Have you been trying to come up with new blog content ideas for your company’s website, but are hitting a creative wall? Maybe you have a problem with one of your products you need to solve, but are having a tough time coming up with a possible solution you haven’t already tried. If this sounds familiar, a team of researchers says you may need to spend a bit more time engaging in creative thinking in the workplace.
In a recent series of studies discussed in Harvard Business Review, Brian Lucas, assistant professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago, and Loran Nordgren, associate professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School of Management, discuss just how much people underestimate how big of an impact persistence has on creativity.
In one study, the researchers asked subjects to list as many ideas as they could for Thanksgiving dishes. After 10 minutes, researchers asked the participants to predict how many more ideas they would be able to come up with if they could spend another 10 minutes thinking. After placing their predictions, they did just that—working on their ideas for another 10 minutes.
On average, the subjects predicted they would be able to think of 10 more ideas, but when they actually spent the time trying, they came up with an average of 15 more. The additional ideas were deemed to be even more relevant and creative than the first set. The researchers found similar results in other studies.
Pushing through ‘the wall’
According to Lucas and Nordgren, people often tend to give in to their feelings of “hitting a wall” that come with creative thinking and decide to give up rather than keep brainstorming. These test results support the notion that creative ideas take some time to develop and may require some extra thought.
To that end, it’s important for your organization to make sure everyone has the space and time they need to think creatively—especially when it comes to developing quality blog content, articles, press releases and other marketing content. By spending more time on brainstorming, you have a better chance of improving your product offerings, content marketing and other key aspects of your business.