Creativity at Work

HOW TO FIND CREATIVE

SOLUTIONS AND DRIVE
INNOVATION SUCCESS

By Linda Naiman
Founder, Creativity at Work
Finding Creative Solutions, by Linda Naiman

Contents
Why creativity is important to your business 1

The surprising connection between resilience, gratitude and creativity 2

How to inspire creativity in your business 2

Rules of engagement for creative conversations 3

How do you find breakthrough ideas? 3

How to manage the creative process 4

The creativity at work framework 4

Brainstorming tips 6

Avoid these brainstorming traps 7

Meet your inner judge and inner sage 8

Twelve questions to Spark creativity 9

About Linda Maiman 12

Quotes to inspire creativity in your business 13

Linda Naiman. 2024 CreativityatWork.com.

Finding Creative Solutions, by Linda Naiman

WHY CREATIVITY IS
IMPORTANT
TO YOUR BUSINESS
Whenever there is a crisis, there is also an
opportunity. The question is, how do you discover
opportunity in times of turbulence and chaos?
Creativity gives you the ability to perceive the
world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to
make connections between seemingly unrelated
phenomena and to generate solutions. When
you’re faced with unprecedented problems,
creativity is more important than ever.
You might think that creativity takes up too much
time or that you don’t have the resources to be
creative. Know this: If you can provide creative
solutions your customers love, you will always be
in demand.
You are creative in business when you conceive
and implement new or significantly improved
products, services, experiences or processes that
create value for your customers. The key to
success is to focus on learning about your
“ WHEN YOUʼRE customers and prospects. The more you
understand their pain points and unmet needs,
FACED WITH the better your chances of creating winning
solutions.
UNPRECEDENTED An Adobe study in 2014 found that companies
PROBLEMS, that embrace creativity outperform rivals in
revenue growth, market share and talent
CREATIVITY IS MORE acquisition. Additionally, creative companies get
products to market faster, enjoy a price premium
IMPORTANT THAN from buyers, have more people who speak on
their behalf, and disrupt their traditional mark
EVER.”

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Finding Creative Solutions, by Linda Naiman

The surprising connec�on between resilience,

gra�tude and crea�vity •
Deepak Chopra says, “The best use of imagination
is creativity. The worst use of imagination is
anxiety.”
It’s hard not to worry when the world seems to be
falling apart, so my advice is to attend to your well- “TTHE BEST
being, to optimize your body, mind and spirit.
Make it a habit to be grateful for at least five
things every day.
USE OF
When you face a setback with an attitude of
gratitude, it does not mean you deny the situation. IMAGINATION
It means calling forth your creative powers to
transform your crisis into an opportunity.
Gratitude is the antidote to anxiety and fear, IS CREATIVITY.
allowing feelings of grace, well-being and
optimism to flow, thus making us more resilient.
THE WORST
Creativity has the power to heal and nurture the
soul. When we are completely absorbed in an
activity we find enjoyable, we open our awareness USE OF
to new perceptions and new perspectives. When
we experience positive emotions, we enhance our
ability to solve problems and come up with IMAGINATION
creative solutions.

How to inspire creativity in your business IS ANXIETY.”

Creativity requires a beginner’s mind, curiosity and
an openness to exploring different perspectives. —DEEPAK CHOPRA
Creativity by definition is about creating something
novel; therefore you can’t tell in advance if it will
work out, so it’s best to treat it as an experiment.

Creative Resilience: How to flourish in the face

of life’s challenges. My online course is available
on-demand.

Linda Naiman. 2024 CreativityatWork.com. 02

Finding Creative Solutions, by Linda Naiman

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
FOR CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS

1. Be curious 7. Explore underlying assumptions

2. Encourage each person’s contri- and beliefs
bution 8. Encourage diverse perspectives
3. Build on ideas from others 9. Create a shared understanding
4. Suspend premature judgment 10. Don’t be sarcastic
5. Ask plenty of open-ended 11. Make your partner look good
questions. Especially “What if” 12. Play with ideas
questions
13. Say thank you
6. Listen for connections between
ideas

How do you find breakthrough ideas? • Carve out time for creative explorations on your
own and with your team.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D., documented a
process common to Nobel Prize-winning scientists, • Create an idea-friendly atmosphere by estab-
ground-breaking inventors, artists, and Pulitzer lishing rules of engagement for creative conver-
Prize-winning writers: sations.
• Make it safe for people to express their ideas
1. Immersion: total engagement in their work
freely without fear of ridicule. Get comfortable
with deep, unremitting focus.
with uncertainty, and be willing to see your ex-
2. Incubation: a period of rest and periments fail.
recovery when they are not at all thinking
• Your experiments are opportunities to learn.
about their work.
You can manage risk by limiting the scope of
3. Insight: the occurrence of “aha” or “eureka” the project and focusing on creating solutions
moments – the emergence of new ideas and on the basis of what you understand about
growth in their thinking. your customers’ needs and desires.

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Finding Creative Solutions, by Linda Naiman

HOW TO MANAGE THE CREATIVE PROCESS

THE CREATIVITY AT WORK FRAMEWORK

This step-by-step guide will help you 2. FRAME YOUR OPPORTUNITY:

navigate the creative process and
Make sense of your research by looking for
provide some structure.
patterns, themes and insights. Write a list of clear
opportunity statements, and identify the
This process is best done with a group to capture problems to be solved, e.g., “our customer needs
a diversity of perspectives and over a number of a better way to ___ because___.”
days in one-to-two-hour segments, not during one
Reframe problem areas as opportunities by
sitting.
writing another list of questions starting with
“how might we.” Choose a project scope that feels
1. DISCOVER YOUR OPPORTUNITY:
actionable and interesting.
Learn what you can about your customers’ pain
points, needs and desires. Gather data you have
about your market, including analytics, economic
data and data about trends and technology.

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Finding Creative Solutions, by Linda Naiman

3. INCUBATE: 7. TEST:
Incubation time allows for your analytical Validate your ideas and your conclusions with
Disconnect from all your devices. Go for a walk to your target group. This is the best way to mitigate
refresh your brain and let new ideas bubble up. risk. Be sure to listen to feedback and look for
ways to make your idea better.
4. IDEATE:
8. REFINE YOUR IDEAS:
Generate multiple solutions (see brainstorming
tips on the following pages). The first idea is rarely Depending on the outcome of your test, you may
the best idea. Creativity often involves generating have to repeat steps 1–6 before you find a
a lot of ideas, some good, some bad. The key is to winning solution.
be open to exploration and refine the concepts
based on feedback and testing. See also: Your 9. DELIVER:
guide to successful brainstorming
Turn your ideas into actin. Formulate an action
plan to launch your innovation. Who is going to do
5. EVALUATE:
what and by when? How will you measure
Evaluate your ideas from a variety of angles, such success?
as how easy it would be to implement, how it
would affect your place in the market and how 10. SCALE:
likely it would be to succeed.
Look for ways you can improve, innovate on your
Challenge your assumptions. Choose the ideas product or service and scale up.
that best meet all your criteria.

6. MAKE THINGS: Click here if you’d like to learn tools and

techniques for each step of the creative process
Create a model or a mock-up to illustrate your
through coaching and training.
ideas and give your target something to react to
positively or negatively.

Look for opportunities to create amazing experiences

for your customers, and find ways to give them what
they most need. They will thank you.

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Finding Creative Solutions, by Linda Naiman

BRAINSTORMING TIPS
• Follow the rules of engagement on P. 5

• Frame your opportunity/challenge before you brainstorm

• Make sure everyone has a voice

• Go for quantity

• Record all ideas on a board and make them visible

• Take a break before moving on to the evaluation phase

Building Stronger Connections and Set aside judgment. When people feel
Fostering Creativity: It’s all about safe from criticism, they're more likely to
relationships share freely, leading to a more creative
and productive exchange.
Understanding another person's
perspective is crucial. By stepping into Ask open-ended questions you
their shoes, we calm the emotional centres genuinely don't have answers to, and be
in our brains, fostering a sense of comfortable with "not knowing." Stop
connection and collaboration. This "we're asking questions to confirm your opinion
all in this together" feeling strengthens or influence others during the ideation
bonds and creates a more positive phase.
communication environment.
Trust is a two-way street: Believe in
Focus on truth-telling and testing others' ability to think, be curious, and
assumptions (candour and caring), which listen well. This trust creates a space
builds and expands trust. where great ideas can flourish.
Active listening is key to unlocking When we believe in others' abilities to
creativity. By listening to connect, we can think critically, have new ideas, and be
identify linkages between seemingly curious listeners, we prime their brains for
disparate ideas, sparking innovation. Look optimal creativity.
for connections between ideas to spark
creativity.

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Finding Creative Solutions, by Linda Naiman

AVOID THESE BRAINSTORMING TRAPS

1. Lack of preparation. You can’t just call a

meeting and ask people to brainstorm on
the spot.
2. Lack of focus. Proceeding with a poorly de-
fined topic.
3. Judging every idea as it is put forward.
4. Letting a few participants dominate the
discussion.
5. Lack of structure.
6. Fear of being wrong or stupid.
7. No follow-through. Brainstorming is a
waste of time if no action is taken.

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Finding Creative Solutions, by Linda Naiman

Meet your inner judge and inner sage

Your Inner Judge and Saboteurs will want to shoot

When you turn your creative down your ideas and cause you to doubt or
second-guess yourself.
ideas into action, you are
Your Saboteurs are the voices in your head that
creating something new (by generate negative emotions when you handle life’s
challenges, including any pursuits involving
definition) and venturing into creativity and innovation. They live in the survival
part of your brain.
the unknown. Be prepared for
These negative emotions are only helpful for a
your inner critic. It will judge moment as they alert you to dangers or issues.
However, staying in these emotions hurts your
your ideas, and cause you to ability to see clearly and choose the most
impactful response.
doubt.
Your Sage, on the other hand, lives in the "thrive"
part of your brain, which consists of the middle
If you find yourself prefrontal cortex, the empathy circuitry, and the
right brain. It generates positive emotions while
procrastinating, being hyper- handling life’s challenges.

rational or getting bogged These include empathy, compassion, gratitude,

curiosity, joy of creativity, and calm, clear-headed
down by perfectionism, know laser-focused action. This region is wired for
creativity and big-picture awareness of what is
these are sure signs your inner important and the best course of action. The key is
to recognize when your saboteurs take over,
saboteurs are obstructing your intercept them, take command and get back into
Sage Mode.
performance.
Source: Shirzad Chamine, author of Positive Intelligence

Learn the 7 ways your inner judge sabotages you

Book your free

consultation today

Book a free consultation to gain insight into your

saboteurs and how they impact your leadership,
creativity and business. No strings attached.

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• Finding Creative Solutions, by Linda Naiman

TWELVE QUESTIONS TO
SPARK CREATIVITY

Embrace a mindset of curiosity. Ask these questions throughout your

creative process and whenever you are problem-solving.

1. What is the current situation? The opportunity? Identify pain points.

2. Who is involved? What do you need to understand about your customer/

target market?

3. Why is it happening? Ask why five times to get to the root cause.

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Finding Creative Solutions, by Linda Naiman

4. How might we re-articulate problem areas as opportunities?

5. What if? Imagine possibilities from different perspectives.

6. What else? Don’t stop at your first few ideas. Go beyond the obvious
solutions.

7. Is this the best we can do? Aim higher.

8. Why not? What assumptions should you be challenging? Where might you
be blind to new opportunities?

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Finding Creative Solutions, by Linda Naiman

9. What wows? Review your options and choose winning ideas on the basis
of what will appeal to your target group.

10. What do you think? Invite participation.

11. How will this work? Make a business case for your ideas, and test them
with your target group to get their feedback.

12. What’s next? How might I use our existing know-how (competencies) to
enter new markets and flourish in them?

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Finding Creative Solutions, by Linda Naiman

ABOUT LINDA NAIMAN

I hope you have enjoyed the practices I’ve shared in this ebook. I use these
in my own work and with clients.
As the founder of Creativity Work, I help innovators get unstuck, overcome
obstacles, unleash their creative potential, and take inspired action through
training, coaching, and consulting.
I specialize in:
1. Creativity, collaboration, and innovation skills training
2. A hybrid on-demand course on developing creativity and resilience
3. Coaching for creativity, innovation and mental fitness

Over the past two decades, I’ve had the privilege of working with some of
the world’s leading organizations, such as Cisco, Dell, BASF, the UN, and the
Linda Naiman is founder of US Navy.
Creativity at Work and co-
I’ve helped them approach challenges by engaging them in a whole-brain
author of Orchestrating
approach to creative problem-solving which includes strategies from the
Collaboration at Work.
worlds of art, design and neuroscience. I’ve witnessed how these methods
can spark breakthrough ideas, foster collaboration, and drive innovation.
Testimonial

Innovation is the key to the company’s future success and the global race for
innovation is getting intense. Linda Naiman’s innovation workshop is really inspiring
and engaging as it guides us through different skills and tool kits to explore the
potential power of our minds and shows us how to lead the product innovation to
business success.

— Dr. Knut Zoellner, Vice President, Technology, Innovation and Projects, BASF
Polyurethane Specialties (China)

Book a free consulta�on

If you are ready to take your creativity and innovation to the next level and
achieve breakthrough results, let’s chat.

Book your free

consultation today

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Finding Creative Solutions, by Linda Naiman

QUOTES TO INSPIRE CREATIVITY AT WORK

“VULNERABILITY IS “WHEN WE ENGAGE IN

THE BIRTHPLACE OF WHAT WE ARE NATURALLY
INNOVATION, SUITED TO DO, OUR
CREATIVITY AND WORK TAKES ON THE
CHANGE.” QUALITY OF PLAY, AND IT
IS PLAY THAT STIMULATES
—BRENÉ BROWN, PROFESSOR
AND AUTHOR CREATIVITY.”
—LINDA NAIMAN,
FOUNDER, CREATIVITY AT WORK

IF YOU HAVE IDEAS, “CREATIVITY IS ONE OF

BUT DONʼT ACT ON THE LAST REMAINING
THEM, YOU ARE LEGAL WAYS OF
IMAGINATIVE BUT GAINING AN UNFAIR
NOT CREATIVE. ADVANTAGE OVER THE

—LINDA NAIMAN,
COMPETITION.”
FOUNDER, CREATIVITY AT
WORK —ED MCCABE, ADVERTISING
EXECUTIVE

Linda Naiman. 2024 CreativityatWork.com.