Perspectives on Creativity

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Perspectives on Creativity
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What can I do to increase my creativity?

• "Take a walk".
• The subconscious mind is a powerful thing.
• A useful technique is to actively work on a
  problem before going to sleep, allowing the
  subconscious to take over. Review any ideas when
  you awake, and make sure you have a pad and pen
  by your bed to record the ideas.

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The doing of Creativity

• Western society--creativity is viewed as
  something to do.
• Eastern philosophies of Buddhism (including Zen
  Buddhism) and Taoism
• One must let the mind be free to express anything
  it want. As soon as we try to create, i.e. "to do
  it", we start controlling. We have to learn to
  loosen control, to let the mind be. Instead of
  forcing anything, we give it a chance to come.

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Creativity and Receptivity

• Creativity means being open to what is true,
  about ourselves and about others.
• To strive for originality is counter-productive.
  Originality springs from the exact opposite of
  striving. Simply follow the natural way, and
  originality will result.
• The natural way does include discipline, the
  purpose of discipline is to focus energy by
  avoiding distraction.

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Laugh

• As the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu put it, "As
  soon as you have made a thought, laugh at it..
• There's a close relationship between the "aha" of
  discovery and the "ha-ha" of humor, and being
  whacky stimulates your creative juices.

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5 Lessons to Achieving Creativity

• Its your life and you are responsible for it.
• If you spend a large portion of your day simply
  hoping, wallowing in regret, finding excuses, or
  blaming others -- your destiny is likely not
  meant to create.
• You must act on what you learn and what you
  think.
• There is no creativity until there is action.
  Never forget that a can-do attitude never did
  anything. Dont talk the game, play the game.

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5 Lessons (cont.)

• You teach people how to treat you.
• Oh, youre not creative youll never do that.
• What in my behavior has taught this person to
  think that way of me?
• The willingness, if not the passion, to change.
• You cant change the world. You can change you,
  and when you change you, you will in fact change
  the world.
• At any breakpoint stop for an introspective
  second and think about what you are going to do.
  Are you giving in to the way you have always done
  it, the way you are expected to do it? Or are you
  taking the risk of moving in a new way?

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5 Lessons (cont.)

• Courage.
• According to the poet Jal-al al-Din Rumi
  Courage A gazelle turns to face a pack of lions.
• Any step on the path to greater creativity must
  be a step in a new direction. It is a step that
  demands thinking and acting outside the norm.
  That takes courage.

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Lateral Thinking

• Lateral thinking is about moving sideways when
  working on a problem to try different
  perceptions, different concepts and different
  points of entry.

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Six Thinking Hats

• Early in the 1980s Dr. de Bono invented the Six
  Thinking Hats method. The method is a framework
  for thinking and can incorporate lateral
  thinking. Valuable judgmental thinking has its
  place in the system but is not allowed to
  dominate as in normal thinking.

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De Bonos Six Hats
This is the hat of judgment and caution.
This is the overview or process control hat.
This is the logical positive.
This covers intuition, feelings and emotions.
This is the hat of creativity,alternatives,
proposals, and what is interesting.
This covers facts, figures, information needs
and gaps.
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Assumption Smashing

• A useful technique of generating ideas is to list
  the assumptions of the problem, and then explore
  what happens as you drop each of these
  assumptions individually or in combination.

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Assumption Smashing An Example

• Customer Service division of a software company.
• When customers purchase software, they are
  encouraged to purchase support agreements for a
  cost of 15 of the software value. The revenue
  from this maintenance funds the support personnel
  who answer telephones.

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Assumptions of the Situation

• Customers purchase maintenance agreements
• Customers pay 15 of the software's worth for
  support
• Support is a product and should therefore be sold
  
• The software vendor provides helpful, timely
  support
• Now think about the situations as each attribute
  is dropped.

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Free Form Assumption Dropping

• Assumption dropping is a great way to relax and
  think of crazy ideas.
• What if gravity stopped for one minute every day?
  
• What would you do if you didn't have to sleep?
• Describe your working week if you only had to go
  to work (or school) for one day a week? Or one
  month of the year?

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Mind Maps

• Mind maps are an effective method of note-taking
  and useful for the generation of ideas by
  associations.
• One starts in the center of the page with the
  main idea, and works outward in all directions,
  producing a growing and organized structure
  composed of key words and key images.

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How Leaders can Support Creativity

• Encourage your staff to learn about and improve
  their own creative processes.
• Visibly develop your own creativity.
• Reward those who risk being creative, even when
  they fail.
• Open your company to new influences from
  disciplines outside of your own.
• Bring in art, theater, crafts.

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Leadership Support (cont.)

• Hire speakers to talk on creative processes.
• Schedule creativity.
• Ask your staff what tools they need to be
  creative, then provide them.
• Boost your visibility.
• Do a creativity audit.