BUSINESS CREATIVITY

I started my day quickly reading over my favorite blogs. One that caught my eye was about why people hate money. It was an OK post, but what I didn't like about it was it implied, to some degree, that money can make us happy; which simply is not true. In Jon's defense, he plans to follow up this post with another one that will clarify some things. I look forward to reading it! But I don't want to belabor the point about money! I'll let you read the post and form your own opinion about the subject. But this post did get me thinking about making money, so I decided to talk about business creativity again.

Another post I read today spoke of a book I think I may purchase. It's titled BMOC and is written by Warren Meyer. It is is a fictional book that contains a number of interesting business ideas, including an outlandish one called fountain coin harvesting. Warren put an in excerpt of it in his blog, Coyote Blog. Read it, it's pretty cool! Now would this really work? I don't know, but it is a creative idea that takes advantage of opportunities that are often right in front of us.

Many people focus on their circumstances, like in the first post I mentioned. But you can see by this fictional example, that with a little creative thought, you can find money all around you!

Now how does this translate into something useful to sharpeners? If our focus is on our circumstances...

"You feel trapped by your financial circumstances - Your life [stinks], but you can’t figure a way out of it. You’re trapped by your finances."

"You feel guilty about your income - You’re a smart person, and you should really be earning more than you are..."

...we'll lose heart! But if we focus on the opportunities right in front of us, we'll have a better chance of improving those circumstances! Especially if you look at those opportunities with a creative mindset!

Not creative? Want to learn to be? Try one of my favorite books about Business creativity, ThinkerToys. I wrote about this book in a post back in September. It is excellent! And it will help you train your mind to work out problems you encounter in business, instead of viewing them as obstacles! I can't say it's a fun book to read (it kind of reads like a text book), but the information is well worth the time investment of reading it!

Now I know I've gone from money to creativity, and the two may seem worlds apart sometimes! But what I'm trying to get at is if you're not satisfied with the circumstances you find yourself in, there are plenty of opportunities to change that! Look for needs that you can meet for your customers that others don't see! Look for ways to market your business that's unique and sets you apart!

Most people just flounder around doing the same thing day after day. If you do this, will your circumstances change? NO WAY!!! With the new year coming up, make it a point to make a goal to invest in some Creativity Training!