100 Simple, Low-Cost Ways to be More Creative on the Job

by Mitch Ditkoff

1. Ask the most creative people at work for their ideas.
2. Brainstorm daily with a co-worker.
3. Tape record your ideas on your commute to and from work.
4. Present your challenge to a child.
5. Take your team off-site for a day.

6. Listen to your inner muse.
7. Play music in your office.
8. Go for a daily brainstorming walk.
9. Ask someone to collaborate with you on your favorite project.
10. Exercise during your lunch break.

11. Turn on a radio at random times and listen for a “message.”
12. Invite your customers to brainstorming sessions.
13. Think of three other ways to define your challenge.
14. Remember your dreams.
15. Reward yourself, in specific ways, for small successes.

16. Introduce odd catalysts into your daily routine.
17. Get out of the office more regularly.
18. Play with fun toys in your office whenever you get stuck.
19. Take more naps.
20. Ask for help.

21. Work in cafes.
22. Transform your assumptions into “How can I?” questions.
23. Write down as many ideas as you can think of in five minutes
24. Redesign your office.
25. Take regular daydreaming breaks.

26. Dissolve turf boundaries.
27. Initiate cross-functional brainstorming sessions.
28. Arrive earlier to the office than anyone else.
29. Turn a conference room into an upbeat “think tank” room.
30. Read odd books – having nothing to do with your work.

31. Block off time on your calendar for creative thinking.
32. Take a shower in the middle of the day.
33. Keep an idea notebook at your desk.
34. Decorate your office with inspiring quotes and images.
35. Create a headline of the future and the story behind it.

36. Choose to be more creative.
37. Recall a time in your life when you were very creative.
38. Wander around a bookstore while thinking about your challenge.
39. Trust your instincts more.
40. Immerse yourself in your most exciting project.

41. Open a magazine and free associate off of a word or image.
42. Write down your ideas when you first wake up in the morning.
43. Ask yourself what the simplest solution is.
44. Get fast feedback from people you trust.
45. Conduct more experiments.

46. Ask yourself what the market wants or needs.
47. Ask “What’s the worst thing that could happen if I fail?”
48. Pilot your idea, even if it’s not ready.
49. Work “in the cracks” – small bursts of creative energy.
50. Incubate (sleep on it).
51. Test existing boundaries – and then test them again.

52. Schedule time with the smartest people at work.
53. Visit your customers more frequently.
54. Benchmark your competitors – then adapt their successes.
55. Enroll your boss or peers into your most fascinating project.
56. Imagine you already know the answer. What would it be?

57. Create ground rules with your team that foster new thinking.
58. Ask stupid questions. Then ask some more.
59. Challenge everything you do.
60. Give yourself a deadline – and stick to it
61. Look for three alternatives to every solution you originate.

62. Write your ideas in a notebook and review them regularly.
63. Make connections between seemingly disconnected things.
64. Use creative thinking techniques.
65. Play with the Free the Genie cards.
66. Use similes and metaphors when describing your ideas.

67. Have more fun. Be sillier than usual.
68. Ask “How can I accomplish my goal in half the time?”
69. Take a break when you are stuck on a problem.
70. Think how your biggest hero might approach your challenge.
71. Declare Friday afternoons a “no-email zone.”

72. Ask three people how they would improve your idea.
73. Create a wall of images that inspires you.
74. Do more of what already helps you be creative off the job.
75. Laugh more, worry less.
76. Remember your dreams – then write them down.

77. Ask impossible questions.
78. Eliminate all unnecessary bureaucracy and admin tasks.
79. Create a compelling vision of what you want to accomplish.
80. Work on hottest project every day, even if only 5 minutes.
81. Do whatever is necessary to create a sense of urgency.

82. Go for a walk anytime you’re stuck.
83. Meditate or do relaxation exercises.
84. Take more breaks.
85. Go out for lunch with your team more often.
86. Eat lunch with a different person each day.

87. Ask for forgiveness, not permission.
88. Invite an outside facilitator to lead a brainstorming session.
89. Take more risks outside of the office (i.e. surf, ski, box etc.)
90. Ask for help when you need it.
91. Know that it is possible to make a difference.

92. Find a mentor.
93. Acknowledge all your successes at the end of each day.
94. Create an “idea piggy bank” and make deposits daily.
95. Have shorter meetings.
96. Try the techniques in “Awake at the Wheel”

97. Don’t listen to or watch the news for 24 hours.
98. Make drawings of your ideas.
99. Bring your project or challenge to mind before going to bed.
100. Divide your idea into component parts. Then rethink each part.
101. Post this list near your desk and read it daily.

KIND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TO: Anne Howe, David Beath, Jim Aubele, Gary Kvistad, Howard Moody, Farrell Reynolds, Hector Cruz Rosa, Jill Peckinpaugh, and Marcy Turkington for their wonderful suggestions.

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Mitch Ditkoff is the Co-Founder and President of Idea Champions and the author of “Awake at the Wheel”, as well as the very popular Heart of Innovation blog.

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