Thinking up ideas that make others think

Don’t get me wrong, I love coming up with an idea that makes someone say “Wow! So, that’s why they call you The Idea Guy…” but truth be told, I think I’m at the top of my Idea Guy game when I can share a concept that gets the other person thinking more creatively.

When you share one idea (no matter how great it is), you’re adding a single new idea into the world. Which is undoubtedly awesome, But…

If you can be a catalyst for creative thinking then you can play midwife to hundreds (perhaps thousands) of ideas.

Acting as the Creative Catalyst means sharing concepts that enable others to build on them with their own ideas and creative twists on the original concept.

You know you’re doing it correctly when the other person says something like:

“Oooh, yes! And then we can (adds one creative twist), or maybe we could (adds second creative twist). No… wait… what if we (…and now takes the original concept to a whole new level)!

Multiply this effort by the number of conversations you have in a week and you’ll begin to get an idea of just how influential this tactic can be in fostering creative thinking among your friends, co-workers, and clients.