Something I’ve observed from working with thousands of people, and hundreds of teams is that a lot of the time teams don’t struggle because they lack ideas. They often struggle because the conditions for good thinking erode, or are never in place to start with.

Maybe:

• A lack of strategy or direction means that your team is a group of individuals following their own ‘North Star.’
• Poor facilitation skills mean that the loudest voices prevail in meetings or brainstorms without making room for introspection or reflection, leaving anyone who has a more internal process feeling underutilised and ignored.
• The team has no shared understanding of what great creative output looks like in your context meaning subjectivity rules the roost.
• Things are so fast-paced, that the lure of tried and tested beats original thinking every time but leaves you all with the feeling you know you could have done better.

Every team is different and what are barriers for your group will be different from others. So, I’ve put together a mini-audit for teams to identify what helps and what gets in the way of your team doing its best thinking together.

You can do this as:

• an individual reflection, then compare notes
• or a shared conversation in a meeting or workshop

Take it one section at a time.

1. What ‘good creative work’ actually looks like on this team

Start here.

• When has this team done work it was genuinely proud of?
• What made that work ‘good’ – what criteria are you using to define your creative output?
• What behaviours were present?
• What was noticeably absent?
• Can you identify any other factors that make the difference to the team’s creative output?

2. Speaking up

Ask yourself (ves) honestly:

• Can people suggest barely or half-formed ideas without apologising or feeling judged?
• Is disagreement treated as useful or uncomfortable?
• Do quieter voices tend to disappear?
• Do the people running team stand ups or brainstorms understand facilitation methods?

Teams need permission to think out loud without worrying about the consequences. It’t not about ‘there are no wrong or rubbish ideas’ – there will be loads. It just that we’ll treat them as initial ‘material’ not an assessment of the person’s entire personality or abilities.

3. How ideas move through the team

Map the real flow, not the ideal one.

• Where and how do ideas start?
• Where and how do they get shaped and developed?
• Where do they get stuck, watered down, or killed?
• Is it genuinely a team effort or is it the same people and the same places?
• Do you play to the team’s different strengths and preferences? Do you even know what they are? See the next section.

If ideas routinely die in the same place, that’s potentially a system issue not an ideas problem.

4. Strengths in the room

Every team has different thinking strengths, whether they name them, or share them, or not.

• Who seeks clarity?
• Who spots gaps or risks? 
• Who pushes for originality?
• Who keeps things moving?
• Who dissents?
• Who brings insights?
• Who loves the wider picture?
• Who digs detail

If the same people are always expected to ‘be creative’ in the same way, you’re underusing the room.

5. The shadow side of those strengths

This is where teams get interesting.

• When does clarity become over-simplification?
• When does originality tip into impracticality?
• When does efficiency override time to think?
• When does the desire for group harmony suppress unconventional thought?

Creative friction is healthy.
Unexamined friction is a wasted opportunity.

6. Decision-making and ownership

Creative teams stall when decisions are fuzzy.

• Who decides what moves forward?
• How often are decisions reopened without explanation?

Creativity suffers when effort doesn’t feel proportionate to influence.

7. Energy and pace

Look beyond output.

• When does the team feel most alive?
• When does energy consistently dip?
• Are you asking for creative thinking when people are already drained?

Every day creativity beats heroic bursts every time.

8. Language and habits

Notice the phrases that shape behaviour:

• “We don’t have time”
• “Let’s be realistic”
• “That won’t fly”
• “We tried that before”

Language creates invisible rules.
Once you hear them, you can choose which ones to keep.

9. Rituals (or lack of them)

Every team has rituals even accidental ones.

• How do you start projects?
• How do you review work?
• How do you close things down?
• How do you acknowledge progress or learning?
• How do you celebrate your creative achievements?

10. One thing to change

Don’t try to fix everything.

As a team, agree on:

• one condition to improve
• one habit to test
• or one ritual to introduce

Make it small. Make it visible. Review it and review it again.

If you want help developing your team’s creative capabilities get in touch with me claire@nowgocreate.co.uk

My recent Now Go Create podcast guest, Daisy Amodio, heard exactly that – and went ahead anyway.

Daisy is the founder of The Proposers and one of the world’s leading proposal planners. She’s staged more than 5,000 marriage proposals across the globe, from £500 pop-ups to a £1 million, multi-country epic that ended with faces projected on to Niagara falls. She’s done fake drug arrests, dressed 50 cats as waiters, and now masterminds ultra-luxury weddings – including a royal one.

In this blog, I’m pulling out the creative and entrepreneurial lessons from our conversation: how Daisy invented a category, how she mines clients for stories, and what it really takes to say “yes” first and figure it out later.

From ad agency to “queen of proposals”

Daisy’s story starts in a familiar place for lots of us – the creative industries. She was an account manager at M&C Saatchi, loved her job, and had no plans to leave. Then her brother asked for help.

He wanted to propose, had no idea how, and – in his words – “no creative bone in his body”. Daisy designed a treasure hunt around london, ending at sunset with a harpist and a big yes.

Afterwards, she did what many of us would do: she googled “proposal planner”.

Nothing. No category. No competitors. No obvious proof that anyone wanted what she’d just done.

Instead of parking it as a nice one-off, she followed a gut feeling that something was there – weddings were getting bigger, social media was exploding, and big, shareable moments were becoming the norm.

So she did some “research”: a questionnaire to 500 men.

The verdict?

• most thought it was a terrible idea
• “why spend money on proposing? just get down on one knee”
• “why would you leave a good job for that?”

Even her (very supportive) boyfriend reminded her she still had to pay the bills.

The exception? Her agency. They loved the idea, gave her space on stage to share it with the whole company, and even lent her web designers to get her first site off the ground.

Fast-forward 13–14 years and that “rubbish idea” has turned into:

• 5,000 proposals
• two tv series (including Will You Marry Me? on channel 4)
• a wedding planning business and a royal wedding

If you’ve ever had an idea shot down, Daisy is proof that external validation is not the only signal you should listen to.

Inventing (and then defending) a category

Because she was first to market, Daisy’s initial “strategy” was deceptively simple:

• get a website up
• talk about “proposal planning” clearly and consistently
• benefit from the fact there was zero competition in search

She ranked page one on google for proposal planner because literally nobody else was using the term.

Of course, success attracts competition. Today:

• there are proposal planners in almost every country
• hotels and attractions run their own proposal packages
• there’s a steady stream of copycats

Her answer? Double down on expertise and niche.

“there is nobody in the world more of an expert than me at proposals. it would be physically impossible.”

She’s done more proposals than anyone else, across more cultures, budgets and styles. And she’s built a natural funnel: if someone has a decent budget for the proposal, she can transition them into her wedding business afterwards.

The creative engine: deep client discovery + Pinterest stalking

As romantic as it all sounds, Daisy’s process is grounded and quite systematic.

When she’s pitching or planning, she wants to know:

• how the couple met
• what they love about each other
• favourite colours, foods, music
• in-jokes, nicknames, shared obsessions
• visual clues – Pinterest boards, instagram feeds, playlists

A favourite example is her first ever paying client:

• the girlfriend was an aspiring artist with a pinterest board full of handmade hearts
• Daisy invited her to what looked like an art gallery show in Richmond
• 10 canvases lined the walls – each a new “artwork”, actually about their relationship
• the final piece was wrapped in her favourite purple velvet
• underneath was her own heart artwork from pinterest, re-created to say “will you marry me?”

They later used the pieces at their wedding and still send Daisy family photos.

The whole experience is built on story mining: turning private details into public moments.

Fake arrests, cat waiters and a million-pound waterfalls

Part of what makes Daisy’s work so compelling – and so good for TV – is how wildly different each brief can be.

A few that stood out:

• Fake drug arrest in barcelona
  • she and her team slipped “drugs” (oregano!) into the girlfriend’s pocket
  • fake police “arrested” her, bundled her into a car, and told her she’d never go back to america
  • she had to identify her supposed dealer in a line-up
  • instead, her boyfriend stepped forward, dropped to one knee and proposed
  • she loved it – because pranks were central to their relationship
• The cat-themed proposal
  • 50 actual cats dressed as mini waiters
  • the couple stroked them, had cake, discovered the ring, then danced to a jazz song about cats
  • deeply niche, totally on-brand for them
• The £1 million “no budget” brief
  • his original ask: project his face onto the Eiffel Tower
  • daisy said yes… then discovered every authority in france would say no
  • she came back with alternatives and ended up:
    • hiring out disneyland paris privately, with fireworks and personalised characters
    • taking the couple around the world, staging iconic moments on each continent
    • culminating at Niagara Falls at night, with both of their faces projected on to the water

Her attitude is “say yes first, work out the how later” – and then quietly deal with the logistics, regulations and politics behind the scenes.

Storytelling as the spine of the experience

We talk about “storytelling” endlessly in business, but daisy lives it in a very literal way.

For her, storytelling means:

• narrative from first contact to final yes – the enquiry email, the pitch deck, the build-up, the reveal, the photos afterwards
• physical storytelling in the space – props, colours, textures and music that all link back to the couple’s story
• continuity into the wedding – reusing proposal elements in the wedding decor, stationery or rituals

No two proposals or weddings are the same because no two stories are the same. The “big gesture” makes the headlines, but it’s the small, specific details that make people feel truly seen.

6 takeaways from Daisy’s story

You might not be projecting faces onto waterfalls any time soon, but there’s a lot we can steal from Daisy’s approach.

Here are six prompts to take into your own work:

1. Trust your gut, not the poll
   If 500 people tell you your idea is rubbish, they might be right – or you might be early. Check the logic, then listen to your instincts. Not every idea needs a focus group’s blessing.
2. Mine your clients’ world for specific details
   Don’t stop at the brief. Look at pinterest boards, playlists, social feeds, old photos. The gold for storytelling and creativity is often already there – you just have to go looking.
3. Offer both templates and true bespoke
   Packages give reassurance, speed and scale. Bespoke work feeds your creative soul and your portfolio. You don’t have to choose; you can design your business to hold both.
4. Say yes, then design the constraints
   You don’t have to know exactly how you’ll do something the moment you say yes. But you do need to quickly create the boundaries, resources and plan that make it possible.
5. Build a team before you break yourself
   If you’re still “sticking 5,000 crystals on by hand” in your business, ask where you can start handing things over. Your future work (and health) will thank you.
6. Remember: if there’s no playbook, you can write one
   There was no rulebook for proposal planning. Daisy wrote her own.

Listen to the full episode here.Now Go Create Podcast

And if this sparked something for you – an idea you’ve parked, a niche you’re too scared to own – maybe this is your nudge to dust it off and explore it again.

If you’re opening a blank document and feeling absolutely nothing – no spark, no pull, no excitement – this one’s for you.

Lately, I’ve been in a creative slump myself. A heavy, slowed-down, slightly foggy state where ideas don’t feel blocked exactly, just harder to reach. Work is intense, life is full, and my personal creative reserves feel low.

And if that sounds familiar, I remind myself that:

This is normal.
This is human.
And it will pass.

Let’s talk about what a creative slump really is – and what actually helps when you, or your team are, in one.

One of my early Now Go Create podcast guests, the singer-songwriter Dyo, once said something that completely reframed how I think about creative blocks:

“Creative blocks don’t actually exist – the moment you name it, you give it power.”

A block suggests a wall – something actively stopping you.
A slump, on the other hand, feels more like quicksand – slow, heavy, draining.

But what if neither of those labels is really helpful?

What if you’re not blocked at all – you’re just in a different creative mood or even a different creative season?

Sometimes what feels like being stuck is actually your creativity asking for:
– Rest
– Play
– A change of pace
– Space to wander
– Or simply… time

When we label the experience too harshly, we risk making it feel bigger and more permanent than it really is.

The reality of creativity (it’s not always Instagram-pretty)

We love to romanticise creativity – the post-it notes, the playlists, the perfect flow state.

But real creativity looks more like this:

– Staring at a screen full of doubt
– Feeling under pressure
– Working when you don’t feel inspired
– Getting something “good enough” over the line
– Questioning yourself the whole way through

Even as someone who teaches creativity for a living, I don’t get to flick a magic switch whenever I want. Creativity moves more like a tide – it flows, it ebbs, it returns.

The worst thing we can do? Panic when it feels like it’s gone out. It hasn’t. It always comes back.

The creative CAT Scan – a simple check-in when you feel flat

When I feel out of sorts creatively, I use something I call a Creative CAT Scan. It’s a fast way to understand what’s really going on under the surface and an idea I borrowed for the amazing Elizabeth Gilbert.

You can do this in five minutes with a notebook.

C – Curiosity

Ask yourself:
– Am I still asking questions?
– Am I noticing details?
– Is anything intriguing me right now?

For me, curiosity shows up in tiny moments – like noticing tube ads on my commute and wondering:
Why that image?
Why that headline?
What was the creative thinking behind it?

When curiosity drops off, it’s often a sign I’m overwhelmed rather than uninspired.

A – Action

Ask yourself:
– Am I taking any creative action at all – even tiny ones?

This could be:
– Doodling
– Rearranging your workspace
– Taking a new route to work
– Planting bulbs in your garden
– Trying something slightly unfamiliar

Action doesn’t need momentum to start. Action creates momentum.

One brilliant tip from creative strategist Emma Mayo:

“Commit to just 10 minutes. Half of that might just be setting things up – and that’s fine. Once you start, you often keep going.”

T – Tenacity

Ask yourself:
– Am I showing myself compassion – or criticism?
– Am I pushing relentlessly instead of listening?

Coach Remy Bloomfield shared this:

“Creative slumps aren’t the enemy. They’re often a signal that something new is about to emerge – if we stop forcing it.”

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is step back.

Here’s the coaching question I’ve been sitting with during my own slump:

“What do I want to do – purely for fun?”

No output.
No productivity.
No shoulds.
No strategy.

Just joy.

This is where Julia Cameron’s idea of the Artist Date comes in – a solo, pre-planned experience purely to feed your curiosity and creative spirit. Not for content. Not for progress. Just for aliveness.

Mine right now? I’m genuinely tempted by a flotation tank. No goal. Just curiosity.

Wherever you’re at, remember to be kind to yourself and remember you sometimes have to retreat to move ahead.

In this episode of the Now Go Create podcast, I dive into the emotional, mental, and professional impact of burnout on creatives, drawing from personal experience, current research, and practical tools you can use to recover and reignite your creative spark.

🎧 Listen to the episode here.

What is burnout and why does it hit creatives so hard?

Burnout is defined by the World Health Organization as an occupational phenomenon and it typically shows up in three ways:

• Emotional exhaustion – you feel utterly drained
• Detachment or cynicism – you stop caring about the work
• A sense of ineffectiveness – you doubt your own impact

“Burnout is pushing your creative energy beyond recovery.” Scott Berkun

Burnout hits creative professionals particularly hard because our work isn’t just task-based – it’s emotional, imaginative, and deeply personal. It requires curiosity, space to think and vulnerability – all of which are diminished when you’re burnt out.

Burnout is widespread – and often hidden

Recent research paints a worrying picture:

• 91% of UK adults say they’ve experienced high or extreme pressure in the past year (Mental Health UK)
• 66% of women in PR have considered quitting due to burnout (Women in PR)
• Only 11% of those experiencing burnout feel they’ve been fully supported at work (Women in PR)

And yet many suffer in silence, unable to speak up due to shame or fear of seeming weak or incapable.

“When burnout hits, it doesn’t just affect your job – it impacts your confidence, your relationships, and even your sense of self.” Claire Bridges

Burnout vs depression – know the difference

While they can look similar, burnout and depression are not the same.

If you’re unsure, seek professional support. You deserve to feel better – and help is available.

🔧 Practical tools to replenish your creative energy

Burnout recovery isn’t one-size-fits-all, but these practical strategies can help. First up though, take rest if you can, to sleep and try to switch off:

1. Structure your day

Set boundaries. Have a start and end to your workday. Build in micro-pauses between meetings. Create protected creative time.

2. Take Breaks

Mental Health UK recommends 5-minute breaks every hour. Walk, stretch, breathe. I personally use the Calm app and yoga to reset.

3. Use the four Ds of time management

• Ditch what’s not essential
• Defer what can wait
• Delegate (up, down or across)
• Do the things that truly matter/you have to do

4. Create a wellness action plan

Look ahead and identify pressure points in your calendar. Pre-plan self-care or creative recharge moments in busy periods.

5. Try the stress bucket exercise

What’s filling your stress bucket – and what’s helping to drain it? A visual and simple tool to spot imbalance is the Stress Bucket from Mental Health UK.

Rebuilding your creative confidence and energy

When you’re ready, start to gently rekindle your creative self:

• Reflect on when and how you do your best creative work (alone, with others, in the morning, etc.)
• Consider whether how you are working serves your preferences and adjust if you need to
• Use the Adobe Creative Types test to understand your style and your team’s and figure out if it can help you understand your work flow and preferences better
• Explore The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron – especially morning pages and artist dates
• Journal, even just a few lines a day, to declutter your mind
• Surround yourself with people who get it – your creative sounding boards

On self-compassion, boundaries and saying no

Burnout often comes from giving too much and resting too little. It’s okay to:

• Say no to unpaid or draining commitments if you are able
• Book your time off without guilt
• Celebrate small wins
• Keep client feedback visible for those rough days

🔚 Final Thoughts

Burnout is real – but it’s not permanent. You are not broken. You’re tired.

If this episode resonated, please look after yourself, reach out to someone you trust, and take even the smallest step to reclaim your energy and creativity.

📞 Need support? Visit thecalmzone.net or call CALM on 0800 58 58 58

Find all the helpful information and resources at Mental Health UK.

And generating ideas is pointless if they’re not grounded in robust thinking.

We think of it as imagination💡+ maths 🧠

So we’re bringing back two of our most popular courses — How To Be A Strategy Ninja and How To Be A Creative Ninja — as public training live webinars and in-person workshops for the first time in 3 years!

Bring your biggest communication, PR, brand, content, or marketing challenge to life. We’ll give you a practical creative toolkit and frameworks to tackle your brief head-on. Our interactive, hands-on sessions will help you to:

– Understand the fundamentals of (creative) strategy: Confidently devise and articulate strategies that get results.
– Unleash your imagination: Overcome creative blocks and generate fresh ideas.
– Solve problems effectively: Learn proven problem-solving methods and apply them to your own real-world business challenges.
– Boost collaboration: Master techniques for effective brainstorming and group ideation if that’s your jam.
– Choose the format that suits you best: webinar or IRL

Course: How To Be A Strategy Ninja – webinar | Monday 27th January 2025
Course: How To Be A Creative Ninja – webinar | Monday 10th February 2025
Workshop: How To Be A Creative Ninja – in-person, Central London, full day date tbc Feb/March

Get in touch with claire@nowgocreate.co.uk for costs, and joining info.

With the World Economic Forum highlighting creative thinking as a top skill for future job success, and 44% of worker skills facing disruption in the next five years, the need for creative know-how has never been greater. The Now Go Create podcast addresses this urgent need, providing listeners with actionable advice and real-world examples to unlock their creative potential.

“People often pigeonhole themselves as creative ‘haves’ or ‘have nots’,” says Bridges. “But the truth is, creativity is a skill that can be learned and mastered. The Now Go Create creativity podcast will help listeners bridge the 21st-century skills gap and equip them with the tools they need to succeed in an AI-driven world.”

Episodes include: 

• Why brainstorms fail and how to fix them
• Dealing with the obnoxious roommate in your head, your inner critic, with hypnotherapist James Mallinson
• How to write a smash-hit single with Grammy nominated artist Dyo
• What’s a woodpecker got to do with innovation? Discussing the science of biomimicry and what we can learn from nature with a world-leading expert
• How to be creative on demand – lessons from improv

Podcast highlights:

• Actionable advice: Practical strategies and tools for immediate application.
• Real-world examples: Case studies demonstrating the power of creativity in business.
• Downloadable resources: Pod sheets with exercises and resources to reinforce learning like those we teach on our Creative Ninja course.

“The UK creative industries contribute significantly to the economy, generating £10 million every hour,” Bridges adds. “Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak emphasized the importance of growing this sector, aiming for an extra £50 billion and one million jobs by 2030. Now Go Create aligns with this vision, empowering individuals and organisations to leverage creativity for economic growth and individual success.”

Subscribe now to Now Go Create on all major podcast platforms and upskill with this essential podcast for 2025.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/now-go-create/id1786353481

The creative mind thrives on both inspiration and constraint. While we may balk at limitations, the truth is, focused parameters often force out our most innovative and effective work. That’s the power of the X (Twitter) brief.

Despite the oft-talked about idea of blue-sky thinking, constraints might seem counterintuitive to the creative process, but think of them like guardrails. Without boundaries, it’s too easy to drift aimlessly or get overwhelmed by endless possibilities. Constraints provide a much-needed framework, forcing us to consider unusual combinations, find resourceful solutions, and hone our ideas down to their most potent form.

Studies show that the right amount of constraint can stimulate novel thinking and problem-solving. It prompts us to step outside our comfort zones, pushing us to discover unexpected approaches that might never have surfaced under less restrictive conditions.

By boiling down your brief’s purpose to tweet-length, you eliminate distraction and ensure every single word supports the central goal. Your time and focus are your most valuable assets. A Twitter brief can help sharpen that focus – not just for you and your aims, but for anyone who comes into contact with your brief.

Much like a haiku poem, the Twitter brief demands discipline and precision. Legendary ad man Dave Trott came up with this idea on how to brief better.:

• Imagine if your brief had to be written as a 280 character Tweet/X. 
• That’s about 50 words.
• If it was a matter of life and death, what is the ONE thing you’d want to be able to achieve, to change or affect?
• What’s the one single job we absolutely must do?
• That takes priority over everything else?
• There’s no room for anything that isn’t crucial.
• Clarity in, clarity out.

So, the next time you’re facing a creative task, don’t shy away from setting limitations. Try writing your creative or project brief as an X now!

If you like this technique see the even-more-focussed distillation tool – one word – here.