April 21, 2008 is Creativity and Innovation Day. Well at least according to the web site linked it is in Canada. It’s based on Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday (April 15) and culminates on Creativity & Innovation Day, April 21st. I just found out about it myself.  You’re probably reading this on Monday morning and for most people Monday is maybe a day we don’t look forward to or at least it’s a busy day in which creativity and innovation may take a back seat.

Before you get overwhelmed with the challenges of the day or start to feel down at the thought of a dreaded task, take a few moments and ask yourself, “Can I approach today with some innovative thinking? Can I take advantage of a problem or process and turn it into an innovative idea?”

I couple of books I acquired last year at a creativity seminar have help me approach challenges in my business and home life in creative ways.  Six Thinking Hats and Thinkertoys are great for helping me think different.  Another fun book that can help you think in different ways in order to solve problems is A Whack on the Side of the Head. I encourage you to check them out sometime. If not as a purchase at least check with your local library.

As I look ahead at this day and the challenges I will be facing I am going to ask myself the following questions in hopes of getting the most out of situations even though they may look interruptive at first;

• How can I take the greatest advantage of the time I will be spending in the car today?
• Can I eat differently? Focusing on what will help me think better instead of “coping with stress?”
• Can I get a message out about the products or services I provide in unique or different way?
• Can I better automate a task that is repetitive in my life?
• What one think can I do today that will make today more remarkable than this time last week?
• Can I create a process to stop myself for putting off a back burner task and in turn help me go the extra mile and exceed expectations?

I hope this reminder catches you at a good time?  What are you thinking about doing today in order to be more creative an innovative?

This entry was posted on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 6:35 am and is filed under Compelling Content, Innovation, Organization, Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.