Creative Thinking Skills
How is it that some people always seem to be able to generate new ideas and think creatively, and others seem to struggle to do so? The answer lies in their ability to use creative thinking.
Creative thinking is the ability to look at things differently, and find new ways of solving problems. Creative thinking skills are definitely not just for ‘creative types’ like artists and musicians. Everyone can benefit from creative thinking from time to time.
Regardless of whether you view yourself as a creative type or not, you can learn some useful skills and techniques which will enable you to tap into that creative ‘right brain’ thinking and bring a new perspective to innovation, problem-solving and managing change.
What is Creative Thinking?
Creative thinking is:
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.
Creativity is the ability to make something new. This might be a picture, or a piece of music—but it might also be a new idea.
Creative thinking, therefore, is the ability to think differently: to see a problem or issue from a new angle or perspective. This often allows you find a new solution, or even to see that the problem does not necessarily need a solution.
The need for creative thinking arises because our brains naturally tend to fall into certain ‘short cuts’. Once we have a piece of information, we tend to use it again: that’s how we learn. This has huge advantages—for example, it means that we don’t have to learn how to use a knife and fork every time we eat—but it also has some disadvantages, in that we tend to stop thinking about things that we do, see or say regularly.
Formal Creative Thinking
Of course it is possible to think creatively all the time. There are some people who simply fizz with new ideas and seem to see everything slightly differently from those around them.
These are the people who are always asking ‘Why?’, and ‘Why not?’.
They are natural problem-solvers and innovators.
However, for most people, creative thinking requires more effort. They prefer to save their creative thinking for when it is really necessary.
Typical examples of times when you might take the time to use creative thinking techniques include:
. When you are facing a major problem or issue, and you cannot see an obvious way forward.
. At times of change, when it is hard to see what might lie ahead, and you want to think about possible scenarios.
. When there is a lot of disagreement about what needs to happen next, and no compromise seems possible without a lot of effort.
. When you need something new, that hasn’t been tried before, but you are not sure what.
On occasions like this, it may be worth doing some ‘formal’ creative thinking, and using a trained facilitator to help the group get the most out of the session.
Creative Thinking Techniques
Our page on Creative Thinking Skills explains that creative thinking is the ability to think about issues and problems in a slightly different way, and therefore generate new solutions. There are a number of ways that we can all become more creative thinkers, such as getting to know more people, and exposing ourselves to new experiences.
However, there are also some tools and techniques that can be used to stimulate creative thinking. They are often used formally, to help with problem solving in the workplace. However, they also have a place outside work, in helping to deal with problems and issues.
This page describes some of the most widely-used tools and techniques for creative thinking, to help you get started.
Although at first glance, some creative thinking techniques may sometimes look a bit ridiculous, there are good principles behind most of them. However sceptical you may be about their potential, it’s a good idea to approach them with an open mind. You may be surprised by the results.
Brainstorming is the often-maligned practice of getting a group of people together and generating ideas.
The principle behind brainstorming is Linus Pauling’s point that most ideas are not very good. So the best way to have a good idea is to generate lots of ideas, then discard the impractical and inappropriate ones. The trouble is that there is no scientific formula for the number of ideas you need to generate to find a good one, or even a guarantee that you’ll be able to find a good one at all.
It’s generally agreed that the rules of brainstorming, at least in the initial stages, include:
. Everyone having a say
. All ideas being equally valued
. No criticism of other people’s ideas is allowed
There are at least a couple of different ways that brainstorming sessions can be run:
1. Everyone follows up an initial idea, feeding off it to generate new ones, until an end point is reached on that idea, at which point the group turns to a new idea and does the same.
2. Participants are encouraged to come up with more free-flow generation of unconnected ideas that can then be grouped and themed later.
It is also generally agreed that following an initial period of open brainstorming, there needs to be a period of idea evaluation, where questions are asked and criticisms are made. This allows for initial ideas to be explored in more detail and accepted for further investigation or discarded.
Many people also use this opportunity to group ideas by theme to make exploration easier since, often, a lot of the ideas will be linked.
It is important to set aside plenty of time for brainstorming, and to keep exploring even when you think you’ve found a good idea: the first idea is very seldom the best.
Engaging your Right Brain
Much research has been done over the years on the way in which the two sides of the brain work differently.
> The left side of the brain is supposedly focused on logic and order.
> The right side of the brain focuses on the more ‘messy’, creative and innovative aspects.
Although this is a rather extreme view, there does seem to be evidence that doing physical activities that engage the ‘creative’ areas of your brain can help you think differently.
One fairly simple way to do this is by drawing or creating something in three dimensions, perhaps using junk-modelling or balloons and post-it notes. This can be an individual or group activity, to aid either your own or everyone’s thinking processes.
Being able to draw is not a prerequisite to this approach. It’s the activity, not the precise form at the end, that’s important.
All these techniques are likely to work best with people who don’t see things very visually. People who already doodle pictures to help themselves think may enjoy this sort of session, but are likely to get less out of it.
Another way of harnessing the creative side of the brain is to make something, perhaps out of balloons, or old cardboard boxes large and small, or even Lego. Many people also find doing jigsaw puzzles is a good way to get some creative thinking time.
The act of making something with your hands, and occupying your conscious mind with spatial problems, can often allow your subconscious to get to work on the big intractable problem.
Just as sleeping on a problem can give you a new perspective, so can doing something completely different.
Role-Play Situations
Role-play situations are probably the ‘Marmite’ of management development courses: you either love them or you hate them. But love them or hate them, they can have some dramatic results.
‘Role-play’, does not just include the basic ‘pretend I’m your customer’-type role-plays, or even ‘walk around the room trying to channel an animal’-type exercises, which rightly or wrongly are often regarded as something of a waste of time.
Role-play situations also cover other, more radical and powerful ideas such as Richard Olivier’s Mythodrama, which explores leadership through the medium of Shakespeare’s plays. Olivier found using Henry V as a management textbook opens up some interesting ideas, and there is more about his ideas on our page on Leadership Styles.
The term ‘role-play’ also encompasses Business Constellations.
Business Constellations is a technique emerging from family therapy, which allows a group to explore the interrelationships within it by the use of actors or group members to represent particular individuals, not necessarily themselves.
> One person starts by placing all the others in the room to show the way that they see the problem.
> In turn, each person in the group then moves to where they see themselves fitting best. And of course, as each person moves, it affects the others in the group, who then want to move again.
> The end point is reached when everyone is comfortable with their location within the group, and this represents the ‘shape’ of the group and the dynamics within it.
This is a very powerful technique, which can cause emotions to run high, so should only be undertaken with a trained practitioner to facilitate.
Even those qualified to lead this kind of role-play exercise, and who have done so many times, can often be surprised by their outcomes. There is something about pretending to be someone else and channelling someone else’s emotions which is astonishingly freeing and can lead to hugely creative thinking.
A Take-Home Message
There are two key things to remember when you are engaged in creative thinking skills and techniques.
The first is don’t stop there. Even when you think you’ve reached a good point, carry on a bit further. Don’t be satisfied with the first solution you reach. Instead, as long as you have time, try exploring other ideas, or even push the one that you have a bit further. Take it right to the point of idiocy, and see where that gets you.
As Oscar Levant said, there is a fine line between genius and insanity. Try crossing it, giving yourself the option of crossing back to the point of genius again.
The second point is closely related and it is ‘go with the flow’.
Sometimes the most useful outcomes of any creative thinking exercise are the unexpected ones, so don’t squash ideas just because they don’t seem to fit straight away. Just let them run for a while and see what happens.
An open mind is the most important prerequisite for creative thinking.
Making Your Thinking More Creative
Beyond ‘formal’ creative thinking opportunities, there are also things that you can do to help yourself think more creatively on a routine basis.
These include:
. ’Spreading your social wings’ to get to know a wider and more diverse group of people.
We all tend to get on best with people who are like us, and particularly people with the same background and overall views on life. However, associating with people who are like us tends to mean that our thinking gets a bit ‘lazy’. Our assumptions go unchallenged, and our views tend to get reinforced.
Taking time to actively go out and meet new people—and particularly more diverse people, who are not so like you—will help you to challenge your assumptions. Without even realising that you are doing so, you will start to think more widely, and see things differently.
That, of course, is the first step in starting to think more creatively.
. Embracing new opportunities and trying new things
One particular research study tested creativity among people who had lived abroad, and those who had not lived outside their birth country. The study found that people who had lived abroad were better able to think creatively to solve a problem.
Obviously not everyone can go and live abroad for a period, but actively seeking out and taking up opportunities to do something new could have the same effect.
It is worth challenging yourself to learn a new skill, or do something you find difficult, simply for the effect it will have on your thinking!
. Challenging stereotypes and forcing yourself to think beyond the obvious
Another study found that people who were asked to think about people who did not fit a stereotype (such as a male midwife) were better able to think creatively than people asked to think about someone who fitted the stereotype.
This is a very small thing, but it shows the effect of conventional thinking on our ability to think more creatively.
Being conscious of stereotypes, and asking yourself ‘But why do I think that?’ will help to surface your assumptions, and help you to think more creatively.
. Engaging with art, theatre and music
It seems that people who visit the theatre, go to concerts, or engage with other cultural activities are also more able to think creatively. The thinking is that these activities help us to see things from a new perspective, and therefore to think more creatively. They also, apparently, can help you to feel more connected, and generally kinder.
Taking time to enjoy arts or create something in your leisure time will help you to broaden your horizons more generally.
A final thought
There are huge benefits to learning to think a little differently. It will help to improve your problem-solving ability, and also help you to see others’ perspectives. In an increasingly global world, broader horizons and an ability to think more widely is never going to hurt.
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