A wealthy man walks into a bank in New York.“I’m going away to Europe on business for two weeks and need to borrow $5000”The bank officer says the bank will need some security for the loan. The man hands over the keys to a new Rolls-Royce, which costs $250,000. The bank officer is shocked but agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan.After the man leaves, the loan officer, the bank’s president and all their colleagues enjoy a good laugh at the man for using a $250,000 Rolls-Royce as collateral against a $5,000 loan.One of the employees drives the Rolls into the bank’s underground garage and parks it there.Two weeks later, the wealthy man returns, repays the $5000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41.The loan officer says, “Sir, I must tell you, we’re all a little puzzled. You’re a multi-millionaire — why would you need a $5,000 loan?”The man replies, “Where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for only $15.41?”The mistake people make is treating creativity like productivity. They try to work harder and expect creativity to appear. Instead, sprinkle in new inputs and watch new outputs appear. Here are 12 inputs that help increase creativity. Let’s turn some bank vaults into cheap parking spots together: 1. Translate aggressively - Got a written idea? Draw it. Got a visual idea? Write it down. Calculating an equation? Explain it out loud. As you translate an idea from one language to another, creativity leaks out in the migration process. One of my favourite examples is that Christopher Nolan drew the plot of Inception. 2. Scroll for anti-social proof - Go to YouTube or Substack, scroll through the explore page, and click only on content that has under 5,000 views. You’ll find niche ideas that haven’t yet mimetically spread. 90% will be a waste of time. Like a successful venture capitalist’s portfolio, the 10% of hits cover the 90% of misses multiple times over.3. Avoid content made after 2016 - Something happened in 2016. The internet be