What's Your Creativity Recipe?

"If you want people to be creative," he says, "you have to put them in an environment that lets their imagination soar. . . . The size of their ideas is directly proportional to the space they have in which to think." —Gerald Haman, Creative Solutions Network

Right now, I think Gerald Haman is the smartest person I don’t know. Of course I do. I always think that people who think like I do are really, really, 32 reallys smart. Gerald Haman and I would make good friends. He understands creativity. I wish he was my boss somewhere along the line. He wouldn’t have thought I was speaking in tongues.

It took me four years to figure out that publishing was about being creative on demand. More than eight hours a day, five days a week I was asked to solve problems creatively—to write, rewrite and copyfit, It is a fact of the industry. It took another four years before I figured out my personal recipe for building an environment that fostered creativity.

Creativity needs space to play. I do my most creative work where I have plenty of space. I need space to think. I need space to dream. I need space to lose sight of me. To paraphrase an old axiom, creativity expands to fill the space it has to work in. Find a space that you feel at home in. Give yourself space to think and dream.

Creativity needs comfort and fuel. An empty stomach can’t fuel an eager mind. I keep treats and lots of water around. If I’m listening to my stomach growling, I can’t have fun with what I’m writing about. When I’m hungry I tend to get cranky, and when I’m cranky quality ideas are not my forté. Stock some healthful foods to nourish you. A good chair, comfortable clothes, and a foot stool are important too. They add more to your creativity than hours at the keyboard will ever do.

Creativity needs a high-trust environment—one where laughter comes easy and critiques are quick. I put an off switch on my internal editor. It only goes on when I’m editing. I’ve asked my friends who read for me to give their critiques quick and specifically. Choose the people who review your work as you might choose the people who care for your child.

Creativity needs to play. Speaking of children, try acting like one. I like to try on the world through the senses of a child. It helps me reconnect with sensations I’ve missed. See things, hear things, taste, touch, and smell things as if you were a child again.

Creativity needs the right tools. Save on other things, but buy yourself the best office supplies. There’s nothing like that new paper feeling to set my mind toward new ideas. Give yourself permission to scribble with abandon with a new pen before you use it. Write in the margins and do things you’re not supposed to. It will help you break the habit of always following rules.

Creativity needs music and movement. I sing show tunes in the middle of the day. I drive my husband crazy. If you just can’t do that. At least put on some music and listen to it. Music gets your brain churning and opens the back door to your subconscious allowing ideas to slip out and come forward. The more senses you involve the more engaged you’ll be. So get out of your chair and walk around. Get up and dance. Do jumping jacks. Just do something.

That’s what my newest “I’ve never met him” best friend, Gerald Haman and I do to make creativity.

What do you put in your recipe?

—me strauss Letting me be

photo mensatic

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Fast Company’s Interview with Gerald Haman What’s the Big Idea?