It's (All) About Time!

When you really think about it, we've really got nothing but time in our lives. Oh, sure, we've got lots of reasons to tell us that we don't - "Time flies," we tell ourselves. Yeah, but the good news is that we're the pilot!

One of the challenges we have with the concept of time, especially when it comes to our creativity (the ability to create something from nothing), is allowing ourselves enough of it.

In my work with SolutionPeople, I've learned about the m-curve, which measures creative value over time. When we go through any kind of creative process like brainstorming, we usually don't allow ourselves enough time. We go through the motions, bringing in our old ideas, and then get bored when we've had a chance to dump those ideas we came in with. We want to prove what we already know. On the graph you'll see that represented as the first hump on the m. The value of the creative process gets to a peak and then it starts to come down and we think we're done.

But the real value - and often the breakthrough ideas - come when we allow the process to work its way through that first downward trend and come back up even higher on the value scale than on the first hump of the m. Of course, there is a danger in letting the process go on too long where the value wanes over time.

But if we can allow ourselves enough time in the creative process, whatever that process is: that's where the real value comes into play.

Try it sometime. Allow yourself more time than you think you have to come up with a brand new idea. Get those old ideas out of your head to make way for the new ones to come in. Try a new brainstorming technique. Get ideas from others. If you need some ideas for creative brainstorming, drop me a line. I've got lots of 'em.

It's about TIME you did!