Do you have days where you have creative idea after creative idea racing through your head like formula one cars at the Grand Prix? I don’t know about you but those are my favourite kind of days.
What about the days where you are sitting at your desk or in a coffee shop and blankly staring into space as you try to think of something creative or effective, with no luck. I am also familiar with these days, they are not so great.
What I am really interested in, is how to activate creativity and inspiration when I am designing learning solutions, so that I can experience more of my favourite days and less days staring blankly into space. This may be of interest to you too.
In this blog I will share with you the ways that I personally, as well as how the team at Belvista Studios gains inspiration for projects and endeavours. From committing ourselves to an ongoing journey of learning and seeking inspiration from the world, we have been able to initiate awesome projects and create effective, out of the box learning solutions for our clients.
Here are the top ways that we have been gaining inspiration for our projects and company ventures.
1. Online Industry Gatherings
Online gatherings with others in your industry are a great way to learn new things and gain new perspectives. These gatherings can come in a range of formats. I would suggest testing a few out to discover what works for you.
An online gathering that I recently attended was run by a company called the School of Facilitation (www.schooloffaciliation.com). The gathering involved three industry professionals answering questions about their experience as facilitators. It was an honour to hear first-hand from real people in the industry, experiences from their career as well as learnings that they had collected along the way.
These types of sessions are great because the magic of the internet has allowed us to connect with people all over the world in such a convenient way. You don’t need to take out extra time to travel anywhere, all you need to do is sign up, put your headphones on and enjoy the experience from the comfort of your workspace, your car or for that matter, wherever you like! If you have a technological device that supports the platform, you are set!
You never know, jumping onto an online gathering could spark a new idea for you and even teach you a completely new and effective way of doing something.
A recent gathering that we attended online prompted us to start a whole new project that we never would of thought of if we hadn’t been in that session. If you are looking for inspiration that is convenient and connects you with like-minded people in the industry, give this a shot! You can often find these gatherings by searching for them on your internet browser or by keeping an eye out on your social media accounts.
2. Podcasts
Podcasts are currently my favourite platform for consuming content and gaining inspiration. Prior to this year, I was blind to valuable content that was available from the podcast world. Once I discovered my first few podcasts, I was hooked.
Podcasts are especially great if you are wanting to consume content and gain inspiration ‘on-the-go’. You can listen to podcasts whenever and wherever you like, when it is convenient for you.
I recently discovered a podcast called the ‘The Mindchimp Podcast’ (Seals, 2018). This podcast is “all about Learning and Development, including design, marketing, OD, UX, LX, EX and everything in between” (Seals, 2018). People within the Learning and Development Industry are interviewed and discussions take place about what helps shape them and their thoughts. This podcast is great because each episode involves a different learning and development professional and you therefore gain inspiration from a range of people in the industry.
Search for podcasts that align with your industry or learning interests on google and see what is out there! It’s amazing how inspiring this convenient and often ‘cost-free’ platform can be.
3. Meetups
Meetups are gatherings that take place with like-minded people in a face-to-face format. At Belvista Studios we wanted to get to know other people in the industry, learn from others and collaborate with like-minded industry professionals. We created one since we couldn’t find any local ones that suited our needs.
Meetups are a great way to bring people with similar interests together and depending on the format of the meetup, a variety of different learnings can be obtained.
A segment that we ran at a recent meetup involved each participant bringing along a project or problem that they had in relation to their craft where they could gain inspiration or new perspectives from others in the group.
If you feel like you are stuck for ideas or have a problem that you can’t seem to solve, often another opinion or support from a group of people in your industry can make all the difference. The Meetup app is a great way to search for meetups in your area.
If you live in Brisbane, Australia or London, United Kingdom, come along to our next meetup! It would be great to meet you and collaborate with you. You can view the Brisbane meetup group here and the London meetup group here.
That’s it for this blog. It is important to note that the above three options for gaining inspiration are a select few from a wide range of platforms and content that is available in today’s day and age. How do you gain inspiration for your projects? Do you get out into nature? Do you have a coach? You may even enjoy reading books. I hope that these tips have supported you to kickstart your journey of inspiration and new ideas!
References
Seals, D. (2018). The Mindchimp Podcast. Retrieved from iTunes.
What about the days where you are sitting at your desk or in a coffee shop and blankly staring into space as you try to think of something creative or effective, with no luck. I am also familiar with these days, they are not so great.
What I am really interested in, is how to activate creativity and inspiration when I am designing learning solutions, so that I can experience more of my favourite days and less days staring blankly into space. This may be of interest to you too.
In this blog I will share with you the ways that I personally, as well as how the team at Belvista Studios gains inspiration for projects and endeavours. From committing ourselves to an ongoing journey of learning and seeking inspiration from the world, we have been able to initiate awesome projects and create effective, out of the box learning solutions for our clients.
Here are the top ways that we have been gaining inspiration for our projects and company ventures.
1. Online Industry Gatherings
Online gatherings with others in your industry are a great way to learn new things and gain new perspectives. These gatherings can come in a range of formats. I would suggest testing a few out to discover what works for you.
An online gathering that I recently attended was run by a company called the School of Facilitation (www.schooloffaciliation.com). The gathering involved three industry professionals answering questions about their experience as facilitators. It was an honour to hear first-hand from real people in the industry, experiences from their career as well as learnings that they had collected along the way.
These types of sessions are great because the magic of the internet has allowed us to connect with people all over the world in such a convenient way. You don’t need to take out extra time to travel anywhere, all you need to do is sign up, put your headphones on and enjoy the experience from the comfort of your workspace, your car or for that matter, wherever you like! If you have a technological device that supports the platform, you are set!
You never know, jumping onto an online gathering could spark a new idea for you and even teach you a completely new and effective way of doing something.
A recent gathering that we attended online prompted us to start a whole new project that we never would of thought of if we hadn’t been in that session. If you are looking for inspiration that is convenient and connects you with like-minded people in the industry, give this a shot! You can often find these gatherings by searching for them on your internet browser or by keeping an eye out on your social media accounts.
2. Podcasts
Podcasts are currently my favourite platform for consuming content and gaining inspiration. Prior to this year, I was blind to valuable content that was available from the podcast world. Once I discovered my first few podcasts, I was hooked.
Podcasts are especially great if you are wanting to consume content and gain inspiration ‘on-the-go’. You can listen to podcasts whenever and wherever you like, when it is convenient for you.
I recently discovered a podcast called the ‘The Mindchimp Podcast’ (Seals, 2018). This podcast is “all about Learning and Development, including design, marketing, OD, UX, LX, EX and everything in between” (Seals, 2018). People within the Learning and Development Industry are interviewed and discussions take place about what helps shape them and their thoughts. This podcast is great because each episode involves a different learning and development professional and you therefore gain inspiration from a range of people in the industry.
Search for podcasts that align with your industry or learning interests on google and see what is out there! It’s amazing how inspiring this convenient and often ‘cost-free’ platform can be.
3. Meetups
Meetups are gatherings that take place with like-minded people in a face-to-face format. At Belvista Studios we wanted to get to know other people in the industry, learn from others and collaborate with like-minded industry professionals. We created one since we couldn’t find any local ones that suited our needs.
Meetups are a great way to bring people with similar interests together and depending on the format of the meetup, a variety of different learnings can be obtained.
A segment that we ran at a recent meetup involved each participant bringing along a project or problem that they had in relation to their craft where they could gain inspiration or new perspectives from others in the group.
If you feel like you are stuck for ideas or have a problem that you can’t seem to solve, often another opinion or support from a group of people in your industry can make all the difference. The Meetup app is a great way to search for meetups in your area.
If you live in Brisbane, Australia or London, United Kingdom, come along to our next meetup! It would be great to meet you and collaborate with you. You can view the Brisbane meetup group here and the London meetup group here.
That’s it for this blog. It is important to note that the above three options for gaining inspiration are a select few from a wide range of platforms and content that is available in today’s day and age. How do you gain inspiration for your projects? Do you get out into nature? Do you have a coach? You may even enjoy reading books. I hope that these tips have supported you to kickstart your journey of inspiration and new ideas!
References
Seals, D. (2018). The Mindchimp Podcast. Retrieved from iTunes.
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