Thinking about thinking
Creative is not just a department at Capstrat. It’s the thread that weaves our culture together. Sure, some employees have more traditional creative jobs, but we all think critically and abstractly. I find this really interesting.
Lately, I’ve been reading more about inspiring creative thinking in people outside traditional creative roles like art director, design and copywriter. Interestingly, I’ve found some people really do have “it.” That is an innate ability to see something can be done better paired with an ego big enough to believe they can actually do it.
Unfortunately as humans, we all have mind traps in which we often fall prey. These traps can cause knee jerk reactions or completely shut down the ability to think critically. Here are a few ways to break out of the trap.
1. Question the starting point
How many times have you bought something you didn’t need because the item was greatly discounted? Um, yeah. Me neither. But perhaps you have a friend (wink, wink) that has fallen into this trap used by expert retailers and sales professionals. Your starting point anchors subsequent thoughts and can heavily bias your initial impressions.
In this case experience can be the trigger that locks this mind trap. Try looking at the problem as someone new. What do they care about? Don’t jump into solving the problem too fast. You could easily be solving the wrong issue. Also, grow a backbone. It’s very easy to get influenced by the opinions of others. I’m not saying you can’t change your mind. Just have a point of view that you can discuss. Imagine how that can help your creative partners.
2. Question the gravitational pull of status quo
We tend to value and repeat familiar behaviors, often discounting alternatives. In a recent study, a group of people were each given one of two items. Common sense tells us about half of the people didn’t receive the gift they preferred. However, only 10% exchanged it for the other when given the opportunity. This tells us status quo has the home field advantage in decision making and it takes notable incentive to shift behavior.
How do you deal with this in the creative process? Simple, really. Basic testing. Keep the current option in the mix as an alternative. Let people unfamiliar with the project review choices and provide feedback. Also, new ideas often come with a new price tag attached. Allow your decision making to happen in two stages. First based on tests, will the idea move the needle? Okay, good. What’s the investment? Now you have an accurate picture to evaluate.
3. Question assumptions
This is difficult to overcome. After all, truth is simply the most repeated assumption. The thing about questioning assumptions is it feels like a complete waste of time because…well it’s an assumption! Move on! I saw a good illustration of this on an interesting site called Light Mind. The author tells us, “Harry is introverted. We know he is either a librarian or a salesman.” What do you guess Harry’s job is? Librarian of course.
Too bad this assumption is flawed because it doesn’t take into account that salespeople outnumber librarians 100 to 1. “That means that even if all librarians are introverts, all it takes is 1% of introverted salespeople to increase probability that Harry is a salesperson” writes the author. Explore assumptions and conclusions, but seek to quantify them before moving on.
Always try to go into a concepting or planning session as an alien. Try to use the hard data you have to form your perceptions. That’s not to say preconceptions can’t be useful. Just keep them in check. Your past experiences and emotions may not (and most likely) will not match that of your audience.
Happy concepting!
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