Creativity & Innovation

Edward de Bono explains how our very practical obsession with truth makes us anxious to pick on one perception and ignore others, and why that needs to change through creativity

Many managers are reluctant to try out new ideas because, if an idea fails, it is seen as their failure. So perhaps companies need a 'new ideas officer' to encourage, develop and protect new thinking.

We're always told to think outside the box, but often we're not thinking far enough out of it. Here are some ideas to help you expanding the boundaries of what you will allow yourself to think.

Many people regard all thinking as problem-solving. It isn't. Powerful, useful new ideas can equally emerge when no obvious problem is apparent. That's what creative thinking is all about.

People who are very creative usually achieve more by themselves than in a group. For others, the opposite is true and they find it very hard to think on their own. But with the right tools, both groups can be helped to improve their thinking skills.

What's your Dramatic Difference? What sets you apart from the rest? Don't have one? Well get working on it and raise that bar. Because the chances of achieving success simply by being the same as everyone else are reducing rapidly

Big companies want big products. They want big ideas. They place big bets on a big future. But what they're doing is putting all their eggs in one big basket. Or worse – putting all their faith in just one egg.

Creativity is not just for people with a creative temperament. Lateral thinking and its formal techniques can be learned and used deliberately by everyone.

With business increasingly knowledge-based and 24/7, creativity and communication will be the key skills for the future. Shame no one told the U.S. education system.

Des Dearlove talks to psychologist Howard Gardner about the qualities of thinking that will allow people to survive and prosper in the 21st century, both in work and life generally.

As the old cliché goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". But just because something isn't broken doesn't mean it can't be improved upon. Remember, not all thinking is about problem-solving.

Some ideas around attitude, language and activity that I hope will make these late winter days a bit less grey and boost your creativity and thinking powers.

Some people argue that innovation is impossible to measure. But if innovation is not measured it can't be managed and you end up relying on luck. The secret to measuring innovation is to keep it simple.

Coming up with possibilities from within the confines of an organisation can be hard because traditional management tends to prefer conclusions instead. One solution to this is to appoint a possibilities officer.

Emotions travel from person to person like a virus. Is there somebody in your work life who has the unique ability to bring down everybody else's mood – even if unintentionally? If so, what can you do about it?

It's not just coming up with a great idea that counts in business. It's how you manage innovation that makes the difference between great performers and also-rans.

Ten tips for breaking out of that stale old mindset and seeing your worklife afresh.

It just isn't possible for one organisation to realise the benefits of all its ideas. Which means that there any numbers of good ideas out there just waiting to be exploited. All it takes is someone to see their potential. Just ask Steve Jobs.

Most managers accept that a subject is teachable and that the lessons, once taught, will bring benefit to them and their companies. But that doesn't stop too mnay of them wasting their time and money by listening to advice they are never going to take.

Most of us are fond of arguing. But as a means of exploring a subject, argument is a primitive, crude and inefficient technique with far too much emphasis on ego. A much better way of exploring a subject is parallel thinking.

Here are five ideas for gifts you can give this season that cost very little or nothing and that could really mean a lot to someone in your life.

Very few ideas succeed without powerful support. Because powerful people need ideas - and ideas need powerful people to facilitate, legitimise, popularise and even legislate for their adoption.

There are many reasons why complacency occurs. Some people have an aversion to taking risks. Others are frightened of creativity and new ideas because they are unsure of how to deal with them.

As we approach the end of another year, why not spend a little time brainstorming, looking to see whether there might be some profitable spin-offs in your future or learning more about the power of the good old-fashioned lists.

Everything new is made from something old. Nature has mixed and remixed matter to arrive at our current universe. Mankind has mixed and remixed ideas to arrive at our current global society. So if we want to make the future better, we need to look for new combinations of old ideas.

Tony Buzan's mind mapping technique has become a global phenomenon, spawning almost 100 books as well as a multi-million dollar industry. Stuart Crainer spoke to him about mind mapping and how it can help businesses to be better.

Everybody has the desire to be creative. Everybody ought to want to be creative. Life can be more fun, more interesting and more rewarding with creativity.

If you suspect that what you do is only average, dedicate some time every week to brainstorming how you could make it stand out. What could be bigger, smaller, louder, quieter, more specialized, cheaper, or just plain different?

Sometimes ideas do not survive. They are discarded or forgotten and never make it beyond the initial discussion stage. There are many and varied reasons why this happens.

Do you have too many ideas? Do you fear rejection? Do deadlines put you into a panic? Are you spreading yourself too thin? If any of these sound familiar, this month's Brainstorm has some invaluable tips and advice.

If you're looking for that ground breaking, market changing new idea, you need to think big, right? Well, not necessarily. The biggest advances often come from focusing on the smallest things.

Every investor would love to have a crystal ball that forecast a company's future innovations. Now researchers believe they are able to do just that.

The space between summer and fall is a good time to take a little break, even just a few hours, to review where you are and where you'd like to be by the end of the year. If a bit of course correction is necessary, maybe these tips will help.

On The Working Week this week, Wayne is joined by author, screen writer and creativity guru Jurgen Wolff, who writes our monthly column on creativity. They discuss what organisations can do to encourage creativity in their people and what we do to improve our own creative thinking.

It is often said of the over-managed company that there are 'too many chiefs and not enough Indians'. Whatever the veracity of that statement, management certainly has more Chiefs than it used to - not all of them useful.

How do people balance the need for variety with the need to concentrate enough on individual projects to make successes of them? That one of the questions to ponder this month, along with some interesting techniques for conflict resolution.

Instant judgment is an enemy of creative thought. The basis of traditional brainstorming is that you suspend judgment, withhold judgment and delay judgment.

What language are you using to describe the challenges and events in your life? Take a moment to consider how you could reframe them in a way that adds perspective and encourages you to move forward.

When William Shakespeare wrote Romeo & Juliet more than four hundred years ago, he could hardly have imagined that his star-crossed lovers would have something to say to a 21st century drinks conglomerate.

The specific and formal skills of lateral thinking can be very powerful. There are also the basic skills of creativity. There are also the basic skills of creativity. Once these basic skills are in place, the deliberate tools of lateral thinking become much

The console war between Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft demonstrates that winning doesn't have to mean being the biggest, baddest or most burnt-out. The Mario Generals have out-strategized their competitors. Not outworked, outgunned, or outfought, but outflanked and outthought.

Here's a question for you. Is it time for you to start seeing more of other people rather than more of the computer? Could it be time to focus more on real life than on Second Life?

If you want to unlock your own creativity, there are three important precursors that need to be in place. Put simply, these are motivation, thinking skills and lateral thinking.

In this months Brainstorm, Jurgen offers a different approach to innovation, some thoughts on the psychology of success and more ideas on how to improve personal productivity by minimising multi-tasking.

Managers should have the ability to look at something and find a way of doing it differently. But most seem to find coming up with small ideas even more difficult than coming up with big ones.

More ideas about how to be more creative this spring, why more choice is not necessarily better, how to gain clarity on your life through the power of journals - and how not to give someone advice.

Senior managers are often keen to boast that their company is at the cutting edge of innovation in products and technology, but their employees beg to differ.

Tips on networking for non-networkers, the impact of colour in your work surroundings, the power of asking and how even the most reticent among us can overcome our resistance to selling ourselves and our ideas.

A World Council for New Thinking is being formed as an independent source of new ideas. At the same time, National Councils for New Thinking in individual countries are also being established.

Britain's Prime minister-in-waiting, Gordon Brown, has been urged to put development as a "knowledge economy" at the centre of his future economic strategy for the country.

Far, far too many managers stifle the creativity and commitment of their people simply by the way they behave. But if they started doing more listening and less bossing, employee creativity and involvement might re-emerge.

In many organisations, new ideas represent a risk and things are maintained by complacency and routine. But complacency can mean getting left behind, which is why we all need a supply of new ideas.

The next time you feel low (not unusual these dark, winter days), try reading something (ideally, something positive in tone) faster than normal, followed by doing some activity that gets your physical energy up as well.

Value, and not difference is a key factor in creative thinking. Just 'being different' is enough where creativity is concerned - the 'different' thing, whatever it is, has to deliver real value.

I hope your New Year is off to a great start. If you are like me, the short, dark days are a bit of a challenge, so it is especially important to get as much daylight as possible, get some exercise and get energy from having great new ideas and moving toward your goals.

David Beckham may not be the best soccer player in the world, but he maximises what he's got and charges a premium price for it. Is that true of your business? Are you utilising your competitive assets and maximising your opportunities like he is?

Many able management trainers and coaches balk at the idea of turning their ideas into a book. But doing so isn't as difficult as you might think.

All too often, our New Year resolutions fail to become reality. For many of us, they have faded into the woodwork and been forgotten by Valentine's Day. So what can we do to turn our resolutions into reality?

Some people have a seemingly bias towards creativity. For true creativity, however, you must go far beyond this general motivation - and lateral thinking can help you do that.

If you make just one New Year Resolution for your business, it should be to do something that nobody would expect you to. Go on, stick your neck out. It might just get you ahead!