Stimulate Your Creative Genius

Think Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein were born brilliant? Think again. According to the man who wrote the book on innovation, minds like these were trained, not born, and we can train our minds, too.

In his new book, Business Innovation For Dummies^® (Wiley, June 2010), Alex Hiam answers the question: “How do you spark creativity when it doesn’t come naturally?”  Its goal is to teach the average Joe or Josephine to do Einstein-level of innovation, an essential quality in today's business world. 

Hiam is the author of more than 20 books on marketing and business, and a go-to creativity and conflict expert for Fortune 500 companies and U.S. government clients including the Coast Guard. Inside, he points to 10 practices that foster creativity, starting with recognizing creative enemies: lack of time, criticism by others, irregular sleep, and self-censorship.

Next, Hiam recommends making a habit of persistent problem solving and invention. Once a week, focus on something big. That’s the biggest secret of successful innovators -- they elbow aside the routine stuff and find time to focus on something major.

“Eat ideas for lunch,” says Hiam. “Make a lunch date with a creative friend and lay these ground rules: Brainstorm about the topic of your choice, and in order to earn a bite, you have to suggest an idea. If you finish and don’t have the breakthrough idea you need, order dessert.”

Hiam also recommends working on your self-talk – the tendency to over-generalize from failures can depress your creative impulse. Creativity and innovation are tightly tied to mood, and hopefulness and optimism produce innovation. Work on your state of mind first, he says, and the innovative behavior you want will naturally follow.

He also suggests you cross train in art. Even if you never achieve full mastery of cooking, playing guitar or dancing, the journey offers many benefits. Studying anything artistic is a great way to get in touch with and strengthen your creative self.

The author himself is a living testament to his innovation commandments, as demonstrated by 20 books, award-winning artwork hanging in galleries from New York to Rome, and his proudest legacy: five children.

Business Innovation For Dummies is for anyone looking to become more creative in their work. It helps generate new ideas, spice-up presentations, boost sales, solve problems, master the art of invention, hone creative thinking skills, and identify new opportunities.

“Being creative at work means bringing a special spark to it and recognizing that things are going to change,” says Hiam. “So why not be the one who dreams up and then spearheads innovations?”