AgVoice | Social media is breaking the Curse of Knowledge of traditional marketing to change the world

Danegr! Tihs aritcle can dmaage yuor eixsting thiknnig patetrns. Tihs cnhage can casue an uncfomrtoable feneligs and smoe ressitance. If you suvivre tihs porcess tehn you wlil get acecss to an abunadnce of iedas, an oepn atitutde and a new wolrd of psosibiilites. And taht is jsut the bengining. You hvae been wraned.

This short text is already a nice example of breaking the Curse of Knowledge. Because we think that we can only read a 'normal' text and not a text where the 'letters are mixed randomly'. Thinking in a creative way or thinking out-of-the-box is necessary to escape the Curse of Knowledge. Sometimes you know too much about a certain topic and then it's harder to see opportunities and ideas that are not fitting in your 'reality'. Somebody who has worked 20 years in the domain of offline marketing, has probably some (negative) assumptions about the possibilities of online marketing. But the world is changing so that person has to postpone his/her judgement in order to stay competitive and explore the possibilities of online marketing.

And in these times of a very rapid changes, creativity and innovation are even becoming more important skills. And this is certainly true for the world of digital and social marketing. New websites, technologies and social platforms are created as we speak (as you read) so as players in this domain, stimulating your skills to adapt to change isn't a luxury but an essential element to survive in the business world.

Here are a few examples of how social media changed the world in a creative way by breaking the Curse of Knowledge of the traditional marketing.

+ Speed - twitter is faster than the traditional news providers like CNN and newspapers

+ Mass - social media connects billions of people on a one-to-one basis in a way that's totally new - the rest of the world is one click away

+ Prosumers: Consumers have become producers and share their thoughts, ideas, complaints.

+ Traditional domains have to adapt very quikly: music, movies, books, ...

+ Policital (twitter and facebook-)revolutions in the Arab world

+ ...

The magic formula?

I have to disappoint you because there isn't a magic formula to get to new ideas. It's hard but fun work and some principles might help to break your fixed thinking patterns. My experience with creative processes (and all the learning's from my colleagues and books) and passion for improvisation theatre have led to two words, for me the essence of creativity:

So in your next meeting, try to go into the 'Yes and ...' mode for 3 minutes to brainstorm on a topic that needs a new perspective and I can guarantee you that you'll get a lot of new, interesting ideas. Yes and ... good luck. | By Cyriel Kortleven, Professional speaker and facilitator, Belgium

About the writer:

Cyriel Kortleven is a crewmember and co-founder of new shoes today - a growing number of soulmates in business who give support to people and organizations on their road to creation, innovation and change. Cyriel makes people more conscious of the opportunities in life.

Cyriel is a popular speaker in the domain of creativity and innovation. He gives workshops and presentations in creative skills and attitude and the breaking of fixed thinking patterns. Cyriel moves people in a literally and figurative way by means of a combination of creativity and improvisation - also brought together in the successful dutch book 'And ... Action!'

His playful and enthusiastic attitude creates an open and informal atmosphere; ideal for the combination master of ceremony/speaker for bigger events and conferences. To stimulate the consciousness of experience time and the power of creativity, Cyriel is a co-founder of two troupes 'The Knights of NOW' and 'Operation Brainstorm'. Do you get the image ... interaction, inspiration, passion and creative, that's Cyriel Kortleven - Now. CLICK HERE to check more details about Kortleven. Kortleven will be a keynote speaker at Click Asia Summit 2012 (clickasiasummit.com), sharing his expertise on innovation and creativity.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not reflect in any way of Adgully.