Be Creative: 10 Easy Steps To Increase Your Confidence, Creativity and

Cash In The Attention Economy

How can you be more creative? How can you turn creative ideas into cash. Want
to be better at creative thinking? Consider Top 10 Tips:
1. Create a Confidence Culture. Don't rely only on your own individual talent to
have and implement ideas. When you have ideas you need to convince people to
invest in those ideas. This relies on your confidence and ability to persuade
people to turn a dream into reality. If you're not confident in your idea how can
you convince others to invest time, money and resources in it?
2. Sit and Think and Look and Question. The best answers to problems are
solved by observation, analysis and insight. Take time out to practice these too
often lost skills. Appreciate time working on your own. As Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
says in his IQ case study on Nobel Prize Winners (who by the way have normal
IQs around the 120 mark), "its not the answers that get you to the blue hall, but
the questions!"
3. Attitude. Ideas are available to anyone. All you need is your brain because it
is made up of perceptions and memories which form inherited ideas. Put the
priority on ideas rather than data. In our democratic and populist societies, we're
seeing the rise of the individual. Be an individual to stand out from the crowd
and nurture your uniqueness, but also be a team player. This unique combination
is essential for success.
It is a credo I live by. Framed hanging on the wall in my office in a prominent
position is a poster with my logo and this message:
"OUR CORE VALUES. The following values are actively fostered, encouraged and
central to the way we do business: Creativity Excellence Service Teamwork"
Have an attitude, live it and be consistent.
4. Be Competitive and Tough. The barriers of entry for new ideas are extremely
low, even non-existent. You need to outsmart your competition and understand
patents, copyright, trademarks and other intellectual property laws that protect
ideas. What business is about, is not the technology, but about ideas and the
application and protection of ideas.
Howkins compares the examples of two brilliant men, Microsoft founder Bill
Gates and inventor of the Internet, Tim Berners-Lee. Gates protected his idea
and is now the wealthiest man on the planet. Berners-Lee didn't and yet his
invention has changed the way we communicate.
5. The Ability To Change People's Mind. Being part of the creative economy is
about changing people's minds. If you want your ideas to be taken seriously, you
need to have outstanding persuasion and influence skills.

6. Learn Endlessly. Ideas are about doing something different and better.
Borrow. Innovate. In beautiful Perth where I live, as well as the low cost of
living, stunning lifestyle and great weather - we have another advantage. I call it
the isolation, ideas and innovation factor. We live in the most isolated city in the
world and this is both a negative and positive. The positive is remoteness breeds
creativity. When you stop learning, you stop being creative.
7. Excel In The Attention Economy We now live in an economy where creativity,
the media and entertainment dominate. It seeps into every crease, fold and
cranny in our lives. Learn to excel in this economy. Understand the pressures
and the principles of living in this age.
I call this a time when the Three C's of Change are on the increase:
Chaos, Clutter, and Competition Chaos - Our lives are getting busier and busier
and more and more chaotic as we sift through the masses of information coming
at us.
Clutter - This mass of information is getting held up, like grains of sand in an
hourglass, and the sheer volume is cluttering up our lives and decision-making
processes.
Competition - It is an increasingly competitive marketplace now, with me too
brands, look at me brands, and global brands dominating the marketplace. It is
increasingly difficult to be truly unique and standout from the crowd.
8. To Make A Mistake Is Not To Fail. There's a well-known saying along the lines
of "a mistake is only a mistake if you don't learn from it". The rate of failure is
high within an economy built on ideas. That failure can be at a personal,
company or even Government policy level. Learn how to deal with failure and
manage it. Traditionally bureaucrats have focussed on policy and businesses
avoid risk.
When a senior executive at the ABC, I always found this a challenge as a
manager. A delicate balancing act was required to encourage creativity to make
good programs on the one hand, while working within a dinosaur-like,
bureacratic, public service culture where policy and process dominate. I learnt
the hard way there is an unstable relationship between creativity, innovation and
bureacracy. You can read a full article about these challenges originally published
in The West Australian newspaper in November 2000 here.
9. Build A Powerful Personal Brand. How creative you are, whether your ideas
are accepted and how often you fail will impact on your personal identity. Your
identity is how others see you. Manage these perceptions and build a strong
personal brand that is resilient, reliable and real.
10. Have Ideas, Make Fun, Make Money. Ideas are the currency and rules by
which we get access to capital. If you have the right idea, with the right support,
you can have great fun and make a huge amount of money along the way.