In this fast-moving digital age, being successful in business does not mean being bigger or working harder than your competitors. Today, success goes to people who can come up with creative solutions to critical issues. For instance, Airbnb came up with innovative stay options for travelers and earnings for homeowners, while Uber gave us a new and easy convenience choice and a career option for youngsters

Most leaders today are aware of the best practices for mission-critical tasks in any business, but only a handful are familiar with what nurturing and promoting creativity requires. Here are a few ways that entrepreneurs can adopt to make themselves, along with their companies, more creative…

Gather New Ideas

Looking for new and innovative ideas from your areas of interest whenever you get time will help you think creatively. Talk to your friends and read prolifically. Try to know about the new things that are happening around you. You can take a break once in a while to relax and stay updated. Brainstorming can be highly effective. Gather members from diverse teams because several brains can produce more novel ideas than just one. But also remember that wrong kind of diversity can be damaging. To be most effective, teams should have people of differing skills, talents and backgrounds, but with similar values and a common goal.

Reduce Pressures

We are all aware about the old saying, ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’. But that does not mean one would be creative only one is up against a wall. In fact, research shows deadlines make people less creative. We may, at times, be forced to be creative at the last minute, but we are at our creative best in a relaxed environment and when we are not under a gun to deliver results fast.

Have a Positive Mindset

One good way to be creative is to simply change your mindset. Feed positive thoughts to your mind by talking to yourself. Say such things as, “I can do this”, or “I’ll accept good ideas that anyone can come up with”. Repeating these positive thoughts will fill you with creative inspiration that will help you resolve pressing issues.

Change the Locale

Entrepreneurs may ask what values idea-generating sessions can bring. But we feel it is these that spur creativity, especially when held off-site, such as on weekends. Just changing the physical location and environment can significantly help improve creativity. Moving out of familiar walls helps individuals get out of their regular thought patterns for effective brainstorming.

Embrace Failure

Research also shows that one of the best connections between creativity and corporate culture is the way individuals treat failure. Basically, creative people must feel safe to come up with new approaches and to try them out.

Organize & Be Active

We have been told millions of times by our mothers to clean our rooms and, today, there are endless numbers of sites on de-cluttering our lives. It is a belief that, by keeping your surroundings clean and by de-cluttering your life, you can keep your mind clean for positive and creative ideas to flow when needed. At the same time, exercising and keeping your body fit stimulates your brain. Physical activities, like running, walking in a park or the neighbourhood, doing yoga, or even freehand exercises, can inspire new and creative thought patterns. There are people who use their yoga or exercise time to take a break from work and find motivation.