Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you don’t have a creativity problem. You have a prioritization problem. Most creative people, myself included, drown in their own ideas because we are convinced that every one of those ideas is a potential masterpiece. I found that  execution and impact were the ultimate sorting mechanisms. Hard stop. For starters, ideas are cheap which explains  why everyone has them. Doing the work to prioritize and implement them… that’s where the real value sits. The proof is in the work. Always.

Here’s what worked for me: I forced scarcity. I gave myself a hard cap and a time frame. Perhaps it was three big ideas to be completed over a finite time period. And all ideas worth executing on need to have a clear written plan for how to get them done. The constraints of prioritizing, creating a time line and an execution plan reveals which ideas actually mattered. Writing it all down on paper, the old fashioned way, somehow contributed to the overall process for me. 

And I made sure that the outcome trumped my ego. It is like putting a new roof on the house instead of doing something showier: ideas that were more about my ego and less about creating value for my company had to go by the wayside. I learned that lesson the hard way!

To this day, I keep a running list of my ideas on a legal pad, regularly reviewing the list, striking off most satisfyingly the ideas that got implemented. But also shockingly satisfying, was striking off ideas on the list that, in hindsight, looked impractical, redundant, or just not worth the calories. What seemed brilliant and a must do often needed the gift of time for reevaluation. The act of deleting ideas has become its own discipline and the list serves as a reminder that not every spark deserves fuel.

I also found that most of my ideas naturally fell into categories. Recognizing those patterns helped clarify where my energy should go. 

And I stopped romanticizing brainstorming for the sake of brainstorming. Lets face it, everyone loves throwing ideas around in a whiteboard session, but you have to know the problem you’re solving for. Once you know the problem you're solving for,  it's much easier to create ideas that matter.

Understanding  that it was not only impossible to chase every idea I or someone on my team had, it was also a reckless waste of resources. In the end, not chasing every idea was remarkably freeing and allowed me to focus on the few ideas that really mattered. 

Remember, creativity isn’t just about having more ideas. Creativity is also about having the discipline to kill the bad ones. That takes focus, humility, and a willingness to make a few mistakes along the way.

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