The benefit of ongoing creative thinking can be profound. Yet research indicates that many marketing executives are required to spend most of their day focused on urgent, short-term responsibilities. In addition, a Harvard Business School study found that time pressures have a negative effect on creative thinking on the time-pressured day as well as the following day.

Please take a look below for thoughts on taking a little time out of your day to think creatively about building your business and brand.

Best regards,
Kent Panther
kpanther@wrayward.com

TAKE 10

There’s never been a better time for marketing people to get creative about new markets, new audiences, and new approaches. But it’s hard to think outside the box when you’re busy circling
the wagons.

That’s when it pays to know some effective techniques for thinking creatively while still responding to urgent pressures at hand. One that we especially like is deceptively simple.

We call it “take 10.” It entails taking 10 minutes within the day to do nothing but think creatively about your business and your brand. Why 10 minutes? Because it’s brief enough to fit into your schedule but (just) long enough to tap into your creative juices.

Here’s how “take 10” works. First, stop. Turn everything off (yes, that includes your PDA). Next, clear your mind. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Then, you might try the following:

• Change your physical space and normal activity. Research shows that creative solutions often happen when patterns change.
• Explore the frontier of your current situation. Then go to the edge and look over. What’s not being changed that could be?
• Mix it up. Put the components of your business together in different ways. Mix the chocolate and peanut butter. Creativity often happens when the usual is used unusually, so put things together in ways you haven’t before – you might be surprised.

Once you start taking 10, we think you’ll like it. In fact, you may come to value and protect this time as the most productive part of your day. So give it a try. The question is not whether you can afford to take 10 minutes to think creatively, but whether you can afford not to.

Any time you’d like someone to help you think through challenges and opportunities, just e-mail back or call Kent Panther at 704.926.1345.

wrayward
creative marketing communications
900 Baxter | Charlotte, NC | 28204
O: 704.332.9071
www.wrayward.com