Creative Thinking Hub

Creative thinking expert Jim Connolly, shares tips & resources to help you think more creatively.

It’s very easy to be different, but very difficult to be better

Updated November 2013

I have been speaking with people a lot recently, about the idea of unique value. Unique value is about doing something that’s yours, which also has value.

It’s much more than merely being different.

The best art touches us

It leaves us different to the way we were when we discovered it. A 10% refinement to an existing idea is different.

However, it takes thought and application, to create something that’s both different and of unique value.

Apple’s Sir Jony Ive put it extremely well when he said, “It’s very easy to be different, but very difficult to be better.”

A good deed in a weary world

Updated April 2014

I think we often underestimate how big an impact our good deeds can have.

Smiling at another person may seem like such a small thing. However, your smile could be the only sunshine they see that day.

“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.” William Shakespeare — The Merchant of Venice.

How to be irresistible

Updated November 2013

It’s hard to resist someone who has:

  • A warm smile.
  • A kind heart.
  • and a childlike imagination.

In fact, people like that are pretty-much irresistible!

Creation, curation and Amazon book reviews

Updated November 2013

Why did I decide to create this site for you?

As someone with a passion for creative thinking, I found many sites claiming to cover creativity, which simply curated other people’s work. They didn’t (ironically) create much themselves. They offered nothing of independent value.

Many also seem to use the exact same format. Their articles are just long, SEO friendly Amazon reviews, loaded with affiliate links. I didn’t find those formats useful, illuminating or interesting. You also need to be a little suspicious of taking advice on creative thinking, from people who are just copying each other.

You can use a social network if you want streams of curated content. People share links there all day. Equally, you can use Amazon.com if you want a book review. At least on Amazon, you get an unbiased review from a fellow reader, not a review from a blogger who needs you to buy the book so they can get paid!

I couldn’t find the type of creative thinking site I wanted

So, I created it myself! I thought I’d develop something different… something with independent value. Something that was more than sharing other people’s work. Something more than a site filled with Amazon reviews. I wanted a site about creative thinking, which was… well… you know… CREATIVE!

That’s why this site contains a huge amount of unique content. This is material created by me, for you. Yes, there are also insights here from people I have studied, links to great people doing amazing work, but I’m not selling you their ‘stuff’ — I’m sharing their ideas.

That’s a HUGE difference!

How will I monetise this site?

I need 100% artistic freedom, to provide you with the most useful information possible. That’s what guides me and any decisions I make regarding this site. Just rest assured this place will never be funded in any way, by paid reviews for Amazon or anyone else.

Boost your creative thinking by questioning ‘common knowledge’!

Updated November 2013

It’s easier to think creatively, when you allow yourself the freedom to think without limitations. One limitation, which can really get in the way of your creativity, is to accept common knowledge without questioning it.

By holding untested, preconceived beliefs simply because they are commonly repeated, you give yourself fewer possible options. It’s like trying to paint freely, using a limited pallet.

Combine that, with the fact that a lot of common knowledge is factually incorrect and you can see just how limiting this can be for your creativity.

Common knowledge is often wrong

Here’s an example of what I mean. Common knowledge assures us that people do not spend money on expensive brands when the economy is bad. They tend to go for cheaper alternatives.

Really? Try telling that to Apple Inc. Apple has posted record profits each year, since the global economic downturn started. They provide a high quality, high price, range of products and people queue around the block for them. A business owner looking for creative ways to increase their profits, who believed the incorrect common knowledge about spending habits in bad economic times, would not have considered offering a more expensive, higher-quality service. That may have been exactly what they needed to do, but it wouldn’t have been an option.

Remove the limits on your thinking

To make it as easy as possible for us to think creatively, we need to work on removing unnecessary barriers and limitations on our thinking.

The more possibilities we have to play with (yes, play not work), the more options we have open to us and the greater our chances are of finding the creative idea, insight or answer we need.

In short: Question common knowledge and look for ways to expand your possibilities.