Do you think it’s possible to become more creative? Is creativity natural, or developed? Is it a limited commodity, and you’re just stuck with however much of it you have? Is it even possible for a small-church pastor to be creative with limited budgets, no staff, and few options?
I think you CAN become more creative.
What is Creativity?
Here’s my definition of creativity: The skill or ability to view problems and possibilities in new ways, and find solutions that are novel and courageous.
10 Ways You Can Develop your creativity
So how do we develop the skill of creativity? Here are a few suggestions:
1. Read broadly.
Take some time and check out authors that break boxes, think fresh thoughts, and have an “upside down” way of viewing things. This will mean reading people who disagree with you politically, who synthesize differently than you are used to.
Try some of these:
- Shel Silverstein’s poetry for kids
- Dr. Seuss
- Sherlock Holmes
- Malcolm Gladwell
- CS Lewis
- JRR Tolkien
- Roger Van Oech
2. Strategically break your routine.
Seeing the same things the same ways will eventually result in stifled creativity, because it doesn’t give you new experiences and info to process and synthesize.
- Eat somewhere new.
- Take a new road to work.
- Learn a new skill.
- Read a book about something different or weird
- Do a new kind of recreation (If you’re an inside guy, go out. Or vice versa!)
- Talk with someone outside your normal circle – ask them questions
Identify what is unique and different about these experiences. You may not like them – you might even decide not to do it again.
3. Think childish.
Kids see ways to solve problems creatively because they haven’t been discouraged yet by how many WRONG answers there are. What if you recaptured that mindset, by deciding to ignore the voice that says there’s only one right answer?
- Shut down the inner voice that says “that’s stupid.”
- Deliberately suspend your disbelief.
- Force yourself to come up with 10 different ways to do something, even if 4 of them are completely ludicrous.
The person who rolls their eyes at an over-the-top suggestion may be RIGHT, but they are not creative. So don’t be that guy.
This is valuable when you need to do things like come up with creative trunk or treat ideas, or find creative solutions to problems with your discipleship process.
4. Involve others.
Some people are “Yes, and…” people. Some are “yes, but…” people. You know who I’m talking about. When you want to get creative, it is important who you choose to be around you. The right people will help you break through a creative block.
“It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but that you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it.” ~ Sherlock Holmes (Hound of the Baskervilles, Sir A. Conan Doyle)
5. Be ready to capture ideas.
Brainstorming is a huge part of the art of creativity. But you have to have a way to capture those creative ideas.
Don’t let a flash of insight slip by! Write them down in Evernote, or put them in your Todoist list. Sketch it on a napkin. Take pictures with your smartphone.
Side note: I get some of my best ideas from OTHER people. Specifically, I once got an idea that became an incredible discipleship tool at my church. It’s a Bible reading plan for new Christians, and you can download it for free right here:
I recently created a post about discipleship sermon illustrations… most of which I had saved in Evernote over the course of about 7 years. I have a way to capture ideas… and after doing it for years, I’ve got lots of sermon illustrations, and I can brainstorm more with ChatGPT.
6. Plan ahead.
Many creative people like to hate on this one, but trust me… it’s valuable. Don’t wait until the last minute. Creativity is useless if you don’t have time to execute the idea!
Time pressure only creates the base layer of creativity. Going to the next level of great creative ideas requires margin. So start early.
7. Get enough sleep.
There is abundant research saying that if you don’t sleep, your life will suffer. You’ll make less effective decisions, your productivity will drop, and your creativity will suffer. So make yourself go to sleep. Check out Michael Hyatt’s post on evening routines for help.
8. Ask “What if…?” and “Why not?”
The more you ask these two questions, the more you unleash your creativity. Even if the answer is “obvious,” go ahead and ask the question. What you gain from the question is more than the answer – it is perspective.
9. Use metaphor and simile often.
If creativity really is the synthesis of ideas, metaphor is a great laboratory. To practice this, think these kinds of thoughts:
- “How is this problem LIKE other problems?”
- “If this situation was a ___ (car, storm, war, family, factory, etc), what would each piece be called?”
This forces your brain into a synthesis mode of completely different sets of ideas, which is the essence of creativity.
10. Laugh at yourself.
Creativity = Ridiculous.
Ridiculous = funny.
Funny = people laugh at it.
People laughing at you = bad.
THEREFORE, Creativity = bad.
If that’s your logic, you’ll never grow your creative skill.
So if you decide that you’re OK with being a little ridiculous, and can develop the ability to laugh at yourself, you’ll be further down the road toward being truly creative.
