Insights For Success

Strategy, Innovation, Leadership and Security

Creative Thinking Tip #3 - Small is the new big

Leadership StrategiesEdward Kiledjian

If you haven't read my other articles in the series, read them before continuing: 

TIP #3 START SMALL 

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Lao-tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu
Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC) 

I love the writings of Lao tzu so it is only fitting that he provides my third tip to break the creative deadlock. As executives, we often try to see “the big picture” which is usually an asset but in the case of creativity, may become an 800 lb anchor weighing you down.

I’ll talk about some creativity techniques in a future article but most of those techniques require you to think much smaller (smaller but faster actuallu). Accept that you will eventually get to the right level of detail but for now, accept the fact that you will start by looking at a very small subset of the situation. Pick one aspect, any aspect, and start thinking about that one thing. Don’t criticize yourself that you may be missing something or going in the wrong direction. Just accept that creativity is a strange creature and thinking small will lead to that big breakthrough later. The important is that you start the creativity wheel moving regardless of how small of movement it is.