Do you think it's time for more ingenious ideas, innovative approaches and out-of-the-box thinking? Then we have some great news for you: Comedian and speaker Knacki Deuser shares his best expert tips for more creativity in everyday life with you! If you've always wanted to know if creativity can be learned and trained (and if so, how), then this magazine article could be the start of something big. Get inspired and get ready for lots of constructive brainstorms, because now it's time to get out of the creative slump and into the realm of ideas!
Knacki Deuser is an expert in the field of creativity and idea generation. After all, he has been on stage and in front of the camera for many years, where he inspires his audience with wordplay and inventiveness. He is convinced: "Creativity is the supreme discipline of the brain. And I believe that creativity can be found and encouraged. Because it doesn't just fall from the sky, it has to be trained." Knacki Deuser can sum up how this works in just a few points. Minor spoiler on his part: "A flash of inspiration always consists of work. There will never be a flash of inspiration without work."
Now it's getting concrete. Knacki Deuser tells: "The first factor for creativity is your mindset. The essential point to understand when you are looking for something new is the willingness to find something you don't know yet. However, the problem when we find something new is that we don't know what to do with it. Here's what we need to internalize: When we're looking for something new, we have to be willing to encounter things we don't know. This doesn't always make us feel comfortable right away, but we have to learn to be okay with that discomfort."
According to this, the mindset factor consists of being able to do new things accept and to view the unknown as something positive. Knacki Deuser: "We often don't want new solutions because we don't know them. So we would like something new that is familiar to us at the same time. That inhibits our creativity enormously." So the first important step toward new ideas is to expand your mindset and internalize that new is new. And that's a good thing, too.
The second relevant factor is your training. Because of course you can learn to control your brain and direct the mechanisms towards creativity. Knacki Deuser: "Creativity rarely works without pressure. When we created new comedy acts, it actually always looked the same: The premiere was approaching. We had written a press release, we had a photo and we usually already had 120 performances lined up. What we didn't have was a program. So there was always a little bit of pressure."
The expert compares the development of creativity in the brain with the development of muscles during sports. Knacki Deuser explains: "An athlete doesn't get better during training, but during the subsequent break. We have to set stimuli. In sport, it's like creating little mini-injuries. And during the break, which is recovery, the body recovers and gets stronger." You can apply this to creative thinking: at the beginning of creativity there is homework, after that comes the exciting phase.
To be able to think outside the box, you first need a plate, of course. The expert explains: "The first thing we have to do is create a plate. What we find at the end doesn't matter at the beginning. Because new is new. What we find afterwards, we don't know yet. We will find something. But we have to start by defining and establishing, that is, filling our plate with information. That's the analytical part. After that, you start breaking the rules by reimagining shapes and reassembling them in analogies."
Then comes the crucial moment: you go from controlled thinking to daydreaming. Your brain is now filled with information and can let off steam creatively. Knacki Deuser calls this "ritualized breaks". Your ritualized break can be, for example, a daily walk where you then come across a terrific idea. That's how brainstorms happen! Not so difficult, is it?
Knacki Deuser summarizes: "The basis of a brainwave remains analytical, hard work and your willingness, i.e. the mindsetto get involved in new things. Yes, creativity can be sought, encouraged and trained. The flash of inspiration will come if you follow the right paths. You just have to understand that you work first and then you walk. Because many people don't start working until they have an idea. But that is the biggest mistake of all. You have to work first and then relax. Then your brain will provide incredible possibilities and creative ideas."
