Creative Block Busters for Product Managers

Product Managers Are Creatives

It’s just part of the nature of what we do. We create sales and marketing materials and pitch decks and feature specifications and business justifications and blogs and webinars and … the list goes on. And because we’re creative – we have to create all of this material – we’re naturally subject to creative blocks. At least I find I am. And I need tools to help me bust those creative blocks.

So in this episode I share three tips for overcoming the creative blocks that you – and definitely I – often run into.

I personally use these ideas, some of them every day, all of them a lot. And I think that if you start using them right away, you will see immediate results if you are struggling with creative blocks of any kind.

Three Creative Block Busters You Can Start Using Today

In the episode I talk about three specific approaches to breaking down creative barriers.

* Talk – it changes the modality from thinking, and by doing so sometimes it frees up your creativity and problem solving ability.* Drill down – using outlines and mindmaps to discover new connections, help structure your thinking, and find new ways into a creative challenge.* Overcome the activation energy barrier with simple techniques that let you get started on your creative assignment with low cognitive load and little risk of failure.

Links to Resources

In the episode I mention several books and sites, as well as some articles of mine on overcoming creative blocks:

* The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. Source of the “morning pages” concept, and a great book in general for helping you strengthen your creative muscles.* 750words.com, a site for writing morning pages (which you can write any time of the day), which tracks your progress, counts your words, and gives you badges like the Penguin, for writing 5 days in a row.* The previous podcast episode about Product Management-to-Product Marketing Interface, where I describe an application of block busting technique 1. * An old article of mine about tools for augmenting your creativity: A Toolset For Getting Unstuck When Your Creativity Is Blocked * And another old article (this one mentions morning pages, plus two other techniques): Product Management And Fear – Three Tips For Overcoming Creative Blocks

Project Product Conference Info

I’ll be speaking at the Project Product conference in Indianapolis on March 10 and presenting a workshop on influence and persuasion on March 11 in Indy. Here’s all the info, including some discount codes!

* Project Product Conference: Check out the Project Product conference, and if you’d like to register, use discount code “SPKRFRIEND20”. It runs March 10-11 in Indianapolis, Indiana.* Workshop: You can sign up for my workshop on mastering presentation and influence skills for product managers and product marketers in Indianapolis on March 11, following the Project Product conference.