I’m taking a course on Coursera about strategic innovation, which started by covering creativity. One idea I found really interesting is that this whole “thinking outside the box” concept is flawed. Basically, our professor explains how to truly innovate, you need to work within certain constraints, or else your ideas are cast aside as too crazy, too weird, too something. And so, creativity at its best may not actually be thinking outside that box per se, but thinking within and working to alter the box itself. Certainly it’s more effective that way.

That got me thinking though – are people more creative with constraints than they are with none? I mean, if you think of a contest for example, it provides a certain set of guidelines and then lets contestants add their own personal flair or interpretation. Oftentimes, these challenges produce amazing results. I think this is because these people are given a focus. It’s not just about writing the best essay or taking the best picture – it’s about writing the best essay about pie and taking the best picture of a flower. The specific nature of these tasks also lend themselves to more diversity in a way.

I’ve found, for instance, that I can be creative in many ways, but one of the most rewarding has been writing my Wacky Wedding Ideas blog. When I have to limit all my ideas to the general structure of a wedding, it actually creates so many possibilities. Personally, I think ideas I have for wacky weddings would far exceed ideas I can come up with for any old party, or even events in general. Since I already have something to work with, it’s really fun to stretch the limits with what can be changed about a wedding while still preserving its essence. If I tried to write a blog about any cool event ideas I could think of, I’m sure it’d be far less interesting.

Similarly, I recently started participating in a photo challenge hosted by Chantelle of FatMumSlim. Each day, there is a simple prompt and we are encouraged to interpret it as we wish, then take a picture expressing that idea, which we can then share on various social media outlets. This has been a really rewarding experience and part of what inspired my 365great project. It’s always fun to think about different ways to interpret and convey the given prompt, whether it’s as ambiguous as “explore” or as specific as “shoes.” I definitely think it’s a fun thing for anyone to try! What a fun way to exercise your creativity on a day-to-day basis.

So the next time you need to be creative, try coming up with one constraint. It could be something like “there must be something round” or you’ll include the number 8 somewhere. Whatever you choose, I think you’ll find yourself viewing the world a little differently and making connections you might not have before. And as with most things, practice brings improvement, so go on and exercise that creativity muscle consistently!