Let’s get one thing straight—creative thinking isn’t some mystical spark of genius. It’s a skill. And if you’re leading anything—a team, a company, a side hustle—you need that skill on demand.

The good news? Creative thinking has methods. You can learn them, run them like drills, and train your brain to unlock ideas faster than you’re used to.

No fluff. Just tactics. Let’s get into it.

Rule #1: Your Brain Thinks What You Feed It

A founder sees opportunity.
A lawyer sees risk.
A burned-out exec sees more problems.

Why? Because your default thinking becomes a habit. If you feed your brain constraints and worst-case scenarios every day, that’s what it learns to prioritize. If you feed it curiosity, options, weird ideas, and open-ended questions—it starts firing differently.

Three Tactical Tools to Activate Creative Thinking Fast

These aren’t for someday. Use them today. Use them on the drive home. Use them before your next 1:1.

1. Challenge Every Assumption

Everything you’re doing? Ask yourself: “What if this didn’t have to work the way it does?”

Real-world examples:

• What if your weekly meeting was an audio voice drop your team listened to on walks instead?
• What if you ran a retail store with no cashiers, just QR code scanning and auto-checkout like Amazon Go?
• What if you stopped thinking in “roles” and started thinking in “problems”—what if everyone owns one result instead of one title?

This technique pulls the rug out from under business-as-usual. And that’s where innovation lives.

2. Change the Lens

Look at your challenge from another angle—or another species. (Yes, really.)

• What would your customer’s pet think about your onboarding flow? (Too much friction? Not enough treats?)
• What if your pricing model was optimized by a 12-year-old? (Would they make it simpler? Gamify it?)
• What if you paid by results instead of hours? (Would your team finish faster? Would you stop micromanaging?)

Perspective shifts are rocket fuel. When you see the problem differently, the answer changes too.

3. Let It Get Weird

Yes, you’ll come up with dumb ideas. That’s the point. Because one ridiculous thought often triggers the idea that actually works.

• Flying desks? → Hover-lifters for moving heavy furniture at trade shows.
• Liquid resume ink? → A job-seeking billboard that rewrites itself daily.
• Sleep-powered brainstorming? → AI that records your voice notes when you wake up groggy but inspired.

Give yourself full permission to play. Then sort the nonsense later.

Daily Practice: How to Make Creativity a Leadership Habit

Here’s where most people screw up: They know the techniques… but never train the habit.

So here’s a quick structure that makes this stick:

1. Pick three techniques. Write them on an index card.
2. Carry it. Glance at it twice a day. Force your brain to apply one of them to whatever you’re working on.
3. Say the quiet part out loud. Voice your weird ideas to someone safe. You need to hear yourself thinking differently.
4. Capture it. Keep a “One Weird Thought a Day” log. Review weekly. 90% of it will be trash. 10% might be game-changing.

It’s not about being brilliant every time. It’s about having a system that trains your brain to be ready when the moment really counts.

Smart Leaders Don’t Wait for Creativity. They Train for It.

You don’t need to sit in a forest or wait for a muse. You need to stretch your thinking like you stretch a muscle.

Get tactical. Run the drills. And pretty soon, creative thinking won’t just be something you “try.” It’ll be how you lead.