Digging For The Bone: How to Jumpstart Creative Thinking

Mark Simon Burk

Twitter: @BRANDnv

SVA Course:(How to Do) Killer WorkDigging for the Bone

© 2014 Mark Simon Burk

Digging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk

great ideasin advertising?

what’s it likecoming up with...


great ideaswhen problem-solving?

in advertising?

what’s it likecoming up with...


great ideaswhat’s it likecoming up with...

when brain-storming new approaches?

when problem-solving?in advertising?

great question!


creativity is not a magical thing that just happens.

great question!


Here’s my analogyDigging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk

dogyou’re aIt’s like


(but more like a human dog)

dogyou’re aIt’s like


cartoon.You know,Like that one in the

RUH?!Digging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk


notOnly that onebecause I couldn’t get the rights.

And you’re digging for bones in the yard


are ideas=

bonesOnly the



And the yard you’re digging in...

centralpark!Is the size of


NO IDEAAnd, you have

Where in this yard the bones are buried.?Digging for the Bone


NO IDEANot only that, you have


How deep the bones are buried.

Some are tucked just a

below

fewfeet


And some bones are

20 feet

undergrou

nd

deepDigging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk

And if you want one of those bones,

there’s onlyone thing to do...


And if you want one of those bones,

start digging


there’s onlyone thing to do...

anywhere

start digging


place shovel in ground

doesn’t matter


digdigSo you

and you



And for a while…No bones.

And for a while…No bones.

But you

give up.don’tDigging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk

You plant your shovel into the ground in as many different places as possible.


Until...


You plant your shovel into the ground in as many different places as possible.


You findyour first


boneYou’re excited!

It’s your first


boneYou’re excited!

It’s your first

You pull it from the ground.But as you hold it up for all to see...


It crumbles to dust right in your hand.


Why? The truth is, 99% of the first ideas you’ll come up with

are garbage


Digging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon BurkDigging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk

You gotta dig past all those run-of-the-mill

ideas, obvious analogies and awful puns.

But that’s okay. Enjoy it!

That’s how you get to something


specialThat’s how you get to something


Well, you still have no bone.

(bummer)?!


So what do you do?

?!(bummer)


Well, you still have no bone.

You pick up your shoveland you keep on


digging

And all the while you’re never sure whether

you should keep where you are,

or stop and go dig somewhere else for ideas.


digging

just 3 inchesbelow

Because maybe that huge idea you’re searching for is

where you’re thinkingright now.


And it’s why you sometimes go backto a hole you’d been digging before, because now you have…

a hunch.


Almost as if you’d been given a glimpse of some

xx

x

secret hiddenbone map

Translation: You revisit an idea you’d dug up earlier, because now you have a better understanding of the problem or


Translation: You revisit an idea you’d dug up earlier, because now you have a better understanding of the problem or

Almost as if you’d been given a glimpse of some

you’ve uncovered an insight into your customer’s behavior or...

secret hiddenbone map

xx

xDigging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk

you found a new way into the problem by

Could be because of

happy accident.


Could be because of

a conversation you overheardon the subway

or a song lyric that hits you.

happy accident.you found a new way into the problem by


digdigAnd so you continue to

and


and then...

digdigAnd so you continue to

and



You hit something!


You hit something!

A rock? No.

How many times have you hit a rock before that you hoped was a bone?


No. This sounds

differentDigging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk

You dig around it,

and beholdit really is a bone!


And remembering how easily the first one crumbled,You take it out gently and brush it off with your

bonebrush


This one doesn’t crumble.

woohoo!andwhaddaya know!


Translation:The idea that you had at 2 in the morning...

illusion?Digging for the Bone


Still seems prettydamn good at 7AM.

realityDigging for the Bone


and you tuck it into your bone pouch.

And you’re very excitedabout this bone

so you carefully wrap it upin a linen cloth


ideaperson

But if you’rea real

here’s what youdo next:


shove

lYou pick up your

and you getback to yourdigging

because nowyou’re hungryfor more bones.


GOODat this bone-finding thing.

And after a while, you start getting pretty


Good enough, that your bone bag

is filling up with allkinds of bones.

In fact, you’re getting so good at

it, that one day when you stop

for a breakDigging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk

unwr

apyou that first real bone you found,

which you’d swaddled in linen...



And you can’t believe it!

HUH?!

HUH?!Turning it over in your hands,

you say to yourself...


And you can’t believe it!

I thought this was a good idea?!

seriously?Digging for the Bone


what wasi thinking?!


Because since that

You’ve found

first bonemuch more insightful bones,

funnier bones,more thoughtful bones.


And then you do something very BOLD

Because since that

You’ve found

first bonemuch more insightful bones,

funnier bones,more thoughtful bones.


You let that bone roll out of your hand and

to the ground

fallDigging for the Bone



When it hits the earth it

s plin erstinto a hundred pieces.


There are others who see this happen.

And they can’t believe that youThey thought what you had was a pretty good idea!

dropped it!Digging for the Bone


socavalier!


But now you know better.You know it

socavalier!wasn’t such a great bone after all.


And so, you get back on your feet, and you continue

digging through the

dayDigging for the Bone


And into the

nightDigging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk

And through thenext day’s heat

dayDigging for the Bone


nightDigging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk

Until one late night yourshovel hits somethingthat sounds different.


Not like a rock, but also not like the other bones you’ve found.

WHAA?!Digging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk

You throw down your

And get down on your paws and knees and dig around it.

shovel


You’re

excitedas hell!

plea

se!

oxyg

enDigging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk

You paw around itand finally unearth it.

You take out your special bone brush and after a few strokes,


you catch your firstglintDigging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk

it makes yourheart race!


And as you lift it from the ground, you think

This bone is...

this bone has

my lord!

weightlike I’ve never felt in a bone before.


GOLD.solid



GOLD.solid

Fully uncovered, this bone reflects the moon so brightly that the whole park is cast in its light.



GOLD.solid

One by one, all the otherdiggers stop and stare over at

the Golden Bone you alonehold in your hands.


KILLER IDEA!Digging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk

They areawestruck by its brilliance

KILLER IDEA!Digging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk

They areawestruck by its brillianceand truth be told

KILLER IDEA!

jealousyjealous?

uh, yeah!


each one seers with a small pang of

KILLER IDEA!

jealousyYOU found it.because

jealous?

uh, yeah!



KILLER IDEA!

jealousyYOU found it.

not them.

because

And

jealous?

uh, yeah!




And that’s what it takes to dig up a Killer Idea.

And that’s what it takes to dig up a Killer Idea.

It takes effort and


INSIGHTSto find the

into how people think and feel about a product or service


INSIGHTSor the challenge you’re charged with solving.

into how people think and feel about a product or service

to find the


INSIGHTSAnd it takes a lot of poking around the human behaviors that surround it.


It also means paying close attention to your own creative process, so you can more efficientlytrigger

your ownthinking


It also means paying close attention to your own creative process, so you can more efficiently

your ownthinking

triggerLike knowing what time of day, and where, you’re most productive.


(very important, especially when under pressure!)

It also means paying close attention to your own creative process, so you can more efficientlytrigger

Like knowing what time of day, and where, you’re most productive.

your ownthinking


recap:So let’s


recap:shovel

So let’s

Put your

in the ground in as many different places as possible


recap:shovel

So let’s

Put your

in the ground in as many different places as possible

right at the start!Digging for the Bone © 2014 Mark Simon Burk



The reward is well

WORTH ITDigging for the Bone


Taught by Mark Simon Burk School of Visual Arts, NYC

sva.edu/continuing-education/advertising

BRANDnvinc.com@[email protected]

‘Digging for the Bone’ © 2014 Mark Simon Burk

(how to do)killer work!

Digging For The Bone: How to Jumpstart Creative Thinking

idea youd

happy accident

lets put

creative process

small pang

great question

killer idea

youve found

Text of Digging For The Bone: How to Jumpstart Creative Thinking

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Digging For The Bone: How to Jumpstart Creative Thinking

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