How to Coach Yourself and Others Techniques For Coaching | Page 154

In her inspiring book, A Creative Companion: How to Free Your
Creative Spirit, Sark tells the story of an Australian artist named Ken
Done who created a painting he thought would look great on bed
sheets. He took the idea to a sheet company but they turned him down
because they just couldn't visualize bed sheets with his painting on
them. Ken then went home, took a white bed sheet, painted his painting
on it, and took it back to the sheet company. The bed sheet he painted
looked so fabulous that the sheet company immediately placed a large
order.
It's not enough to come up with great ideas, you have to act to turn
those ideas into reality.
In this lens you will find more information on how to apply these steps
to become more creative.
What Does It Mean to Be More Creative?
A Definition of Creativity
Dr. Edward de Bono is a leading authority in the field of creative
thinking and is the originator of the term "lateral thinking". He explains
that creativity is a skill that everyone can learn. He adds that even if
some people may be better at being creative than others, like some
people are better at playing tennis than others, when specific
techniques are applied it becomes possible for anyone to generate new
ideas in any field.
While Dr. de Bono emphasizes creativity techniques, Rice FreemanZachery, author of "Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from
Working Artists", has this to say about how to be more creative:
"Instead of looking at the world as it is, look at everything as being full
of possibilities. Instead of seeing what is, look for what could be. If
you're an artist, you look at everything as a possibility and inspiration
because you know that ideas can come from anywhere."
Psychotherapist and creativity coach Dr. Eric Maisel, Ph.D. has been
working with creative and performing artists for over twenty years and
has written many books teaching others to be more creative, including
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