Bubbles to Creativity

If you have done the ‘graveyard’ slot, you will know it is rarely a good time for creativity. Last Wednesday in Oxford, I was on after lunch at a seminar for fifteen women. The topic was creative thinking!

They needed to be energised and find their child like state. ‘Genius is the ability to retrieve childhood at will’ according to Jean Piaget. I decided to use bottles of bubbles. It was incredible the response this created. From quiet, academically minded ladies, they turned into giggling, high energy ‘children’ fighting over whose turn it was. It certainly created the desired effect and highlighted key issues with creativity.

1. How many times are creative ideas generated and like bubbles disappear into the ether? You need to capture all ideas in writing. If you cannot use them now, you may be able to use them later
2. You need to create the right environment to be creative. A boring meeting room may not be the best place.
3. The timing needs to be right. When are you at your most creative?
4. Do something different to spark new ideas. What can you do differently to generate creative ideas?
5. More fun and more bubbles were generated by sharing the bubble blowing. Two minds are better than one
6. Do you go for lots of little bubbles or a couple of big ones? You need to decide the success criteria of your idea generating session
7. Restrictions and rules can destroy creativity. How can you free your mind from the straight jacket of adult inhibitions?
8. See the world through your creative child’s eye
9. Pricking the bubble before it has time to form is counter-productive. Avoid judging ideas before they have had time to be floated.
10. So you’ve dribbled it down your front! Don’t be afraid to make mistakes – tomorrow it won’t show.

One of the many ideas generated to resolve real workplace issues was to string a washing line across the office and encourage people to peg new ideas on it. I loved the concept, but I am not sure the health and safety person would! How to get round that is another problem to solve.

What could you do to find the creative child in you?