“Like the pugilist, the songwriter must always keep in training.”
- George Gershwin

Last week, I spent five days fully immersed in an innovation training session for an international client. For the vast majority of the program participants, English was a second or third language. I find that debriefing with such groups almost always sheds fresh light on the creative process. I’d documented such “found-in-translation” moments before.

At the end of a the week-long journey, I asked my “students” what they’d been telling their families they had been doing all week.

One chimed in, “I told them that I’ve been doing a bootcamp for my brain!”

I loved that! It reminded me of the Gershwin quote above, and made me wonder whether folks beyond songwriters and prize-fighters — ordinary folks who want to be capable of breakthrough thinking — have the same conviction as Gershwin? Do they believe that creativity, too, is a matter of training?

It’s one thing to play Mozart in the company elevators and in the hallways and bathrooms. But if you go to the piano floor, the only people playing Mozart are the people who’ve been doing their scales. When it comes to creativity, precious few are doing their scales. No wonder there are so few corporate chorals these days.

Just like the artist, our creative muscle needs to be exercised. David Kelley once told me, “I think people fail to realize that the first-order goal is to be getting in practice. The first step is training your mind to think differently.”

You may not think of yourself as “creative,” but I firmly believe we are all in the ideas business. Even if you’re in M&A, that spark of brilliance that pulled out the victory was likely a wildly creative act. Call it that! And then cultivate the skill.

All of us should approach creative thinking as a craft, a skill which can be improved with practice.

As Jerry Seinfeld says, you’ve got to “get your work in.”

Want to implement a practice mindset? Join the Try Ten™ community. We’ve got ~50 folks committed to honing the craft, checking in regularly, sharing tactics tips tricks, and seeking collaboration along the way.

Related: Be Irresponsible
Related: We Are All In The Ideas Business
Related: Endure the Risk of A Bad Idea
Related: Daily Rituals
Related: The Daily Discipline

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