Whether it is for product innovation, marketing ideas or improved life in the workplace, businesses have their own approaches to finding the inspiration and generating the great ideas. Which got me thinking. Do businesses have the right approach to idea generation? What might be missing in their approach? Rather than look at the problem through the eyes of the business, I just thought a better place would be to see how we all individually get inspired. Where do we all have our moments of inspiration? Where do our ideas come from? I personally get great a rare moment of inspiration when I listen to music or when I am in the shower. But what seems to be the case with other people? So I decided to go and find out. I asked a number of people on twitter, at conferences that I spoke at, friends, as well as people I know in the business world. I simply asked where and when to they get their moments of inspiration. Why? Because business can learn a lot from how people think and behave. Business can be inspired by learning from how we as individuals are inspired. To become a more elegant business, companies need to question their present approach to idea generation and ask themselves if they are getting the best out of their incredible people.

1. where do our moments of
inspiration come from?
and what businesses might learn from people
in their approach to idea generation
thoughts from citizenbay & friends

2. the business approach?

3. Economic downturn
digital revolution
changing relationship with customers
disruptive business models
doing existing things better
race for innovation
source: @citizenbay

4. Product Development
Customer Service
Organisational Management
Processes
Strategies
Everything
flickr: will668

5. Brainstorms
Walking on Fire
Team Bonding
Really?

6. Job pressure
Job satisfaction
Organisational hierarchies
Not Your Job
Disruptive technologies
Robots
flickr: epSos.de

7. 34% eat lunch at the desk
31% take lunch now &
again, if ever
flickr: moriza
source: rightmanagement 2013

8. shift
flickr: slack pics

9. The accounting firm Ernst & Young did an
internal study of its employees and found
that for each additional 10 hours of holiday
that employees took, their year-end
performance ratings from supervisors (on a
scale of one to five) improved by 8%
Frequent vacationers were also significantly
less likely to leave the firm
source: @citizenbay

10. sleep
When basketball players got 10 hours sleep,
performance improved
Free-throw and three-point shooting each
increased by an average of 9 %
Source: Stanford researcher Cheri D. Mah
flickr: mrstg

11. powernap
When night shift air traffic controllers were
given 40 minutes to nap and slept an
average of 19 minutes...
they performed much better on tests that
measured vigilance and reaction time
flickr: NATS Press Office

12. To find business innovation & ideas, an
organisation must inspire people and
must be open to inspiration
But to do that, businesses need to
understand when & where people are
most inspired
source: citizenbay

13. So I went in search of the spaces, places & times of the day when we
seem to get our best ideas...
And asked a number of people two questions:
When are you most inspired?
Where are you most inspired?
Initially I thought it would be great food for thought as I help
companies re-think how they go about organising for inspiration..

14. this is what some people
said...
source: citizenbay

15. movement 1

16. nick
running with the dogs in the morning
source: n.phillips

17. runningaway
@koenieboomboom
along Regents Canal when running
flickr: alan stanton

18. bicycle
anja
on the bicycle
going to & from
work and other activities
source: citizenbay

19. jeet
the long journeys home after obscure night outs, whilst attempting to
beat the sunrise to get home...
flickr: brainflakes

20. transported 2

21. @armano
motorcycle rides
on a Road King
flickr: manoel cardoso

22. trains
planes
automobiles
boats
source: citizenbay

23. disconnect 3

24. @olivia_solon
in yoga, when I am not supposed to be thinking about anything else
flickr:Augusto Mia Battaglia

25. bath
flickr: anemoneprojectors

26. Air Cadet from 50F (Lambeth) Squadron
I head to the park
I lie down
I put my headphones on
I turn the music up
I look up
That s where I get my inspiration
source: citizenbay

27. naps
@seetu
I ve encouraged my teams to take short
naps when facing sticky problems,
to the chagrin of my supervisors
z
z z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z

28. pillow
jake
immediately before falling asleep
(not very practical for a meeting, and most are forgotten by morning
but there you go!)
flickr: tsmall

29. flickr: tsmall
@aliciakan
Before sleeping
Keep a Mad Thoughts notebook on nightstand
pillow

30. invigorate 4

31. flickr: photoatelier

32. @samknowles
after an evening s
improvisational
comedy class
flickr: keith bloomfiled

33. @faris
either from twitter or when I m not on twitter

34. @koenieboomboom
after 3am in the bar with my mates
flickr: jaypeg

35. @thehospitalclub
walking
also when drunk which is unfortunate as generally can t remember
them in the morning

36. @tomdenning1
I take my nephews to my fav place,
watch what they do and see the world anew!
source: citizenbay

37. alone 5

38. @adrianpure
on the sofa
returning to complete
a design for a friend
late at night
source: citizenbay

39. aloneincrowd
@jobsworth
walking for long periods while alone in a crowd...
what I try to do is keep the everyday part of my brain busy walking on
crowded pavements while letting the rest of me wander
flickr: benjgibbs

40. @madlizzie
the toilet

41. routine 6

42. @crystaltau
when I m brushing my teeth
source: citizenbay

43. walktowork
@addictivemobile
walking around or running - ideally in a park -
but walking to work mostly
flickr: benjgibbs

44. @aliciakan
Deadheading flowers
source: citizenbay

45. the senses 7
sounds have

46. @thesavage
late night guitar playing is often
a good way of allowing the mind to meander its way to ideas
flickr: @Doug88888

47. @greggfraley
music with lyrics lifts my mood,
so rock and jazz classics...
flickr: NHW12

48. @olivia_solon
listening to podcasts on my way to work
flickr: NHW12

49. @citizenbay
I studied for my exams at school listening to this album
It is still one of the reliable triggers to open up my mind
to fresh thoughts

50. @citizenbay
The first time I heard this album, music became something more
There is so much music that inspires me,
but from the first note of Acknowledgement,
I get inspired each and every time by the genius of John Coltrane

51. @citizenbay
Birdsong
There are times when I sit at my kitchen table in south london, window
open. Peacefulness is only broken by the sound of blackbirds and
other feathered friends
source: rspb.co.uk

52. @solobasssteve
with my toys (instruments) at hand and no extraneous noise
even fan noise on amps can
mess with my creative space
air con is a definite idea-killer
flickr:Thomas Hawk

53. the unexpected 8

54. Guillermo Perez @2020publicidad
The best ideas come as I listen to people telling me theirs...
which is sort of perfectly inconvenient.
I guess that s the musician in me
source: citizenbay

55. @solobasssteve
people wanting to hear what I m up to makes me want to create
I feel vindicated in making my own creative choices
there is - perhaps paradoxically - more freedom in people wanting
what you do than in being ignored

56. backinaminute
emmett
On a six week training course, some of my peers and I realised that
ideas kept popping into our heads after coming back from the
restroom. Even the toughest of dilemmas melted away as our
bladders emptied
flickr: loop_oh

57. surprise
@garethkay (& @faris)
anywhere and everywhere
Normally when I m not looking for it
(especially when not looking for it :) - @faris)

58. for a rainy day 9
capture them for the future

59. anja
sometimes I end up forgetting some of it again, because I can t just
immediately write them down.
I guess one can see it as an idea being parked/saved for later when it is
more relevant, and will pop up again...
flickr: nick fedele

60. Dear Business,
If people are inspired whilst alone or with others
if people get great ideas in moments of peace or stimulation,
if people find moments of inspiration when their brains disconnect
from the immediate pressures of their work...
do you think you might need to change your approach to inspiration in
your business?
paul

61. @citizenbay
citizenbay.net

62. thanks to all the wonderful people who kindly
contributed including:
the 50f (Lambeth) Squadron of Air Cadets
attendees of my speech on Creative Thinking at
the International Media Group conference
students of UEL and Westminster who listened to
my guest lecture mumblings
and also @jobsworth, @faris, @garethkay,
@jmacdonald @olivia_solon, @aliciakan,
@gregfraley, @armano, @seetu, @samknowles,
@addictivemobile, @adrianpure and Nick P.