where do our moments of inspiration come from?

and what businesses might learn from people in their approach to idea generation

thoughts from citizenbay & friends

the business approach?

business

Economic downturn

digital revolution

changing relationship with customers

disruptive business models

doing existing things better

race for innovation

source: @citizenbay

stuck

Product Development

Customer Service

Organisational Management

Processes

Strategies

Everythingflickr: will668

solution?

Brainstorms

Walking on Fire

Team Bonding

Really?

workers

Job pressure

Job satisfaction

Organisational hierarchies

‘Not Your Job”

Disruptive technologies

Robots

flickr: epSos.de

lunch34% eat lunch at the desk

31% take lunch now & again, if ever

flickr: morizasource: rightmanagement 2013lunch

shift

flickr: slack pics

holiday

The accounting firm Ernst & Young did an internal study of its employees and found

that for each additional 10 hours of holiday that employees took, their year-end

performance ratings from supervisors (on a scale of one to five) improved by 8%

Frequent vacationers were also significantly less likely to leave the firm

source: @citizenbay

sleep

When basketball players got 10 hours sleep, performance improved

Free-throw and three-point shooting each increased by an average of 9 %

Source: Stanford researcher Cheri D. Mah

flickr: mrstg

powernap

When night shift air traffic controllers were given 40 minutes to nap and slept an

average of 19 minutes...

they performed much better on tests that measured vigilance and reaction time

flickr: NATS Press Office

search

To find business innovation & ideas, an organisation must inspire people and

must be open to inspiration

But to do that, businesses need to understand when & where people are

most inspired

source: citizenbay

placespace&time

So I went in search of the spaces, places & times of the day when we seem to get our best ideas...

And asked a number of people two questions:

When are you most inspired?

Where are you most inspired?

Initially I thought it would be great food for thought as I help companies re-think how they go about organising for inspiration..

this is what some people said...

source: citizenbay

movement 1

walkies

nick

running with the dogs in the morning

source: n.phillips

runningaway

@koenieboomboom

along Regents Canal when running

flickr: alan stanton

bicycle

anja

on the bicycle going to & from

work and other activities

source: citizenbay

night out

jeet

the long journeys home after obscure night outs, whilst attempting to beat the sunrise to get home...

flickr: brainflakes

transported 2

road king

@armano

motorcycle rideson a Road King

flickr: manoel cardoso

fastslow

trainsplanes

automobiles

boats

source: citizenbay

disconnect 3

ommmm

@olivia_solon

in yoga, when I am not supposed to be thinking about anything else

flickr: Augusto Mia Battaglia

bathflickr: anemoneprojectors

park

Air Cadet from 50F (Lambeth) Squadron

I head to the parkI lie down

I put my headphones onI turn the music up

I look up

That’s where I get my inspiration

source: citizenbay

naps

@seetu

I’ve encouraged my teams to take short naps when facing sticky problems, to the chagrin of my supervisors

zz z

zzz z z z

zz

z

pillow

jake

immediately before falling asleep

(not very practical for a meeting, and most are forgotten by morning but there you go!)

flickr: tsmall

flickr: tsmall

@aliciakan

Before sleeping

Keep a Mad Thoughts notebook on nightstand

pillow

invigorate 4

showerflickr: photoatelier

laughter

@samknowles

after an evening’s improvisational comedy class

flickr: keith bloomfiled

tweetornot

@faris

either from twitter or when I’m not on twitter

afterhours

@koenieboomboom

after 3am in the bar with my mates

flickr: jaypeg

stumble

@thehospitalclub

walking

also when drunk which is unfortunate as generally can’t remember them in the morning

kids

@tomdenning1

I take my nephews to my fav place, watch what they do and see the world anew!

source: citizenbay

alone 5

night in

@adrianpure

on the sofa returning to complete a design for a friend

late at nightsource: citizenbay

aloneincrowd

@jobsworth

walking for long periods while alone in a crowd...

what I try to do is keep the everyday part of my brain busy walking on crowded pavements while letting the rest of me wander

flickr: benjgibbs

break

@madlizzie

the toilet

routine 6

updown

@crystaltau

when I’m brushing my teeth

source: citizenbay

walktowork

@addictivemobile

walking around or running - ideally in a park -

but walking to work mostly

flickr: benjgibbs

deadhead

@aliciakan

Deadheading flowers

source: citizenbay

the senses 7sounds have

guitar

@thesavage

late night guitar playing is often a good way of allowing the mind to meander its way to ideas

flickr: @Doug88888

listen

@greggfraley

music with lyrics lifts my mood, so rock and jazz classics...

flickr: NHW12

listen

@olivia_solon

listening to podcasts on my way to workflickr: NHW12

bassline

@citizenbay

I studied for my exams at school listening to this albumIt is still one of the reliable triggers to open up my mind

to fresh thoughts

genius

@citizenbay

The first time I heard this album, music became something more

There is so much music that inspires me, but from the first note of Acknowledgement,

I get inspired each and every time by the genius of John Coltrane

balcony

@citizenbay

Birdsong

There are times when I sit at my kitchen table in south london, window open. Peacefulness is only broken by the sound of blackbirds and

other feathered friends

source: rspb.co.uk

silence

@solobasssteve

with my toys (instruments) at hand and no extraneous noise

even fan noise on amps can mess with my creative space

air con is a definite idea-killer

flickr: Thomas Hawk

the unexpected 8

others

Guillermo Perez @2020publicidad

The best ideas come as I listen to people telling me theirs...

which is sort of perfectly inconvenient.

I guess that’s the musician in me

source: citizenbay

indemand

@solobasssteve

people wanting to hear what I’m up to makes me want to create

I feel vindicated in making my own creative choices

there is - perhaps paradoxically - more freedom in people wanting what you do than in being ignored

backinaminute

emmett

On a six week training course, some of my peers and I realised that ideas kept popping into our heads after coming back from the restroom. Even the toughest of dilemmas melted away as our

bladders emptied

flickr: loop_oh

surprise

@garethkay (& @faris)

anywhere and everywhere

Normally when I’m not looking for it

(especially when not looking for it :) - @faris)

for a rainy day 9capture them for the future

parked

anja

sometimes I end up forgetting some of it again, because I can’t just immediately write them down.

I guess one can see it as an idea being parked/saved for later when it is more relevant, and will pop up again...

flickr: nick fedele

question

Dear Business,

If people are inspired whilst alone or with others

if people get great ideas in moments of peace or stimulation,

if people find moments of inspiration when their brains disconnect from the immediate pressures of their work...

do you think you might need to change your approach to inspiration in your business?

paul

@citizenbay

citizenbay.net

contactsource: citizenbay

thanks to all the wonderful people who kindly contributed including:

the 50f (Lambeth) Squadron of Air Cadets

attendees of my speech on Creative Thinking at the International Media Group conference

students of UEL and Westminster who listened to my guest lecture mumblings

and also @jobsworth, @faris, @garethkay, @jmacdonald @olivia_solon, @aliciakan,

@gregfraley, @armano, @seetu, @samknowles, @addictivemobile, @adrianpure and Nick P.

thanks: citizenbay