For managers and entrepreneurs, creativity matters. Whether you’re trying to break into a new niche or gain a slight edge on your peers, innovation is what distinguishes the industry leaders from everyone else.

I just read a fantastic article about innovative thinking at one of my favorite blog sites, Stepcase Lifehack. The piece can get a little corny at times, but it’s full of valuable tips and ideas. Among my favorites:

Possibility Thinker: A Creative Genius persistently thinks about the possibilities that are available to them at any one moment in time. They fully understand that focusing on “possibilities” will expand opportunities, conversely, paying attention to “limitations” will only attract a greater array of problems into their lives.

I need to keep this in mind next time I get bogged down by the roadblocks in my way. Of course, Randy Pausch says they only exist to let you prove how bad you want something!

Risk Taker: A Creative Genius fully understands that without “risk” there can be no worthwhile rewards. They therefore take risks by thinking differently, by taking chances, and by utilizing creative techniques and strategies in a unique, untried and unorthodox manner.

Courageous: A Creative Genius is courageous in action and thought. They are always willing to try new things and break the rules and boundaries limiting the average mind. And it is for this reason that the impossible becomes possible within their perspective of reality.

Belief in Learning from every Success & Failure: A Creative Genius essentially does not distinguish between success or failure. Instead, they only acknowledge the feedback they receive from personal experience, from the environment and from others. This feedback helps them to transform their creative approach when confronted with the same circumstances in the future.

There are too many more of these to list here. But finally, my favorite one:

Curious & Playful Nature: A Creative Genius approaches every task or activity in a curiously playful manner. Reminiscent of a child learning something new for the very first time. A Creative Genius fully appreciates that only curiosity and playfulness is able to relax their mind and bring forth its fullest creative potential.

The reason I like that one best is probably because I’d like to think it describes me. It’s also a great transition into talking about one of my favorite books on creativity, Think Naked by Marco Marsan.

The book’s title is a call for all of us to strip away our normal patterns of thinking and free our inner creative genius. Marco postulates that when we were kids, something like 95 percent of us were geniuses. But over time, as we were forced into mechanical and formulaic ways of thinking, that native creativity and intelligence started to disappear among most of us.

The short, fun, read offers a handful of tips on how to rekindle that childlike genius. Among my favorites are “Cheat” and “Give Yourself a Brain Wedgie.” Don’t take my word for it, though. Click the link and read some of the reviews others have given the book. It definitely makes my recommended reading short list.

Do you have any tips for thinking more creatively? Share them with the Sandbox – leave a comment below!