order their meal.

5. Years ago, my life went into the ditch. I hung a picture of myself as a one-year old on the bathroom wall. Every morning, I told the little boy in the picture that I would take care of him. And I did. That photo of me as an innocent, creative human being represented the inherent values of my life.

Inspiration is like that electron, spinning endlessly around and so vital to our existence. It is not the “big idea” that you need to look for. It is the idea you just came up with a moment ago that are brilliant.

Like the one-year old in the photo, give that idea an opportunity to grow. It is an inspiring experience. In the end, it’s brilliant – every 60 seconds.