Ch. 2
Creative Thinking
The right brain is creative and intuitive lateral thinking
Barriers to Creativity
Searching for the one right answer
Most educational systems teach that there is one right answer to a problem. This is a boon to creativity since it acts as a block to brainstorming.
Being logical is valuable when evaluating ideas and implementing them, however, focusing too much effort on being logical in the early imaginative phases discourages the use of intuition.
Often times, creativity depends on our ability to break existing rules so we can find new ways of doing things.
Suspending practicality for a while frees the mind to consider creative solutions that, otherwise, might never arise.
Play gives us the opportunity to reinvent reality and to reformulate established ways of doing things.
Defining a problem as one area of specialty limits the ability to see how it might be related to other issues.
Avoiding ambiguity
Ambiguity encourages us to think something different. Ambiguous situations force us to stretch our minds beyond their normal boundaries and to consider creative options we might otherwise ignore.
Creative thinking is no place for conformity. New ideas are rarely born in a conforming environment. People tend toward conformity to avoid looking foolish.
Trying something new often leads to failure, however, failure should not be seen as an end; but rather as pit stops toward success.
One who believes they are not creative will likely behave in the same way, thus making the belief a reality. Everyone has the potential to be creative, however, one must tap into that potential first.
One of the best ways to communicate the expectation of creativity is to give employees permission to be creative.
Creative ideas will produce failures as well as successes. Creativity requires taking chances, and managers must remove employees fear of failure.
Encouraging curiosity
Constantly asking what if questions and taking a maybe we could attitude allows one to break out of the assumptions that limit creativity.
Every problem offers the opportunity for innovation. Dumping ones problems on employees desks to be fixed does nothing to develop creativity within employees.
Providing support
One must give employees the tools and resources they need to be creative. One of the most valuable resources is time.
Rewarding creativity
Entrepreneurs who set examples of creative behavior, taking chances, and challenging the status quo will soon find their employees doing the same.
2. Investigation
:: Prepare the mind for creative thinking (formal education, work experience, etc) :: Develop a solid understanding of the problem or decision :: View the similarities and differences in the information collected
3. Transformation 4. Incubation
5. Illumination 6. Verification
:: Give the subconscious time to reflect on the information (daydream, relax, etc)
:: The creation of an innovative idea the Eureka factor stage :: Validate the idea is accurate and useful (conduct experiments, prototypes, etc) :: Transform the idea into reality
7. Implementation
Today, 1.5 million trademarks are registered in the United States, and 900,000 of them are in use.
A copyright is an exclusive right that protects the creators of original works of authorship such as literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works. A copyright lasts for the life of the creator plus 50 years after their death. A copyright lasts 75 to 100 years if the holder is a business. Experts estimate that the U.S. software industry looses $15 billion each year to pirates who illegally copy programs.
Robert Alan Black, Ph.D. believes that there are more thinking systems than simply out-of-box and in-the-box thinking. In fact, he marks that simply jumping out of a box or tearing down the box can eliminate ideas and solutions that can come from staying in-the-box. These new thinking systems are:
New-Box
New-Box thinking is a controlled form of out-of-the-box thinking. Vertical thinking is comparable to digging the same hole deeper to find the treasure. Horizontal or lateral thinking can be comparable to digging new holes in many locations (new boxes).
Other-Box involves leaving yours and entering someone elses once again with the Whats good about it? philosophy. For example, sending people to work in other departments to learn what the grass on the other side is like. No-Box might mean complete open thinking with no limits or virtual/transparent-box thinking. This thinking challenges the greatest majority of people since tremendously potential risks are involved. Anything can go wrong at any time.
Other-Box
No-Box
Discussion Questions
2. How are creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship related?
Creativity is thinking new things, innovation is doing new things. Successful entrepreneurs have the ability to both come up with new ideas and are able to then find ways to make them work to solve a problem or fulfill a need.
4. One entrepreneur claims, Creativity unrelated to a business plan has no value. What does he mean? Do you agree?
This statement essentially means that an idea is essentially useless unless it is acted on and made into a reality and marketed. I definitely agree with this statement since the philosophy of an entrepreneur is ready, aim, fire, not ready, aim, aim, aim. Creativity is a trait that everyone has. Therefore, everyone has the potential to be creative. Creativity cannot be necessarily taught, instead, one can be taught how to tap into their creative potential.
Searching for the one right answer :: When taking tests for school, we were usually brought to believe there is only one right answer. Focusing on being logical :: At times I have rejected ideas because I thought of them as being illogical. Blindly following the rules :: At a young age, we all are taught not to color outside of the lines. Constantly being practical :: Impractical ideas are often shot down by the logical side. Viewing play as frivolous :: Often times people view games as being counter-productive. Becoming overly specialized :: Tunnel vision can often times limit the ability to think of ideas from another point of view. Avoiding ambiguity :: It is often hard to consider at least two different, often contradictory notions at the same time. Fearing looking foolish :: Often times refrain from expressing ideas to avoid criticism. Fearing mistakes and failure :: Nobody wants to make mistakes or fail, therefore often times people are apprehensive about taking risks that may result in failure. Believing that Im not creative :: Often times people think that creativity is a trait inherited by certain individuals. The truth is that everyone has creative potential, but just needs to learn how to tap into that potential.
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