Career
Tale Alimi: 5 Creative Tools That Can Transform Your Business
However, from research and experience, listening is actually as much a valuable tool as talking. When I worked in Business Development and Sales in the Technology industry, I learned that trying to pitch and force people to adopt our solution was not going to work.
You must have either heard that doing business is war; or you may even have experienced some tough seasons in your business.
I had this mindset until I decided to start researching tools to help me and my clients do business with ease.
I found various tools along the way and this year, it became clear to me that I have never intentionally documented these tools. So I’ve decided to write about them.
These tools are actually things you have at your disposal, so you won’t need to go to a tool store to acquire them. You probably just need to wake some of them – that have been dormant in your ‘tool kit’ – up.
Listen
This should be a pretty obvious tool, right? But it is not. As a business owner, you spend a lot of your time talking. You talk to customers, your staff, suppliers, investors, the media, etc. Even though you would like to listen, talking is what seems to get you the result.
However, from research and experience, listening is actually as much a valuable tool as talking. When I worked in Business Development and Sales in the Technology industry, I learned that trying to pitch and force people to adopt our solution was not going to work. I decided to spend more time listening to our prospective clients’ needs and requirements and the results were amazing. We were able to go back to the drawing board and create better solutions.
I am currently utilizing this very important tool in building Owoafara. I am also going to be showing business owners how to use this tool to create transformational solutions at my upcoming creativity masterclass.
Imagine
Your imagination is God’s greatest gift to create the life and business you desire. I heard someone say that your imagination is the preview of life’s coming attractions. Movie script writers have demonstrated this as we continue to see life imitate art. Children are also excellent at using these tools as they transform themselves into superheroes and fairies in their imagination.
As we grow older, we tend to lose our imagination because the reality of life confronts us. By letting our imagination get rusty, we lose our most valuable creative tools.
Some of the most successful inventions in the world today have come from someone’s imagination.
One of the ways I have learned to unlock my imagination is through meditation. I talk about how meditation has helped me in my latest YouTube video. Wake up your imagination if you have let it go for too long and you will come up with solutions that can transform your business and life.
Play
How can play be a creative tool? Well, it is! Have you gone on a vacation and come back feeling refreshed and brimming with new ideas? That is the power of play! When you let go of all your business worries and concerns and actually play, you would be amazed at the kind of ideas that will come to you.
Sometimes when I am feeling stuck, I watch a movie and in the middle of the movie, I get a light bulb moment and a solution just drops into my mind. Could this be the reason some of the most successful people work hard and play hard? Haha
Children clearly demonstrate the joy of play as they play without restraint and are energized by it. Become intentional at playing and you will see how it can transform your life.
How Might We?
I took a design thinking course two years ago and I was introduced to “How might we” questions. Instead of asking questions that don’t spark creativity, ask HMW questions.
When you frame questions with HMW, your brain is triggered to come up with ideas. Those ideas would most likely bring a solution.
Tony Robbins said, “The quality of your life is a direct reflection of the quality of the questions you are asking yourself”. Ask your self HMW questions to unlock creative solutions.
Mind Storm
You must have heard of brainstorming where you and a group of people come together to come up with ideas. I am a big fan of brainstorming because I believe in the power of the collective. Mind storming is similar to brainstorming, but instead of having a group of people, you utilize your mind to generate ideas!
You can frame HMW questions and mind-storm solutions for them. I mind-storm a lot and I have gotten great benefits from doing it. If you don’t have people around you to brainstorm a business challenge with, why don’t you mind-storm?
Try these 5 tools and let me know how they work for you!
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If you want to practically apply some of these tools to come up with solutions for your business challenges or use it to create multiple streams of income or expand your business, then my creativity masterclass coming up in Lagos on the 29th of February will be a one-day immersive experience that will transform the way you build your business, side gig or personal brand.
