How we start a creative process has a decisive impact on the outcome. If we start cautiously, demanding “realistic” solutions, we limit ourselves early on and risk getting stuck in what we already know. However, if we start by really taking the plunge, setting a standard for imagination and inspiration, we open doors to completely new paths of thought.
Justin Berg shows in the article How the beginning shapes the end in development of creative work that the beginning of a process not only shapes the first ideas, but all the way to the end result.
The responsibility of the process leader
A skilled process leader knows that the first few minutes of a workshop are crucial. They act as the starting shot in a race. If the start is slow and without energy, then the whole race will follow the same pace. By starting with inspiration, provocative questions and courageous examples, you set the bar for what is permitted and expected. If the leader opens up, it becomes easier for all participants to dare to contribute with ideas that may seem crazy at first but later turn out to be worth their weight in gold.
When ready-made ideas get in the way
However, there is an obstacle that many facilitators miss. Participants may often have thought about the challenge beforehand and already come up with ready-made ideas that they bring and that themselves think are best. These ideas risk becoming like large stones in the middle of the river. They block the flow of new thoughts because the person in question, consciously or unconsciously, tries to steer the conversation back to their idea time and time again until they feel everyone have heard about their idea. The best solution to this behavior is to let everyone ”off-load” ready-made ideas at the beginning, so they don’t get in the way later. Once the ideas are out on the table, you can give them feedback, park them and then restart the process with new energy and a focus on thinking broader and bolder.
Restarting creativity
Creativity is rarely a linear journey. Sometimes you need to press the reset button several times to keep your brain from getting stuck on the same track. This can be done by asking different types of questions at different stages. First, you can have a wild question that drives your thoughts far away, such as “What would we create if we had unlimited resources?”. Then you can switch to an opposite angle: “How would a competitor try to solve this in a way that would make us irrelevant?”. Finally, you can calm down the creativity and ask for ideas that could actually be realized next year. This way you get both breadth and focus.
Selecting the innovative ideas
We humans tend to quickly sort out ideas that feel too radical. It is a way to protect ourselves from risk, but in creative processes it becomes a problem. Many of the most innovative innovations began as unrealistic fantasies. Therefore, it is wise to have criteria that evaluate ideas according to how innovative they are, not how “good” or “realistic” they feel. The realistic work comes later, in the refinement phase. Better to first collect ideas that push the boundaries and then build bridges that make them possible.
Real-life example
In a workshop we led with an industrial company, the participants started by listing practical improvements to an existing product. The result was small changes in materials and design, but nothing that could seriously affect the market. When we then restarted the process and started with completely different questions, such as “What if the product was not allowed to exist in physical form at all?”, completely new ideas came to light. One of these led to the development of a digital service that later turned out to be one of the company’s most important investments. The difference was in how we started the process.
Tips for facilitating creative workshops with a focus on innovative thinking
- Make room for everyone to present their already-thought-of-ideas early so that they do not block the process.
- Always start with inspiration and examples that show that anything is possible.
- Vary the questions so that participants can think from completely different perspectives.
- Use criterias that reward innovative ideas, not just realistic ones.
- Dare to restart the process several times during a workshop to release new energy.
Start outside the box, but not in another box
Starting outside the box is not about always choosing the most extreme, but about daring to open the door to the unexpected. To stretch our minds properly, rather than changing everything. Only when we allow ourselves to aim for the stars do we have the chance to land somewhere beyond what we already thought.
