Creativity is the single most important business skill in the world according to LinkedIn learning. However, a global study conducted by Adobe showed that 75% of people don’t feel they are living up to their creative potential. With robots taking away repetitive motion factory jobs and artificial intelligence replacing repetitive mental work in white-collar work, the only way humans will stay productive is to find ways to be creative.

At BigSpeak Speakers Bureau, we work with some of the top creativity and business keynote speakers in the industry. These keynote speakers are famous artists, successful CEOs, and business thought leaders who have used their insights to help businesses find their creative spark. 

Here are 6 things you could learn to help your organization’s creativity.

1) Find a Pain Point

If you want to come up with the next great idea for your business, find a pain point, says Marc Randolph, the co-founder of Netflix and bestselling author of That Will Never Work. Randolph found his great business idea by thinking of problems he could solve for the consumer. Before Netflix, people were limited in what kind of movies they could find at the local movie rental store and how long they could keep them. With Netflix sending DVDs by mail, Randolph found a way to help consumers and co-founded one of the most successful media companies in the world.

To find pain points, Randolph suggests looking at how things work. Search for things that don’t work properly or have more steps than necessary. If you can find ways to make these processes or products easier or better to use, you will find a solution that consumers are willing to pay for.

2) Get an Outsiders Perspective

As we grow older, sometimes we lose our childlike curiosity and accept things as they are, says creativity keynote speaker Duncan Wardle and former Vice President of Innovation and Creativity at Disney. We stop asking “Why?” We lose the outsider perspective that makes us look at things in a different way.

Wardle suggests one way to kickstart your creativity is to bring someone to your meeting who has no expertise in your field. They can offer a completely different perspective. A non-expert will ask why things work in a certain way and help you identify areas you need to work on, sparking new ideas.

3) Create a Braintrust at Work

One of the keys to creating new insights at Pixar movie studio (creator of Toy Story and Cars) was to create a brain trust, says creativity keynote speaker Matthew Luhn and former Lead Storyteller and Animator at Pixar Studios. At Pixar, brain trusts would be formed by a team of directors, writers, and storytellers who would meet regularly to share their work and get feedback.

Luhn suggests creating your own brain trust at your business. Find people whose opinion you trust and then meet regularly (once a week or whatever works for your schedule) and get feedback on your projects. It’s important to find people you trust and respect, so they can deliver feedback with candor and honesty.

4) Surround Yourself With Diverse People

New ideas are often sparked from different points of view. Top keynote speaker and former CMO of Beats by Dre Omar Johnson suggests you can get different points of view by surrounding yourself with a diverse group of people.

While at Beats, Johnson surrounded himself with a marketing team that looked like the same kind of random group of people Beats was trying to sell headphones to. His team was 45% male, 55% female, young, old, different races, and fashion styles. Teams that look alike tend to think alike, Johnson noticed. So hire diverse people who will bring diverse perspectives and create new ideas for your business.

5) Follow a Routine

One of the secrets to creativity is to stick to a routine, says creativity expert and renowned artist, Erik Wahl. Creativity needs two types of parameters to work—structured and unstructured time. Often people forget to create a structured time in their schedule to be creative. 

Wahl points out that many creative artists have had firm routines. Beethoven always sat down to compose at 3 pm, Mark Twain got up at 5:30 am every day and then began writing after breakfast, and Picasso only saw people once a week so he could spend time painting.

If you are constantly being interrupted, you won’t have time to develop new ideas. Find a routine where you can concentrate on your work so you can come up with novel solutions.

6) Make Room for Unstructured Time

Everyone also needs unstructured time to come up with creative ideas. This is why 72% of people have creative insights while taking a shower, according to a 2014 Kaufman study. Creativity keynote speaker Natalie Nixon, suggests you “hang out” at work to be inspired.

Nixon says with the emphasis on work productivity, one of the most difficult things is to stop focusing on your work and getting tasks done. Often, we create new ideas and novel solutions when we step away from our desk, go for a stroll, or take a moment for a watercooler chat. Often when you stop focusing on a problem, the solution presents itself.

If you would like to learn more ways to boost your business creativity, BigSpeak works with the top creativity keynote speakers, experts, and consultants. Reach out today to hire a creativity keynote speaker for your next conference or workshop.

For More on Creativity for Business Read:

Treat Your Company Like a Jazz Song and Watch Your Team Jam

Why Routine is Necessary for Creativity

For Marketing Success, Leverage Your Ignorance Says Marketing Genius Omar Johnson

How to Design a Creative Experience for Your Customer

7 Steps to Giving Creative Feedback From Pixar Story Veteran Matthew Luhn

Where Do Innovative Ideas Come From?