A look back at TMRE 2009: Get Stimulated: Innovating Through Challenging Times

The Market Research Event 2010 is taking place this November 8-10, 2010 in San Diego, California. Every Friday leading up to the event, we'll be recapping one session from The Market Research Event 2009.

Get Stimulated: Innovating Through Challenging Times

Andrew Pek, Author, Stimulated!

Andrew Pek presented in the "Proof" track at last week's 2009 TMRE, and looked at how people could become more creative in the work that they did. He focused on three ways to get stimulated, focusing on The Vibe, The Value and The Verb. We've got to work on better exploiting the brain in order to be more creative and innovative at work. Creativity is essentially a survival skill.

When audience members were asked about their best moments of creativity took place, they responded in the shower, while sleeping, driving, or even at conferences.

The Vibe, one of the core parts becoming creative, is all about managing your energy. Innovation is a vibe, and relies on tuning and turning your thoughts and feelings into a creative energy. Being aware of your thoughts and feelings is key to having a good vibe.

The Verb is to act, pair ideas with your actions. Pursuing ideas is the key to successful innovation. A great way to do this is to pair random words together. What do you need to come up with a creative idea for? One audience member suggested a new flavor of beer. Te audience then came together to think of different flavors of potato chips. This can introduce new flavors that one had previously never thought of.

And finally, Pek looked at Value. What impact do your new innovations have on your company and society?