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Use your creative imagination to drive innovation

By Thomson Dawson
25 September 2015   |   1:14 am
IT’S my belief that all entrepreneurs are completely and totally creative! Entrepreneurs create value where there was previously no value perceived.

SuccessIT’S my belief that all entrepreneurs are completely and totally creative! Entrepreneurs create value where there was previously no value perceived. Now that’s creativity! When I use the word “creative”, I don’t mean activity exclusively tied to artistic endeavors. Everything there is, at first, was created in the formless imagination before it became a physical reality. Your business is a creative sandbox for you to play in-that’s why I like to use the term creative business. Naturally as an entrepreneur you are creating everyday to grow your business. You’re creating innovative products or services that add more value to people. You realize that you must create value for others first before new opportunity will come to you in the form of more paying customers. There are two parts to value creation: the inner formless idea in your creative imagination, and its physical manifestation in reality. If you can create something in your mind, you can experience it in the physical. Your creative imagination is the source of all value innovation in your business. Using your creative imagination is critical to your growth and success.

Your creative imagination is visual – When you “see” an idea in your mind’s eye, it is as if you are watching a movie on the screen of your mind. Your creative imagination is the place where you form mental pictures of things and circumstances that you have not yet experienced. Your ability to develop the skill of using your creative imagination is the most important attribute for creating value for people. You have to have a compelling vision of what you want to create in your business. When you visualize an idea, you are really accessing the rich resources of your sub-conscious mind. To be effective at tapping into the creative power of your sub-conscious, you must create a space in your conscious mind. There are many techniques for doing this, but the one I find most useful is daydreaming. Let your mind go-play aimlessly with your ideas without self-judgment. Let an idea take its own form in your mind without you trying to force it

Intuition is the white hot center of your creative power – Intuition can best be described as your inner wisdom and understanding unrelated to experience or reasoning. Intuition can be compared to a “sixth sense,” an ability to know instinctively what course of action is best to embark on. Intuition is the guide of your creative imagination. Can you learn to more effectively use your intuitive powers? Absolutely! Intuition is not a special talent or gift that only the lucky few possess.
Before you can use your natural intuitive gift for innovation, you have to trust it! This might explain why some people seem to attract more opportunity than others. These are the people who trust their gut and simply go with it. If you want to tap into game changing ideas for creating value for people, you have to trust your intuition.

Creative ideas don’t have to be original – Many entrepreneurs put undue pressure on themselves to develop original ideas. In my experience, there is nothing new under the sun. Every ground-breaking innovation that ever was came as a result of what came before it. For example, someone invented windshield wipers because people wanted to drive their car in the rain. Then a few years later, someone had the idea that intermittent wiper blades would be a better solution. Many times useful ideas are incremental. You don’t have to create a revolution to create value. The point is every creative idea always builds on something that came before it. Originality, in my opinion, is overrated and often gets in the way of innovation and value creation.

Creative ideas don’t have to be perfect – Nothing impedes progress more than the pursuit of perfection. Many entrepreneurs needlessly worry that they haven’t perfected their ideas. No idea is ever perfect. When you have an idea, go ahead and build a prototype or two, tinker with what works, make refinements as necessary, but by all means get it out there! You can always improve on a good idea. Let the market help you improve.

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