This is the third of my series of blogs on creativity. The story so far..... we have covered CHALLENGING (learning through failure) ...... CAPTURING (making sure we don't lose those ideas .... and this week we will be looking at BROADENING (learning through having a broad range of experiences).

So how can learning about other stuff or having a broader range of experiences increase your creativity? A simple answer would be that learning other stuff gives you a wider perspective and makes you look at things from a different angle.

Being a practical person, I need to be able to relate this to a real example, so let's use one of my hobbies to show you how this works. I love to bake and what I love to bake most of all are cupcakes. Bigger cakes are a little more scary - so much more to go wrong and you cannot easily cover up your mistakes on a big cake. If you are decorating a big cake, it can become quite an onerous task and there is lots to go wrong. However little cakes allow you to experiment and decorating can be quite an informal affair - from just a few sprinkles to full on intricate decorations.

So what makes a good cupcake? Here is a list of things I think make a good one:

• Good ingredients
• -Pay careful attention to the quantities in the recipe - only stray if you know what you are doing
• -Check your oven is at the correct temperature using an oven thermometer
• -A little bit of artistic flair - if they are informal, random sprinkling can work quite well
• -Attractive, good quality paper cases
• -A stand to show them off on

-So if I were to relate this to training, what can I learn from this to help me become a better trainer?

• -Always start off with the right ingredients - if you know what you are aiming for (great objectives) you know whether you have been successful
• -Pay attention to measuring what will show your training off as being successful, why measure employee engagement if out is not related to what you are training in?
• -You  can plan your sessions, but allow time for randomness - those lovely excursions where you explore things that are interesting to your participants, sometimes they lead to some really good ideas!
• -Try to do everything well, little is better than lots! If you try to cram too much in, they may become overwhelmed
• -Communicate success - show everyone how successful you have been so that they believe in L&D and its contribution

So with the theme of cupcakes in mind..... here are some I made earlier....

If you would like to learn more about developing your creative competencies and also meet with other trainers to generate lots of ideas - come to the BFLG Group on the 24th of January in Leeds at Leeds Building Society and join in the "Creativity Olympics!"

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34H9XVP1b7I&w=315&h=420]

©Krystyna Gadd 2014