From The Manager’s Pocket Guide to Creativity, here is the essence of the nine keys of creativity, with a quote from each:

1. Ask a lot of questions: “Most of our social institutions seem designed to limit, if not discourage, creative inquiry.”
2. Record all ideas: “When you need new ideas, you can start by reexamining the old ones.”
3. Revisit ideas and assumptions: “When revisiting, you often find that assumptions are more striking than ideas.” IDEO culture emphasizes: “Refine or rethink our assumptions rather than press onward in adherence to an original plan.”
4. Express ideas and follow through: “Most ideas are cut short by our automatic self-censorship.”
5. Think in new ways: “You don’t get out of the box by doing what you’ve always done.”
6. Wish for more. Stretch: “Creativity is nurtured by creative speculation.”
7. Everyone should try to be creative: “Most people feel they’re not creative and therefore don’t try to be.”
8. Keep trying: “The secret to incubation is revisiting the problem and doing so often.”
9. Encourage creativity and ask for creative behavior all the time: Most managers think that “if you aren’t visibly producing something tangible, then you’re wasting the company’s money.”

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