Week 3 EOC #1: Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is known to the masses as an alternative way of processing information and problem solving. Creative thinkers have different techniques with using the information in their mind, creative thinking can be best defined as, “A way of looking at problems or situations from a fresh perspective that suggests unorthodox solutions (which may look unsettling at first). Creative thinking can be stimulated both by an unstructured process such as brainstorming, and by a structured process such as lateral thinking” (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/creative-thinking.html). There are four techniques that are used during the creative thinking process to help spark creative doing the first is reframing. “Reframing opens up creative possibilities by changing our interpretation of an event, situation, behavior, person or object” (http://lateralaction.com/creative-thinking/). Most creative thinkers use reframing extensively, finding new possibilities where others see obstacles. This technique is a great “exercise” to provoke a powerful impact on your brain. The next technique is mind mapping which “sidesteps this problem by allowing you to write ideas down in an associative, organic pattern, starting with a key concept in the center of the page, and radiating out in all directions, using lines to connect related ideas (http://lateralaction.com/creative-thinking/). This can also be seen as a very structured brain storm that shares the relationships between different concepts and making them easier to memorize. The next technique is Insight, which has “several different meanings, but in the context of creative thinking it means an idea that appears in the mind as if from nowhere, with no immediately preceding conscious thought or effort. It’s the proverbial ‘Aha!’ or ‘Eureka!’ moment, when an idea pops into your mind out of the blue” (http://lateralaction.com/creative-thinking/). When you think about the project you are working on and the industry you are working in having that professional industry insight can help spark ideas. Gathering knowledge, hard thinking about the problem, incubation, the eureka moment, and developing the idea are examples of having insight. The last technique is the creative flow, “You know that feeling you get when you’re completely absorbed in your work and the outside world seems to melt away? When everything seems to fall into place, and whatever you’re working with — ideas, words, notes, colors or whatever — start to flow easily and naturally? When you feel both excited and calm, caught up in the sheer pleasure of creation?” (http://lateralaction.com/creative-thinking/). Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmahalyi has studied this state and it’s a sign that you’re working at your best, producing high-quality work.