Every one of us has experienced that paralysing fear and sense of hopelessness when we stare at that blank sheet of paper in front of us in despair. What can you do when you need a creative solution but are feeling short of inspiration?

By LIM CHANG SHANE

What are you going to do when you have to come up with an original and creative solution, but the well’s run dry? Every one of us will have hit the proverbial brick wall in our creative thinking process some time in our life, whether you’re a student fretting over how to make an essay assignment stand out from the clutter, or an engineer tasked with making that mobile phone prototype more user-friendly (not all engineers have boring jobs).

Here’s the good news: that blank stare into space can be overcome. And you can jump over the wall, starting today, by using a few simple techniques. The general process of idea generation can be broken down effectively into three steps:

1. Gather as much information on the problem as possibly you can.

2. Sit down and actively attack the problem;

and if all else fails,

3. Drop everything and do something else while your subconscious mind works on the problem.

By adopting this process to generate ideas, you might even prevent mental blocks from occurring in the first place.

FAIL TO PREPARE, PREPARE TO FAIL

In the first stage, you gather as much background information on the problem as you can. You underline stuff, take notes, ask questions and visit the source of the problem if possible. It is important to get the research done before going on to the next stage so that you do not have to interrupt your thought process by looking for more information later. Dig first, think later.

The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis is a useful technique for understanding your strengths and weaknesses. It helps you uncover opportunities that you are well placed to take advantage of, and identify and eliminate threats that would otherwise have caught you unaware. This insight will prove invaluable when you are trying to think of an innovative solution in the next step.

DARE TO BE STUPID

After you have all the information you need at your fingertips, you are ready to proceed to attack the problem actively. According to Tom Monahan, a pioneer in the emerging field of applied creativity in business, the key to getting round a mental block is to trick your brain into not thinking so hard. Go for quantity and resist the urge to edit your ideas, no matter how appalling they seem, to eventually arrive at ones with quality.

In other words, dare to be stupid. Don’t worry if you have a whole load of bad ideas. Spend about three minutes writing them down quickly before reviewing your list. You’ll find a good idea in there. Surprised? What you just did was to “turn off” your brain by going for quantity. That leads to quality. Now discard that half-decent idea and repeat the process again.

Brainstorming is a similar technique that also employs the principle of suspending judgment – proven to be highly productive by scientific research – but is usually done in a group setting.

There are four basic rules to frame the brainstorming session: have a well-defined and clearly stated problem, gather an optimal number of people in the group (usually four to eight), assign someone to write down all the ideas as they occur, and appoint a facilitator to guide the flow of the session to ensure everyone has a chance to contribute.

Do not feel compelled to complete the brainstorming session with the idea. You will just be placing unnecessary pressure on yourself and this can stifle your creativity. Pare down the mass of ideas generated to a handful and explore each of them further to see which ones have real depth.

GOOF OFF

If you’re still struggling for ideas at this point, distance yourself from the problem. Sometimes the best way to look for fresh ideas is to avoid going out looking for them directly. The last thing you should do is to work intensely for hours on end to solve the problem. Get out of the office for an extended coffee break, listen to music, watch a movie or take a nap and let your subconscious work on the problem while you are relaxing.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the freedom to explore creative pursuits during office hours. The next best thing you can do without appearing to goof off is to switch gears and work on another project for a while. Just be ready to jot down the inspiration when it comes. And it will come. So don’t panic. You can do it, and even have fun at the same time!

HOW CREATIVES WORK

Creative professionals in industries such as advertising are constantly looking for that one big idea to communicate their intended message effectively to their target audience. So how do they keep coming up with fresh and interesting ideas without burning themselves out?

Having an inquisitive mind and looking for ideas everywhere helps, whether in the product name, logo, packaging, how it is made, where it is made, or the product’s history. As Leo Burnett, one of the advertising greats of all time, once said, “Curiosity about life in all of its aspects is still the secret of great creative people.”

While there is no one single magic formula that works for everyone, experienced creative professionals do have their own bag of effective tricks to draw on for new ideas. When he is up against impossible deadlines, Lionel Hunt, the co-founder of the Campaign Palace, an advertising agency regarded as the most creative in Australia, plays several games of table-tennis to kill stress and pump his adrenaline.

You might be surprised at the number of award-winning creative people who cite procrastination as one of their secret weapons. Neil French, former Worldwide Creative Director of WPP, one of the world’s largest communications networks, deliberately avoids the temptation to start immediately on new projects, preferring to sip some red wine and take a short nap before working with whatever information he still remembers when he awakes.

While that approach might work for an advertising god, the lesser beings amongst us have to rely on last-minute inspiration to do our best work. Susie Henry has won five prestigious British Design & Art Direction (D&AD) awards as a copywriter but admits to writing only “almost always at the last minute, with fevered brow with a good deal of angst.” She also does most of her work at home, far removed from distractions like ringing telephones.

Every creative person feels his or her own version of insecurity. It’s part of being creative. So feel some relief that you’re not a dud, take a deep breath and take a run at that blank page with blind faith.