Creativity is the common sense which every human being
got this but only people use this remaining all don’t know how to use it. There
is something mysterious about creativity.
We can describe it, admire it, strive for it and experience it, but we
can never understand just how or why a certain innovative idea springs up at a
particular time in the mind of a particular individual. Indeed, most people never expect to
understand or master that process. Let's
hope we do not, for our world would be far more dreary if we ever fully
harnessed the creative process and learned to produce results only on schedule
or on demand.
On the other hand, we can imagine a brighter future if we
were able to stimulate the creative process and produce more innovations. Can
we, indeed, take action to stimulate creativity?
Some say "no," that due to their mysterious
origins, creative acts can only arise without warning to those blessed by
fate. According to this line of
thinking, it's inappropriate or even futile to encourage creativity.
I don't subscribe to such a dismal view; I think
investigations in the history of innovation show that we can, indeed, enhance
our creativity. These studies show that
creativity is repeatedly associated with certain types of behavior and reasoning. I do not mean to imply that a simple formula
can be derived, or that one technique will work for everybody, or that success
is guaranteed. But based on the
historical record, certain steps seem likely to increase your creativity.
Do
work Restless?
Begin by conditioning yourself to be restless and uneasy
about the status quo. Don't overlook the
familiar just because you've seen it so often.
Rather make yourself even more aware of it, then change the pattern
slightly. If you invariably drive to the
supermarket along a particular route, try a new one. If your spouse always buys
the groceries while you return books to the library, switch jobs. If you eat a grapefruit like everyone else —
one half at a sitting — eat both halves and compare the taste. (This exercise
may astonish you!). If you always make a measurement or an evaluation in a
fixed manner, change your routine.
Sooner or later — I'd bet quicker than you expect — breaking your
routine will help you invent an improved process or idea.
Force your mind to see things differently — in a new
light, from a new angle, from another scale of time or distance, or from the
perspective of someone with a different background. Explore beyond the bounds of your expertise —
you may have the exact perspective needed by a colleague in another field.
If you have the germ of a good idea, preserve it by
jotting it down immediately. Then, when
you have time, think the idea through until you discard it as worthless or
elevate it to the "significant" category. Great writers often scribble inspired
thoughts when they arise, then subject them to the time-honored writer's
formula: "l) revise 2) revise and 3) revise again." Consider your
idea a rough draft that needs to be polished by a few cycles through the
idea-processor.
Getting
Useful Ideas
Bare bones ideas are plentiful, but the trick is to
identify the good ones. Ideas derive
their importance and durability in relation to data, problems and other
ideas. In other words, ideas must be
tested against reality. Good ideas will
have two effects. They will be useful in
their original context and they will create surprising, intriguing connections
among things that once seemed to exist in separate contexts.
Divide your thinking into two distinct styles. One style should promote carefree, blissful
dreaming. Would these compounds rapidly
combine if "A" were true? What
wonderful process could we invent occur if "B" were correct?
Questions like these help you outline the fragile essence of an idea.
Then, once the idea is fleshed out, energize your
analytical thinking. Test your idea
against the data in the most dispassionate, objective manner. Most dreams deserve to fail, and it's best
that you scuttle them, rather than allowing someone else the chance.
Do not be constrained by the critical side while you
dream, but be sure to use those "reality-checks" once the idea has
taken shape. In other words, learn to bounce back and forth from dreamer to
critic.
Adapt an idea from elsewhere if necessary. (Naturally, be sure to give the originator
credit in an ethical manner.) If you
admire a new product in another field, immediately try to apply the underlying
idea as a springboard for improving something else.
Schedule regular times for creative thinking. I walk to
and from work daily, about 35 minutes each way. After many years of following
the same route (sometimes I do vary it!), the journey is routine, but I've
dedicated the walk as a scheduled time for free, creative thinking, for
dreaming, for envisioning what might happen, for devising imaginative
solutions. I jot down my ideas
immediately after reaching my destination.
I also use sporadic, spontaneous times for creative
thinking. At meetings of scientific
societies, for example, I'm often so stimulated by news and unconventional
events that I have difficulty sleeping.
Those sleepless nights usually produce lots of ideas, some of them quite
usable.
I think the fundamentals for improving creativity are
pretty clear from the literature on history's successful innovators. If this is true, then why not follow their
lead — and improve upon their techniques?
In its essence, my advice is, "to be creative, think
creatively". Don't muddle around
hoping for a great idea to strike like a bolt of lightning. Train yourself to think in ways that have
worked for others. Everyone knows a
habit can be acquired through repetition.
Why not make thinking creatively a habit?
Hope I’m impressed you...
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