Creativity can sometimes feel like a mysterious process, but it doesn’t have to be. Design Bridge and Partners Hong Kong, in partnership with The Marketing Society, recently hosted a workshop called The Unmysterious World of Ideas to explore practical ways to generate innovative solutions. The goal? To show everyone that generating awesome ideas is a skill you can learn, not some magical talent you’re born with.

Key Tools for Your Creative Workout: The workshop offered three essential exercises to help participants flex their creative muscles:

Fostering an Open Mindset

First up: mindset training. The workshop hammered home the power of being open. Instead of shooting down ideas, the “Yes, and...” approach encourages you to build on them. Think improv comedy — it’s all about taking what’s there and making it even better. This creates a fun, judgement-free zone where even the craziest ideas can spark something amazing.

• Key insight: An open mindset is where the magic starts. It’s about making sure everyone feels comfortable throwing ideas out there, no matter how wild they seem.

A Clear and Concise Brief

Just like any good workout needs a goal, a creative session needs a well-defined brief. The workshop emphasised the importance of a “one-line brief” — a super short, punchy statement that sums up the problem you’re trying to solve. This brief should be inspiring, clear and concise, providing a focused direction for ideation.

• Key insight: A strong brief acts as a filter, ensuring that generated ideas remain relevant and aligned with the overall objective.

Connect the dots like a pro

The final exercise int his creative workout involves strengthening your mental connections. Drawing inspiration from “A Technique for Producing Ideas” (1940), the workshop emphasised the importance of connecting seemingly unrelated “things” — diverse experiences, research findings, and perspectives.

As one of the workshop leaders noted, “It’s about changing the perspective when it comes to connecting things — it reminds us to be more observant on what ‘things’ to connect and how to connect them.”

The magic isn’t just in making connections, but in developing the awareness to spot which elements might create something meaningful when combined, and finding innovative ways to bring them together.

The Unmysterious World of Ideas was all about giving people the tools to train their creative thinking muscles. By regularly practicing with an open mindset, crafting clear briefs, and actively seeking connections between seemingly disparate concepts, we can all build our creative fitness and unlock our innovative potential.

What creative thinking exercise will you add to your daily work routine?

To discover more about the insights from our Insights and Innovation workshop, please get in touch with Danley Stone, Head of Client Leadership Hong Kong: danley.stone@designbridge.com.