Work In Colour - Work. Think. Live. In Colour
Thursday 22nd January 2009 | 3 comments
I have recently revamped my creative thinking workshops around the 4 core elements of creative thinking. Here they are:
Every kid takes this one for granted (think 'fork in the power socket', think 'fly like superman off the roof'), but often we 'sediment' ourselves as we grow older, sticking to safe (known) channels and habits. While there are excellent reasons for this, it can be a real hindrance to fresh thought or new ways of looking at our lives.
The principles of curiosity are:
Play: If you can't remember how to play, take a kid to a bowling alley or buy some plasticine or borrow someone's puppy.
Suspend judgement: Filter those critical little voices for a while, send them out for (a long) lunch.
Be open to all stimuli: Spend 5 minutes sitting and noticing every sound, sight, smell, the feeling of your bum on the seat, the thoughts in your head...everything.
Ask yourself: Why? Why not? What if? What if there were no constraints? What else?
Many creative thinking experts rate this as THE essential element, almost as the definition of creative thinking.
The principles of connecting are:
Read widely: Why not buy a magazine you wouldn't normally consider, or surf the web and see where you end up.
Talk to people in different fields: Share your dilemma, pick their brains for new perspectives, or just find out what are the big questions in their field.
Try something different: Anything will do - drive home a different way, swap music collections with a friend, cook a new dish, take a course.
Step sideways: See it from another angle: What would the Dalai Lama do here? How can I connect today's newspaper headline to my problem? If I was a fish, how would I handle this?
New ideas are like seedlings; they need to be cared for, protected from enemies and kept out of the harsh light of day for a while. Learn to champion your ideas until they are robust enough to sink or swim in the real world.
The principles of connecting are:
Protect your new ideas: From critics, from people wielding budgets, from friends who will pour cold water on them...and from your own dark side.
Daydream: Imagine how your idea might develop, how your solution might actually play out.
Give it time: Creative thinking doesn't always run to schedule and ideas may need to develop in their own time, to simmer on the back burner for a while before they are 'cooked' enough to offer to other people.
There is no way round this one - creative thinking means stepping outside your comfort zone and having a bit of courage.
The principles of challenging yourself are:
Take risks and accept failures: The usual ratio is 1 good idea from 20 ideas (if you're lucky), and it doesn't get higher with practice, that's just how it is. If you're not having failures you are not close enough to your edge.
Question assumptions: You may be amazed to see the ways you have unnecessarily constrained yourself, the 'rules' that can be ignored and the habits that no longer have a connection to reality.
Trust yourself: All creatives learn this one - to know when to follow that hunch (and to notice when you're having a hunch in the first place).
I hope this gives you a new way to look at your creative process....
really good list...really good
I enjoyed reading your ideas and will try to apply them especially when I'm stuck for words writing for children.
I like the idea about reading away from the topic and play.
Thank you from Jane ( age 73) in Canada
Thanks Astrid and thanks Jane (age 73)!
Glad you liked the model and have thought of ways to use the tips. Good luck!