HBack in 2006, Inventium’s founder, Dr Amantha Imber was working as a consumer psychologist in a big advertising agency. The agency had put her through a lot of creative thinking training which she loved. However, when she started getting deeper into researching the field, she realised that all these training companies had done was rip off Edward de Bono techniques from the 70s and re-package them as their own. She thought that, ironically, this was pretty uncreative.

1. p. +61 3 9018 7455
f. +61 3 9528 4787
m. +61 (0) 412 6565 38
e. info@inventium .com .au
PO Box 1251, Brighton Rd LPO, Elwood,
VIC, Australia 3184
Inventium
http://www.inventium.com.au/
Back in 2006, Inventium’s founder, Dr Amantha Imber was working as a
consumer psychologist in a big advertising agency. The agency had put
her through a lot of creative thinking training which she loved.
However, when she started getting deeper into researching the field,
she realised that all these training companies had done was rip off
Edward de Bono techniques from the 70s and re-package them as their
own. She thought that, ironically, this was pretty uncreative.

2. p. +61 3 9018 7455
f. +61 3 9528 4787
m. +61 (0) 412 6565 38
e. info@inventium .com .au
PO Box 1251, Brighton Rd LPO, Elwood,
VIC, Australia 3184
Amantha had always been a bit of a science geek and kept reading the
jargon-filled academic journals long after leaving university. She noticed
that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of studies being conducted
around the world that looked at what variables increased a person’s
ability to think more creatively and a company’s ability to innovate.
However, she realised that there was a great divide between this great
research that was being done in the world of academia, and what was
actually getting used in the ‘real world’.
So in 2007, she had the idea of starting a company that applied the
science of psychology and neurology to boosting creativity and
innovation - something that had never been done before. Since
Inventium opened its doors, Amantha and her team, have helped
literally thousands of people across Australia, the United States, the UK,
Europe, Africa and New Zealand improve their ability to generate great
ideas.
Get happy to get creative

3. p. +61 3 9018 7455
f. +61 3 9528 4787
m. +61 (0) 412 6565 38
e. info@inventium .com .au
PO Box 1251, Brighton Rd LPO, Elwood,
VIC, Australia 3184
When we are happy, the level of a brain
Get happy to get creative chemical called dopamine increases. In the
Our emotional state has a big impact on our frontal lobe, dopamine controls the flow of
ability to think creatively. Researchers at information to other parts of the brain.
Pennsylvania State University conducted a When people feel happy, thoughts or
study which examined the impact of happy images of one concept – such as ‘thick’ –
and sad moods on idea generation. To put activate thoughts or images of many other
them into the required mood, participants concepts – such as ‘paint’, ‘stupid’ or ‘make-
were first asked to describe a recent life up’. Opening up connections between
event that made them feel happy or sad. concepts that are only remotely associated
Following the mood manipulation, with one another increases our ability for
participants were asked to write down as divergent thinking. In contrast, when
many things they could think of that could people feel sad, they become more detail-
fly. On average, participants in the happy oriented with their thinking which means
group came up with almost 50% more ideas that they often will not see the greater
than the sad group. possibilities. In other words, they get
focused on the trees to the exclusion of the
The happiness hypothesis was also explored forest.
by Teresa Amabile at Harvard University.
Amabile asked several hundred people to So if you are feeling a bit flat, chances are
keep a work diary that detailed their daily you are probably not performing at your
activities, moods and other workplace peak creativity. The common image of the
events. An analysis of these diary entries ‘tortured genius’ has fed the popular belief
showed that people were more likely to that the majority of creative geniuses were
come up with breakthrough ideas when depressed and emotionally unbalanced.
they were feeling happy, even if this However, studies have shown that people
happiness was experienced the day before are actually more creative when they are
the idea was generated. happy.

4. p. +61 3 9018 7455
f. +61 3 9528 4787
m. +61 (0) 412 6565 38
e. info@inventium .com .au
PO Box 1251, Brighton Rd LPO, Elwood,
VIC, Australia 3184
Warm Up Your Brain To Scientific research suggests that warming
up the creative-thinking parts of your brain
Improve Creative Thinking will help you perform more effectively and
efficiently at creative tasks. These exercises
For those of us who exercise regularly,
will make it easier to jump from a finance
doing a big workout without a warm-up
meeting to an idea-generation meeting.
seems silly. Our risk of injury increases
Warming up this part of your brain only
dramatically and it also makes it hard for us
takes a few minutes to shift your brain into
to perform at our best. Similarly, it is critical
an open-minded and lateral-thinking mode.
to warm up your brain before engaging it in
a creative-thinking workout. This is to There are many ways to warm up you brain
combat the fact that in general, most idea- to this type of thinking. One is an Inventium
generation and problem-solving meetings tool called Fat Chance. Fat Chance was
are scheduled immediately after a strategy designed with the specific purpose of
or finance meeting, in which your brain was warming up the creative-thinking parts of
most likely in analytical or linear gear. people’s brains. The tool can be used before
30-minute idea-generation and problem-
Most of us can appreciate how difficult it is
solving workshops or one-day blue-sky
to come from a meeting that requires
thinking workshops in which brains need to
analytical, rational thinking into a meeting
think laterally for an entire day.
that requires us to think laterally (that is,
thinking outside of our usual frame of Fat Chance requires no materials or stimuli
reference). When your brain has been in other than one thing: an impossible
linear thinking mode, coming up with challenge. For example, cure cancer by
creative solutions is very difficult. The brain tomorrow lunchtime. There are two key
naturally wants to jump to logical solutions, elements to creating an impossible
given the mode it is in, and finding lateral challenge. The first is to pick a goal or an
and creative solutions becomes objective that is almost impossible to
unnecessarily difficult. achieve with technology as we know it

5. p. +61 3 9018 7455
f. +61 3 9528 4787
m. +61 (0) 412 6565 38
e. info@inventium .com .au
PO Box 1251, Brighton Rd LPO, Elwood,
VIC, Australia 3184
today. The second is to add an incredibly and laterally. For example, in relation to the
tight time frame. The tighter the better. For Paris Hilton problem, some solutions might
example, Raise Paris Hilton’s IQ by 100 include bribing the instructor for the
points by the end of the week. Give birth to answers, making the IQ test about fashion
an alien by dinner tonight. Marry Brad Pitt rather than general knowledge, or finding
by noon tomorrow. another person named Paris Hilton who
happens to be very smart. Despite the
After you have developed an impossible
‘craziness’ of these problems and answers,
challenge, the next step is to divide the
groups have then gone on to generate
participants into pairs or groups of three.
innovative solutions to real life problems
This gives everyone a good chance to
they were facing.
participate. Once groups are assigned,
instruct people to generate at least three Eyeing off creativity
solutions to the problem in five minutes.
Encourage those who are finding it difficult In general, the left side of our brain directs
and remind them that the solutions do not our logical and rule-based decisions; similar
have to be logical or rational – in fact, those perhaps to a stern headmaster. On the
solutions won’t actually solve the problem. other hand, the right side tends to be more
After these five minutes have passed, you inventive and intuitive. Research out of
can feel confident that the divergent New Jersey has gone a step further and
thinking parts of people’s brains will be found a way to maximise both the left and
sufficiently warmed up. right brain hemispheres, leading to highly
practical and highly creative ideas.
Why does this tool work so effectively? It all
comes back to the impossibility of the The researchers got their participants to
challenge. Given that it is impossible, non- complete a standard creativity test then
creative thinking will not lead to a solution. split the participants into two groups. One
The problem can only be solved through group was instructed to follow a target that
taking a leap and thinking very creatively

6. p. +61 3 9018 7455
f. +61 3 9528 4787
m. +61 (0) 412 6565 38
e. info@inventium .com .au
PO Box 1251, Brighton Rd LPO, Elwood,
VIC, Australia 3184
moved from left to right for 30 seconds,
while the second group looked straight The researchers concluded that moving
ahead for the same time. your eyes from side-to-side increases the
communication between the left and right
The participants then completed the same
side of the brain, thus resulting in more
creative idea generation test. Keeping in
useful and creative ideas.
mind that the participants shared
comparable creativity before being split So if your brain is still recovering from the
into groups, the participants who followed weekend and you need a kick start, get
the moving target were much more creative those eyes dancing from side-to-side and
than those who stared at the wall. feel your brain sing.