Millenium Marketer

The height of fear and panic during this current economic recession is overwhelming and morale at corporate companies is dropping drastically as fast as the unemployment rate is rising. People are fearful of losing their jobs and some studies show that people are playing it safe.

Whether you are recently unemployed, still employed or faced with the difficult choice of whether it’s about time to lay off your own employees, we are in no condition to make quick, irrational decisions.

It’s a time for creativity, or as I like to call it, “the beginner’s mind” where you are ready to learn and find ways to make this recession an opportunity to shine above the rest.

And, that seems to be the problem with most people. I hear it a lot: I need money, I have to survive, but it’s that panic and fear that puts us in the wrong mindset. We are unable to focus on what is important.

So, take a deep breath, count down from 10 to 1 and acknowledge that even though we are in a deep recession, it is simply a fact to contend with. Then, take a moment to assess your competencies without bias or self-criticism and find opportunities within your company to shine.

Call me an idealist, but it’s those who are staying enthusiastic and doing the best work possible that are going to stand out in this doom and gloom world right now.

Creativity is so important although we don’t always give it enough space to breathe and grow. As I recall, although I don’t quote correctly, it was Mitchell Baker at Mozilla.org that pointed out that software engineers (and others) have the duty to create products that will best suit the lifestyles of people today.

With so many apps out there, and there being increasingly more, you can’t solve real problems without taking down conventions and structures that people are most used to.

Negativity cancels out creativity

The first rule of brainstorming is to bar out criticism. This means if you brainstorm individually like one Microsoft Chief who goes away for vacation to create “white space,” or if you are brainstorming in a team, negative comments, such as “That won’t work” should not be allowed until the brainstorming session is over.

The same rule applies to supervisors and higher-ups: standing in as a threat to employees is counter-productive to solving problems creatively.

It’s too often that brainstorming and approaching ideas creatively gets a bad rap or is not executed well enough. That takes technical skill, but it’s those who succeed in creative brainstorming will produce elegant solutions for new & existing markets. White space is closer to Blue Ocean Strategy than most people realize.

Frameworks

The second step in creativity is to develop frameworks, such as the “Reframing” approach or a mindmap. The reframing approach attempts to look at a problem from a various number of perspectives, for example from the perspective of a marketer, an engineer, a potential consumer, etc.

Third, don’t let your hard brainstorming work fall away–create action items that get results. If you or your team are not sure exactly how to do this, check out David Allen’s definition of Getting Things Done (GTD) and translate tasks into results. In other words, if you decide to write a document, consider the impact it will have, otherwise known as “So What?”

By thinking through your end goal, you should be more likely to want to work towards the result.

What frameworks have you tried that have worked successfully to break barriers and create new and interesting products, ideas or conversations?