How to use this Insight on One Page worksheet:
Give yourself about one hour of quiet, uninterrupted time to complete this worksheet. Print this page to get your worksheet and instructions (printer friendly). Write your initial answers in your journal or on a separate piece of paper and then summarize your main conclusions on the form below. Read about how to get the most out of "Insights on One Page." Below is your guide to completing each of the boxes. The links offer resources to encourage deeper answers.

Creativity Process on One Page

To use lateral thinking to be more creative, you need to SEED your thinking. Most people try to be creative in a vacuum and this does not work. The creativity process below is a structured, logical, systematic approach to seed your creativity. It supports you in seeing things from different perspectives.

At the top of your Creativity form, write the question, problem or intention to be addressed by this idea-creating session. Below are some keys to stimulate ideas.

Be open. Have fun with it. STREEEEEETCH your mind.

1. What benefits do you hope to achieve for yourself or offer to others? What criteria will you use to identify a good idea when you find one? Consider, time, place, resources, people, safety, etc. Write the criteria in Box 1.

2. Look at your criteria and ask yourself what solutions might produce the benefits you’re seeking. Write any ideas that surface in Box 2. Don't judge the value of the ideas at this point. Go for quantity, not quality.

3. Use some of the A to Z Creativity Exciters from the Intuitive Resource List. Alternatively use a dictionary or thesaurus and randomly select words. Write these trigger words in Box 3.

4. Ponder the trigger words in Box 3 and note new potential ideas or solutions that arise from them in Box 4.

5. Metaphors provide an intuitive source of ideas. Refresh your mind with the problem or intention and then look around you. Scan your surroundings and pick out 3 - 5 different objects around you. List these objects in Box 5.

6. Use each object you identified in Box 5 to stimulate ideas by considering how that object compares/relates to your question or intention. Write your ideas in Box 6.

7. Can you imagine a perfect future scenario related to your intention? Describe it in Box 7. Now use the words you’ve just written as triggers to generate new ideas. Write them in Box 8. Future perfect scenarios use words like all, nothing, now, never, everywhere, anywhere, nowhere, everyone, no one, anytime, all of the time, at no cost, 100%, 0%, etc.

8. Review the ideas you’ve generated on this form and consolidate your best ideas in Box 9.

Additional resources:
Alpha Poems - 26 quick creativity stimulators.

Go back and check out our other Processes on One Page.

Date: ________________

Question/Problem/Intention _____________________