There are four parts to idea
creativity.
1. The motivation or willingness to be creative.
There has to be the willingness to try to be creative. For example, you can learn the formal tools of lateral thinking and then seek to apply one or other of the tools in a deliberate and formal manner.
2. Then there are the underlying habits of creativity.
Some people have these habits naturally but others need to develop them through practice. It is the difference between a mind that looks immediately for ‘truth’ and a mind that looks for ‘possibility’.
3. The next step is developing skill with some creative techniques.
The formal tools of lateral thinking are based on an understanding of the brain as a self-organising patterning system that makes asymmetric patterns. All this is a logical process – but not our usual logic.
4. The last step is ‘value sensitivity’.
This is a key part of creativity. There may be only a small hint of value which then has to be pursued and developed. I would give a high importance to this value sensitivity. It allows the thinker to notice the emergence of a new concept with different values.
Focus is also very important, but is common to all forms of thinking. Without knowing the focus, choosing the focus, and being able to change the focus, no thinking is going to be very effective.
In the course of a conversation you can interject this remark: ‘That is interesting…’. That signals to yourself and to others that you are about to pursue a line of thought that is unusual, different or even important in some way.
This, again, is a useful creative habit. It is part of the process of creativity which seeks to go beyond ‘what is’ or ‘the truth’ to explore ‘what may be’, or ‘possibility’.
Perceptual creativity involves looking at things indifferent ways. It involves extracting values. It means opening up connections and associations.
Conceptual creativity involves putting things together to deliver value. This is ‘design thinking’. Life and human progress depend on design thinking. Analysis is important, just as the rear left wheel of a car is important. But it is not enough.
Posted By Thinking Managers at 2:03 PM in Category:
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