What is creative thinking
Creativity is inventiveness, entrepreneurship, fresh ideas, untrodden paths, great solutions, a sharp mind, and a quick willingness to generate alternative ways to solve problems.
This is the process of achieving any goal in a non-standard way. The ability to see new ways, methods and ideas. Even where, it would seem, everything has been explored. A creative approach to decision making leads to new discoveries and phenomena. Its development “removes blinders” and opens up new facets of thinking.
The right hemisphere of the brain is responsible for creative thinking. It does not subject thoughts to logic and analysis, it produces only images. Therefore, with proper flexibility, it produces fresh ideas easily and without excessive effort.
"Visual Notes". Mike Rowdy
Book on Ozon.ru
Sketches liberate. You can afford to neglect small details and still express the most important ideas. Expressing ideas through pictures and text at the same time helps you see the big picture. Plus it's fun.
A good way to look for new ideas is to start drawing. Quick sketches and sketches will start the thought process and help you visualize the images that are spinning in your head.
The Visual Notes book is an illustrated guide to how to quickly sketch your thoughts, take notes using drawings, and explain ideas to others.
Mike Rowdy, a professional illustrator, says that everyone can draw, regardless of profession, experience or talent. After all, the whole point of sketches is not in drawing the smallest details, but in visualizing ideas on paper.
Features of creative thinking
A creative person is distinguished by:
- desire to find non-trivial solutions to problems
- the ability to see something new in the ordinary, to use familiar things differently
- the ability to change the focus of attention from a familiar point of view to a new one
- willingness to generate ideas in any environment, even if it does not contain sources of inspiration
The value of creative thinking has grown incredibly over the past few years. If previously the ability to think outside the box was associated mainly with the responsibilities of creative agencies, now the range of uses of creativity has expanded greatly.
"How People Think." Dmitry Chernyshev
Book on Ozon.ru
If you watch children in the yard, you will notice that they quickly get tired of just running around the field with a ball. You don’t get tired of playing football, because football is a game, and the most important thing in games is restrictions. They are the ones who create interest and make us look for new ideas.
If you often draw logos, then set yourself a limitation: let there be no square shapes in your work. If you can't come up with a slogan, try to do without the letter "t". Constraints instantly trigger a flow of new ideas.
The book How People Think contains dozens of similar techniques: they help you shake up your own thinking and go beyond the boundaries of stereotypes with minimal effort. Worth a read if you need some simple recipe ideas to help you come up with ideas.
Where to use creative thinking
- Advertising. And it’s not just advertising agencies. The ability to stand out is needed by large and small companies, independent experts who launch their own products.
- Creation. Writing, drawing, dancing, filming and any other creative expression require a special approach. The result should be captivating and stand out among its peers. An author with a high level of creativity freely expresses inner impulses. Surely you are familiar with the state when a thought is spinning in your head, but you cannot express it. With creative thinking, creative implementation does not cause difficulties.
- Business. Business development is a constant journey and hundreds of decisions need to be made. It is impossible to launch and relax while reaping the benefits. The constant search for new ways of development, steps, strategies, getting out of a dead end and scaling accompanies the ability to think creatively. Is it at a high level? The company is developing more intensively and is visible to customers.
- Blogging. There is such a definition - USP - a unique selling proposition. It concerns not only companies, but also every person working for the audience. The ability to stand out among competitors is the main task. The audience loves a non-standard approach, and the ability to think differently than everyone else is responsible for thinking it through.
And here you can read the amazing story of a very creative and creative person who launched an online photography school.
Brainstorming and synectics
Working in a group is always a serious impetus for creative development, especially when working on one problem. To do this, in many companies, employees often gather to “brainstorm” in order to put forward as many ideas as possible for solving the issue. Of the many proposals, one will definitely turn out to be suitable, and thus the problem will be solved.
Synectics arose from brainstorming, but is seen as a more professional activity. It helps solve a problem using situation modeling, metaphors and analogies. For example, tanks faced the problem of crossing a ditch; their size was not enough to cross. Analogy: ants, faced with the problem of crossing, form a “living bridge”, holding on to each other. Based on this model, they came up with a mount between the tanks, so that, under the weight of its comrades, the tank could hang in the air until the ditch was overcome.
What prevents you from developing creativity?
- Someone else's assessment. What will people say? What if I look stupid? Perhaps you will. Especially at the very beginning. Put an outsider's opinion on the scales and the opportunities that open up through out-of-the-box thinking.
- Inner critic. What excuses our brain can come up with. He whispers that looking stupid, even to yourself, is bad. Is it so? Imagine your openness to the world and possibilities if you stop being ashamed of yourself.
- The habit of acting according to a pattern. Another trick of the brain: everything should be predictable, a step into the unknown = danger. But who's in charge here? You can follow a monotonous beaten path all your life, or you can unleash your creative abilities to the maximum and live your life brightly.
The market is saturated with offers and interesting characters. Nowadays a trend towards naturalness and a certain routine is developing. But this is the same ability to stand out, only from a different angle.
The plastic window installation company "Okna", the hair salon "Maria", the blogger "Nastya" will not attract a large audience if they do not have an unusual and interesting story behind them.
Thinking through this story, creating a compelling plot, exciting twists - all this requires the ability to think creatively.
Advice . You can start developing creative thinking at any age. Of course, children do not need to develop it, but to guide and support it. But even older people can master this skill. It just takes a little more persistence. Willpower and regular exercise are the main components of developing creativity.
Don't ignore absurd things
The absurd was an important component of people's creativity in the 19th and 20th centuries. Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear used it in literature, Monty Python staged absurd comic acts, and the Dadaists and Surrealists used the absurd to create their works of art.
Exercise: Use visual language to create something absurd. This should offend outside observers, provoke them to take some action, and even better, make them laugh.
Who needs creativity development
Let's take a deeper look. How will learning to think differently affect the life of the average person?
- Interesting life. Creativity takes us beyond the usual. Everyday life ceases to be gray, life plays with bright colors. We don't do what we've learned. We ourselves come up with interesting developments for our plot. Strengthen the right hemisphere of your brain, and it is quite possible that an excellent book will be written based on the plot of your life.
- Advantage over AI. Within 20-30 years, robots will replace people in 50% of existing professions. The development of creativity allows you to self-identify as a person. Understand: what am I? How can I find my place in order to remain interesting and useful to modern society? How to live happily?
- Extension of youth. Flexible thinking is good for your health. While the brain is young, we are able to live brightly every day. Training the mind is just as important, and maybe even more important, than training the body.
You can start developing flexibility of thinking at any age. Of course, children do not need to develop it, but to guide and support it. But even older people can master this skill. It just takes a little more persistence.
Willpower and regular exercise are the main components of developing creativity. Previously, we shared with you the story of our resident Ivan, who at the age of 20 earned 2 million rubles using creative thinking and not being afraid of failure. Don't pass by and be sure to read this fascinating story at the link here.
"Flow". Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Book on Ozon.ru
Always act as if the future of the Universe depends on what you did, and laugh at yourself if you think that what you do makes a difference.
Psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi believes that any person is capable of creating new ideas. To do this, you just need to start, feel inspired and be in a state of “flow”. In it, a person is so absorbed in his work that he completes all tasks without difficulty.
In such a state of emotional upsurge, musicians create their best hits, and artists paint unsurpassed paintings. But such a state is typical for every person, and the author explains how to achieve it.
Associations are the basis for the development of creativity
Associations launch the creation of new phenomena, solutions, and products. We use associative thinking every day.
In creating something new, the brain relies on what it knows, has seen and remembers. Consciously or not, he consistently connects one event to another. This chain leads to “unexpected” ideas. In fact, the process could have been started a long time ago and only the discovery of new associations leads to its completion.
Types of associations
- Similar in characteristics: light bulb - pear.
- Opposites: cold - hot, fresh - stuffy.
- Objects and phenomena close in location: brush - paints.
- Cause - effect: tickling - laughter.
How to Strengthen Associative Thinking
- On one's own. Take a pen and paper. Take any word as a basis, for example, “creativity.” For three minutes, write down a chain of words, where each subsequent word should be an association for the previous one. As a result, you will probably end up with something far from the source code.
Then, for another three minutes, try to connect the first and last words into a single product or service. How can they be applied, how will they be useful?
- In company. Organize a daily associative “race” with your friends. Generate word by word, come up with unusual connections. This is a rewarding and really fun activity.
Such basic exercises give noticeable results in about 3 weeks. By doing them, your mind will become flexible, you will begin to notice new opportunities and make interesting decisions.
"Steal like an artist." Austin Kleon
Book on Ozon.ru
We are not able to make perfect copies. It is thanks to the fact that we cannot completely copy our heroes that we gain our own life. This is how our evolution happens.
The book contains ten tips on how to find your creative self and tells you how to come up with brilliant ideas by analyzing other people's solutions.
Austin Kleon allows you to copy successful works and projects of other people. After all, copying is not theft, but a way to rethink someone else’s idea and add something of your own to it.
Try to interpret
Ideas are very easy to transform. Changing the shape or size of things can force you to think in new and unexpected directions. One idea gives birth to another: in this way you can glean many new thoughts from the creativity of other people.
Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky conveyed classical music through visual language. He chose colors to represent the emotions that music evoked and used them to create paintings.
Exercise: Convey the following words using typographic symbols as a visual rather than a linguistic tool: laziness, happiness, loud, soft.
