Long, long ago when I was a graduate student, I was working late in the computer lab trying to solve a complex programming problem.

Walking is the best way to get there.

Though I had written most of the code I needed, I just couldn’t figure out how to code the crux of the problem. After several hours of hit-and-miss programming, I gave up and walked home.

During my 15-minute walk, the answer popped into my head. I made two observations: 1) I had a good idea while I was walking; 2) I’m not a very good programmer — the problem wasn’t so terribly difficult.

The second idea helped me re-plan my career. Maybe I shouldn’t be a programmer after all. The first idea helped me be successful in my career.

I don’t claim to be a very creative thinker. But I do have a good idea every now and again. When I do, I try to note and remember my circumstances. I figure that there’s something about the environment that promotes creative thinking. Conversely, there are some environments that seem to inhibit — perhaps prohibit — creative thinking. To stimulate my creative processes, I need to insert myself into more of the former environments and fewer of the latter.

Here’s what I’ve found. I have a lot of my good ideas — perhaps a majority — when I’m walking. I’m a visual thinker and there’s a lot to see when I’m out for a walk. It’s stimulating. Yet it doesn’t require so much attention that I can’t process things in the back of my mind. If I’m walking with my wife, she often points out things that I might have missed. Then I can ask myself, “why did I see X but not Y?” That can stimulate interesting thoughts as well.

Other activities that seem to stimulate creativity (for me, at least) include riding a bike, light exercise at the gym, flying in an airplane, riding a train, taking a shower, and cooking oatmeal. It’s an odd combination. The common thread seems to be that I’m doing something that takes part of my attention but not all of it.

Here are some places where I never have good ideas: airports, commuting in heavy traffic, watching TV, and sitting in business meetings. It’s ironic that good ideas don’t come to me in business meetings. Basically, I’m trying to keep up with the conversation. If I’m a good listener, then I’m paying attention to other people rather than processing interesting thoughts myself.

I find brainstorming sessions useful though I rarely have a good idea when I’m in one. It’s like thinking of a good joke. If you ask me to tell a good joke, my mind goes blank. If my mind is wandering, however, I can think of a dozen jokes. It’s the same in brainstorming sessions. I try to follow the conversation and the various social interactions. That means I’m not processing stray, random, and perhaps interesting thoughts. For me, brainstorming sessions are useful for enhancing group communication and building trust. That creates the conditions for creating ideas.

I’m not at all sure that my “creative” activities will work for you. So here’s a suggestion: keep an idea log. Don’t just jot down the idea. Jot down where you were and what you were doing when the idea occurred to you. Sooner or later, you’ll see a pattern. Then you can create more “creative” experiences. In the meantime, I’m going for a walk.

I sometimes wonder if the Innovation Industry isn’t looking through the wrong end of the telescope. The Innovation Industry consists of

Is it worth my while to tell you my idea?

several thousand mainly smallish companies that will gladly teach your company how to be more innovative. Many of them focus on the front-end of the process: how to have a good idea. You can find courses on how to lead brainstorming sessions, how to creatively whack yourself on the side of the head, how to do mash-ups, what to do with silly putty, and so on.

That’s all well and good but, frankly, creating the idea is the easy part. The hard part is doing something useful with it, especially in an established organization where turf is already defined. Let’s look at what happens once someone has an idea:

• Idea creator has to propose the idea to someone else — it’s easy to kill an idea at this stage. All it take is a little sarcasm. That not only kills the idea, it kills the person’s desire to create ideas.
• Proposer has to marshall evidence to support the idea — somebody has to write a formal proposal. How many customers will buy this? How much money will we make? Will the idea cannibalize existing products? These are tough questions. The more innovative the idea, the harder these questions become. Business plans are based on the past. A truly innovative idea has no past.
• Proposer has to present the idea — “Geez, now I have to take my idea, present it to senior staff, and get grilled by all the top executives. A root canal sounds like more fun.”
• Proposer has to wait — decisions on innovative ideas don’t happen quickly. The proposer waits and waits and waits … often with no information about process or progress. It’s easy to get cynical at this point.
• Nothing happens and proposer gets cynical — “Geez, they said they wanted ideas but they sure didn’t want my ideas. They said we should be creative and think different. But what happens when we do? Nothing. I did my regular job plus this special project and I have exactly zero to show for it. I’m not going to do that again.”

The process is complicated, time-consuming, and more than a little scary. It makes you wonder why anybody would ever propose anything. And, indeed, that’s what happens in many companies.

It’s possible to make your company more innovative. Teaching your employees to be more creative can help — but it’s not sufficient. Creative employees become cynical if they never see their ideas put into action. Before you ramp up the creativity, be sure you have the processes in place to put new ideas to work. The first step? Train your Idea First Responders. More about that tomorrow.