An article in the NYTimes, from a book called Juicing the Orange lays out (excerpts) some steps for institutionalizing creativity in the workplace. Among them: not merely stating the oft-used but callously ambiguous phrase "think outside the box".

• Always start from scratch.

• "Demand a ruthlessly simple definition of the business problem."

• Find a "proprietary emotion" you can appeal to. "Marketers who favor reason over emotion," they write, "will find themselves quite literally forgotten."

• Think big. Don't be limited by the budget or the initial challenge.

• Take calculated risks.

• Collaborate with others both inside and outside your company to solve the problem.

• "Listen hard to your customers. (Then listen some more.)"

I agree with the first one whole-heartedly. That's what I ask my clients to do. And I've often found that it's the smaller companies that are willing to take the bigger risks (naturally, the bigger ones feel they have more to lose). That said, the smaller companies who bet their companies still have everything to lose anyway.

Demanding an elevator version of the business problem is crucial to getting your head wrapped around it in the first place. How well you solve the problem often comes down to how well you beat it down to simple terms.

And somewhere in there: pay attention to the details. I'd like to add another: trust your designer.

Tags: creativity, business, design