• Introduction
• CEOs Are Asking for Creativity
• How Do I Find A Creative Expert?
• What Is Creativity?
• Why Is Creative Thinking Important?
• The Creative Thinking Process
• Is Creativity Logical?
• Key Myths About Creativity
• The Paralyzing Power of Previous 
   Perceptions
• How the Mind Works
• How Does Your Experience Affect
  Creativity?
• Why Are We So Critical?
• The Mind Has A Creative Immune System
• The 10 Mental Blocks To Creativity
• 1. One "Right Answer"
• 2. Logic Can Kill Creativity
• 3. Be Creative - Break Some Rules
• 4. Be Creative - Is That Practical?
• 5. Play is Creative
• 6. Make Time To Think Creatively
• 7. Being Creative Is "Not My Job"
• 8. Don't Be Afraid To Be Creative
• 9. Creativity...How Ambiguous
• 10. Is Creativity Wrong?
• Think Creative
• The Sly As A Fox Toolkit
• Brainstorming Rules
• Idea Rockets
• "Senseable" Creativity
• Random Creativity
• WBF
• All Factors Involved (AFI)
• All Possible Alternatives (APA)
• Other's View (OV)
• Challenge Accepted Concepts
• Best Problem Definition
• Provocation
• Combination Creativity
• Conclusion
• About The Author
• The Sly As A Fox Workshop -
   Bring Creative Thinking To Your Company

How Do I Find a Creative Expert?

You’ll be surprised at how easy it is. Perhaps you’re thinking that people familiar with your business would be the most appropriate creative thinkers to solve problems. After all, they’re most familiar with the industry and should be the most qualified to come up with new creative ideas, right? Not necessarily. 

There’s a place and a time for experts, but they’re not likely to be the best people to come up with new ideas. Why? Because we are creatures of habit and very repetitious in the things we do. Experts are likely to use “tried and true” solutions rather than look for the most innovative, creative ideas.

The best way to find someone to help you with new and creative ideas is to look for someone who knows nothing about the business or subject. These people have no way of knowing “the way we do it” and will likely come up with something new and creative. Ideas will be based on their background and experience – which may be very different from yours, or other experts. They will typically propose creative solutions that you have never thought of before.

So how can you put this in practice? Simple. Take someone you know to lunch who knows nothing about your business. 

Better yet, take someone you’ve never met before. Talk about your problem or issue and ask them how they would solve it. Listen carefully to their creative ideas and see if they could solve your problem.

A great way to solve a problem using creative thinking and innovation is to take your problem to the Internet. There are millions of people on the web today with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

Seek out chat rooms and discussion groups. Post your problem and ask for help. You may feel more comfortable posting to a discussion group familiar with your industry. That’s normal. 

Make sure you also post your question to a group that’s not familiar with it too. Give it a try. Compare the answers you get from the industry and non-industry boards. Determine which are the most creative. You may be surprised. And it will cost you nothing to find a resource of potentially hundreds of new creative and innovative ideas.

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