Desde hace tiempo he estado escribiendo artículos en mi perfil de Linkedin.
http://www.invent.org/
http://www.nesta.org.uk/ http://www.inventored.org/k-12/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/design/ Inventing Cracking ideas Intellectual Property course http://www.cihm.leeds.ac.uk/document_downloads/Art_of_Powerful_Questions.pdf https://dschool.stanford.edu/groups/designresources/wiki/4dbb2/ http://www.designthinkingforeducators.com/DTtoolkit_v1_062711.pdf http://www.slideshare.net/dontheideaguy/100Whats2007 http://www.nesta.org.uk/resources http://www.sideleft.com/guia-creative-commons/ http://quizlet.com/ When I was a teenager there was a nice teacher who sometimes in class, when a student asked a question he answered: “Today you have won the prize to the stupid question”. He never used to do it in a hurting way, but in a funny way.
When I was in university, a lecturer asked a question, and directed it to me (it was the second time I was doing the same subject as I did not pass it the year before). As I did not know the answer, the lecturer asked me: “What do you do at home, do you play?” It made me laugh, as I found it very funny (and the truth is that at that time I was not a very good student and I used to do other activities that were more entertaining to me, so probably he was right). He continued asking the question to other people, but nobody knew the answer and suddenly, like by the art of magic it came to my mind. I put my hand up (without being sure if I was right) and I answered it…. And I was right!!! The lecturer just smiled and said: “Yes, you are right”. I found it especially rewarding, not because of knowing the answer, but because of saying it just one minute after he had made a joke about me for not knowing it and he was smiling and making jokes as nobody knew it. This is just an introduction to thinking about questioning and the thoughts that provoke in people. Personally, I believe that questioning is the most powerful tool to think and to help others to think. Many times I find myself regretting things I have said, as I think people need to have the opportunity to think. The opportunity to think is not only the time, but the environment, the emotional support, the understanding that people have different ways of learning, different areas of knowledge and interest and that asking them the right question with a supportive attitude is the best way for them to think about it. On the other side, I think I have the “weakness” of asking too many questions. Some people will think that I am asking the same question several times, some people will feel annoyed that I need to know more details (the truth is that something in me ask me to ask questions as I always see more possible answers)… on the other side, when somebody ask me a question, sometimes they laugh at the “confused” aspect of my face when I am thinking about it (probably because too many different possible answers come to my mind and other questions related to that question). Many times I feel people think I am stupid but the truth is that I enjoy asking questions (probably I am bit stupid too :-) or maybe more than a bit), even asking the same question again in case the answer has changed or even just to give the opportunity to expand on it. The truth is that many times it is not exactly the same question, but with a small variation… but people feel “angry” for me asking… My assumption is that people sometimes feel uncomfortable to have to think or especially to recognise that they don´t have their thoughts and opinions fixed, but that they are variable and can be challenged. Or they don´t see the interest in thinking more about it. Why not celebrate the finding that our knowledge can be challenged and improved? Why not enjoying the connexions among different areas of knowledge, experiences and motivations? Why not have fun and enjoy relating things that are unrelated? Maybe because I am the stupid winner? Yesterday I attended a wonderful event in which Claudine Reid explained how she and her husband developed their organisation for the last 20 years. She mentioned very interesting things related to business and to life. Among them, my favourite one was: "I used to read economic books to my child with a baby voice".
This shows how creative thinking can be applied in so many areas of our lives, including how to learn when you are busy taking care of a baby. There are so many things that can be used in a different way than the purpose they were created for. Sometimes it can be played as a game “What can this be?” (what can be used for). Sometimes you can find books such as 100 different uses of a pen or a screwdriver, etc. Sometimes I have attended seminars, not only for the content of the seminar, but because of learning the way the trainer facilitates the session. I have evenattended the same seminar in different occasions to have the opportunity to be thinking about my own ideas related to the topic, what means I was more concentrated on my own thoughts, than in the ideas of the trainer, which I was using to explore my own thoughts from different angles. I go to swim, not only for healthy reasons or fun, but because it is a very goodopportunity to revise the knowledge I have built in my mind while I am swimming. The time I commute in The Tube to work, it is my magic time to think and write my thoughts. Sometimes I use websites such as Amazon, not to find books, but to find books of the topics I am interested, their authors, their websites or blogs and the possibilities of networking with them. Many books can be used for entertainment. Generally I have “used” the books to learn practical things. When thinking about inventing new products or products with new functions or modifications, combinations, etc. we shouldn´t forget that it can be even more interesting to invent different ways of using them, different purposes. We can think also how to make them easier to use or more engaging. When I was a teenager, I was fascinated by the elderly (especially mygrandparents) as things were so different but at the same time they wereuseful inspirations extrapolating them to the present times. And changing the level of abstraction, let´s think about a shed. It could be a shed or a room where we keep all these spare parts, things that we don´t use, tools, anything that can be used to repair something, etc. I love the two approaches when going to a shed: on one side, maybe you are repairing something at home and you need something to help you, but you don´t know exactly what. It could be just a piece of wood or metal. And you look around till you find something that can be useful. On the other side, you might be just walking around the shed wondering what you could use some “left over” for. Maybe could be a broken game or machine left thinking that the spare parts could be used for something. It happens to me many times when I am in a bookshop or in a library. I start looking for the type of books I am more interested, the topics I like… and after that, I start again walking around the bookshop or the library looking at all the books, just in case some topic that I was not expecting, catch my attention. Now!!!! Imagine the world as your shed. You walk around the world…. Sometimes you are looking for people that can help you with something…. However, the other approach is equally valid: you walk around the world thinking: What could be this person useful for? How could I help him/her to become what he/she could be? Along time ago I started swimming in a type of "dog style" that is very convenient for me because it is very relaxed, I don´t get tired and I don´t throw my arms on the side with the risk of hitting other swimmers.
Today while I was swimming I did two interesting activities: On one side, while I was swimming, I was recalling several acronyms I have created to remember techniques to generate ideas, problem solving, innovating, thinking, etc. (in English language and in Spanish language) with the idea of ensuring they are all stored in my long term memory and I keep on revising them periodically (ie. when I go to swim, that is once a week). On the other side, swimming is a good activity to be thinking at the same time, so even though I miss having some place to write ideas, today I did something that surprised myself. I followed one of the acronyms to use different techniques to generate ideas. With each technique I can produce several ideas. As while I am swimming I don´t have a notebook to record the ideas, so that I can continue improving them, what I have done is a bit different: For example, I started by doing a brainstorming and while I was swimming I thought about a number of ideas. In this case, I shortlisted one single idea that was interesting for some reason, maybe for having some peculiar element. Then I went to the next technique in the acronym and I used it to transform the previous idea and I continued following the same with all the techniques included in the acronym. To be honest, while doing this process, at some point I had to change completely the idea to satisfy the suggestion from the latest tool that I used. While I was swimming, I was not able to remember many of the ideas that came to my mind with each technique, but I was able to shortlist an interesting one and remember how the idea was transformed by each of the tools used. This combination of swimming and thinking has been very efficient. On one side I swam without resting as I was very entertained thinking and on the other side, I thought in a different way as at each step of using a different tool to generate ideas, I was shaping them. It was a type of alternative activity of producing and transforming the idea in a simple and cyclical way. Besides, the fact that swimming in a swimming pool is an activity that doesn´t require much concentration, it is an ideal activity to incubate ideas when you are not concentrated in producing them but relaxing mentally.
However, in my opinion, creativity is related but not limited to problem solving as it can be explored from different angles such as the process (for example, a problem solving process), the person, the product created and the creative environment.
This activity can be useful also to learn new behaviours, as you can imagine first in your mind what you are going to do in reality. For example, you can imagine yourself doing a presentation in public or behaving assertively and not only thinking what you are saying (and how, your body language, etc.) but also feeling confident and motivated.
When you have been creating things, but there is a long time you have not done it, you could start having doubts about your ability. Creating something means that your areusing your knowledge, experience and motivation, so it is something that you value and feels part of being yourself. Of course, there is also the need of creating things, tools, inventions, etc to solve problems or to improve things, or adapting things we have for other purposes, so we create not only something but a different way of using it.
You could try to simplify something that exists or the opposite, try to add more features to a product that exist, or try to adapt it to a new environment, to do different things or for different type of user. Write a selling advert, an elevator pitch, imagine you are in Dragon´s Den trying to sell your idea. Think about the trends in life, about problems you have had in your life, about the products that have been successful. Think no only about the different possibilities of products that currently exist but about different ways of using them. You could focus in an specific group of people, with specific needs or in a group of owners of a product. Think about new technologies and how could be use in different fieldsor how to combine new products with old ones.
That has been said under the understanding that rational can be "critical" and creative can be an attitude to be open to all type of options. However, I think it is possible also to be rational at the same time as creative, but probably will not be as effective as it seems to me that it could be like going in a car and checking the map. You could try to do it at the same time, but will be difficult, dangerous and maybe you have to reduce the speed. However, it is better to stop, concentrate on it, have an idea about what to do and then do it. This will be more effective, as you concentrate in one activity at at time.
Sometimes people can forget who they were and also who they are. Some people could believe that the artist is just an instrument for the expression of the art. o rigid routine, but the truth is that it works. You have a time frame every day where you are thinking about something, you choose some topic that you enjoy thinking about, you choose maybe some thinking tool... and the consistency of thinking on a daily basis means that very often I awake in the morning with some idea related that I never thought about it consciously but it looks some kind of simplification or integration of some of my ideas. Even if it might not be related to the question, something that has changed a lot that consistency of getting ideas, is the need to do something with them that same day, even if it is to write something about them (not only in paper, but in a blog or something else that makes the idea to remain), or do a first step towards its implementation.
This is a very important question that can change anybody´s life. In my case, it is a combination of the topics I am more interested at the time and also an habit of continuity thinking about these topics on a daily basis. I commute by public transport nearly every day, what means I have sometime that I could be reading, sleeping or checking emails on my mobile... What I do it is to have a notebook and think about some topic I am interested. I could do that using some thinking technique (see my book "Essex Creativity") or doing free writing about it, allowing any thoughts that come to me to flow. A nice way to start thinking about something is to write some questions about it. And this is a good point: Think about new questions you could ask about a topic you are interested. You might think about it as a too rigid routine, but the truth is that it works. You have a time frame every day where you are thinking about something, you choose some topic that you enjoy thinking about, you choose maybe some thinking tool... and the consistency of thinking on a daily basis means that very often I awake in the morning with some idea related that I never thought about it consciously but it looks some kind of simplification or integration of some of my ideas. Even if it might not be related to the question, something that has changed a lot that consistency of getting ideas, is the need to do something with them that same day, even if it is to write something about them (not only in paper, but in a blog or something else that makes the idea to remain), or do a first step towards its implementation.
In my opinion, preparation is the most critical step, followed by verification. In preparation we do all the work of gathering, combining, transforming and re-structuring. This is an effort that will contribute to generate ideas at any time. On the other side, when in the illumination step we have new insights, these new ideas are in a weak position. On one hand, they must look too difficult to apply or too different to what was expected. On the other side, this difficulty to link the new idea with our need is what the step of verification can solve. The step of verification can transform a weak idea in a new approach to transform radically a concept, a way of doing something. This usually needs the work done in Preparation to reach at this stage. If we don´t start the process having a good preparation, using the tools that we have, the stage of verification will not be as revolutionary as it should.
I believe in some situations like having a shower, sleeping, washing dishes, shaving, etc the brain is a bit relaxed because it is concentrating on an activity that doesn't demand much concentration. Then, even if you are not thinkin consciously, the brain still is working unconsciously in a less restrictive way because you are not consciously censoring your ideas, combinations, modifications, etc
I would start by writing some ideas using brainstorming, free writng or/and mind mapping. Then, I will think how to organise them. It could be following a logical process but also thinking about mixing activities in a sequence that alternate different type of activities.
There are too many techniques and variations of techniques, so I would recommend to choose the one you feel more motivated to and at the same time another technique you don´t feel comfortable with. Long answer: I think there is not an easy answer, as I feel it is more an art than a science. In my own experience, sometimes due to time restrictions I use any super quick technique and then I modify or combine the results. In my book "Essex Creativity" I designed an acronym called B.A.S.I.L.D.O.N. (brainstorming, analogies, search, inspiration, lottery, differences, open questions, notebook) to ensure I use a specific set of different type of techniques. Even though it might seem a waste of time, the truth is that when using these different techniques, many ideas will be similar, but also there will be a few ones that are different. Besides, If there is need, I will use something different to approach the topic from a different perspective. Some times you could think about a criteria that could help you to choose a technique, such as to be used individually or in group, the time for the activity, the urgency, the confidence you have on that technique, the difficulty, etc. I think to use a type of reflective practice about how the activity to generate ideas has been used, your thoughts, feelings, outcomes and what could be done different, can be a good guideline to choose what to do next. I believe that sometimes the problem is not only to generate ideas, but to focus on how the problem has been defined. Some times, using more time to think about the definition of the problem and the information we have can be beneficial to frame the type of ideas we want.
Act on any idea as soon as you are aware, specially if you suddenly awake.... Don´t leave it till next day, write something in a notebook, blog, twitter, whatsapp... anything!!! There are many ideas that are lost or loose the power of the emotion attached to them and later might be to late.... It is very interesting to see how sometimes we use thinking techniques to generate ideas... and other times they come without trying.... I would advice to try different things at different times (day or night), different places, different ways of expressing them.... It could start by using free writing, juts reflecting on what is around your mind, even if it is just to mention thoughts about wanting to generate ideas, discouragement, etc. You can even try to improvise talking about the topic to yourself or singing about it, or drawing about it. Also you could just relax, concentrate in your breathing, your mind, the sounds outside in the street, in the room, in your body... relax and don´t stop thoughts moving around but also don´t allow them to stop your flow. When something is special, write it.
One interesting activity is to think ideas to achieve the opposite to what you want. Later think about the opposite of each of the ideas. For example, if you are thinking about finding a job, you could ask yourself how to loose a job, write ie. 10 ideas and later write the opposite ideas. This will suggest new possibilities.
Paying attention to other issues that can disturb our critical spirit: Tiredness, dispersion, expectations, emotional thinking, rules in a community, "groupthink" not wanting to think different than others, assumptions, , labels, overgeneralisation, radical thinking, rushing, jumping into conclusions, etc Also by using reflective practice to reflect on our critical thinking.
Very interesting question about thinking! When you enjoy thinking, there are interesting ideas flowing around. When you are too focused on the results, you might not enjoy the process. However, when you have a wonderful idea, you can surprise yourself and think: Where is this idea coming from? Why? You might feel some type of illumination and appreciate the happiness attached to it more than even the quality of the idea. Maybe the idea is not something special, but because of the emotion attached to it, because of the meaning that you feel about it, it become special. A way to place emphasis on the process on any activity could be to think about it as if you were playing for the fun of doing it, with the aim not to win, but to enjoy. Another example could be to do any activity as present as possible. Thinking about nothing else than the activity, developing concentration to be in only one place, one activity.
Inside the box could be some options that have been successful before, but when this options don´t work any more you have to go outside this box to find out other options that can be successful.
We feel comfortable and enjoy the routines. We build a system of knowledge based on our experiences that are useful to our survival. It is like a model that works for us and help us to deal with daily issues. Even when knowing different tools and techniques to be innovative, we tend to use the ones we feel more comfortable with or the ones we enjoy more. Once that one has been established, tends to protect his/her establishment as thinking outside the box can be risky. The risk of thinking outside the box can be contrasted with the risk of remaining stuck in the past. While one is not established, the tendency is to continue fighting, to continue doing whatever it takes to improve, such as thinking outside the box. When one is established, you don´t want to risk it.
The box shows some limitations. Thinking outside the box is thinking outside these limitations. These limitations can exist because of fear, because of our routines, because of our assumptions, labels, emotions, rules in our society or family, the tools we use, because of our expertise about the topic we are thinking, that make it difficult to see it with fresh eyes, but with expectations based on our past experiences. Breaking routines can help to think outside the box. You can change timetables, the type of books you read, the people you mingle with, the tools you use to think. You can use analogies to relate the topic of thinking with some other topic that is very different and try to make links. The well-known acronym SMART helps to shape the goals to make them effective. There are some people that prefer to talk about creating habits as when pursuing the goals, people can miss them and stop pursuing them, while when generating habits, to miss something is not so frustrating as missing a goal and you can continue pursuing the habit. On the other side, it could be argued that the objective could have been set more achievable or realistic.
SMART can have different meanings. A can stand for “Achievable” or “Ambitious” and R can stand for “Relevant” or “Realistic”… there are different versions of the SMART acronym. By setting an ambitious objective that is possible to achieve, our motivation feels interested by the challenge and at the same time we are forced to think creatively about different ways to achieve the goal. Creative Ambition can refer also to something different: the ambition to think creatively or innovate. This could be expressed in different terms such as “generating 10 ideas daily”, “designing something new every month”, etc. Creativity can be measured in different ways and by making it Measurable (sMart) we are able to manage it. It is very useful to be able to change our habits as in the long term, these will help in shaping our destiny. Developing creative habits will contribute to a continuous innovation. As somebody said: “Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; watch your habits, they become character; watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.” Subjects
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