How provocation can kickstart your creative slump

Did you know ‘provocation’ is an extremely effective way of helping you create new concepts?

And before you think I’ve gone absolutely mad - by ‘provocation’ I mean the lateral thinking tool developed by Edward de Bono!

Provocation is about breaking the way you think to help you create new thinking patterns. Huh? I can hear you say…. I did the same too. Let me explain.

Say you’re in a creative slump. You’ve hit a low point and your mind just doesn’t want to think creatively.

But it needs to - you have an article to write, a blog to get out, a chapter in your book to get finished and you can’t keep sitting there staring a blank screen or page.

You’ve tried all the normal tricks to get you going. But have you tried ‘provocation’? It’s a great way to help you break out by de-structuring your day to day thinking patterns and letting you get on with creating new thinking patterns.

And before you know it, you’re off and running again! So how do you use ‘provocation’ to think creatively?

Easy, just make a silly or stupid statement.

It doesn’t have to be connected with your problem, that’s the beauty of it. You can take any statement and apply it to what you want solved. It’s purpose is to be a starting point.

Now go ahead and think of a provocative statement. It could be something like “the sky is red” or “I can breathe underwater” or even more sillier. It’s up to you.

Once you’ve thought of your provocative statement, write it down. I suggest you make sure you can see it easily as you may want to walk around whilst thinking about it.

Now look for ways to make the statement less provocative.

You could ask yourself:

• what is needed to make it more sensible?
• what could be the benefits or costs to it?
• what are the positives and negatives?
• how would it work?

These may sound like strange questions, but give it a try. It’s a great lateral thinking tool and helps you to think more creatively without bringing or minimizing our judgments and experiences into the frame.

You can use this tool whether you’re alone or with a group. Let me know what you think.