Ability to make non-standard decisions is very useful both in professional activity, and at the household level. Creative thinking helps to get out of difficult situations, to stand out among others and to achieve more than people acting on the standard algorithm. Creative thinking is the most important adaptive property of a person, increasing his chances of success. But does everyone have this ability? Is it possible to develop creative thinking? How difficult is it to do? How to learn to think creatively? Put everything in its place.
What is creative thinking?
Creative thinking is a type of thinking that allows you to create a qualitatively new product or make original decisions. Creative thinking is associated with a person's ability to see the world a little differently, to distinguish opportunities and prospects where others would not notice anything.
An important component of creative thinking is the imagination - the ability to fantasize, invent. Also, figurative thinking plays a significant role - the ability to visualize one's thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
The psychology of creative thinking is somewhat different from the usual perception of reality. Where ordinary people see clouds, someone will find "white-maned horses." But it is thanks to these "eccentrics" that the next Mona Lisa and Eugene Onegin appear in our world, the Eiffel Tower comes to replace the pyramids, and the space ships begin to surf the Universe.
The nature of creative thinking has not been thoroughly studied. Perhaps these abilities are laid down at the genetic level and are transmitted from their ancestors. It is impossible to deny the influence of the information field of our planet. It is likely that the human brain is built on the principle of a radio receiver, capturing a certain frequency of signals from space. In this case, the psychology of creative thinking flows smoothly into the esoteric, revealing the spiritual sphere of man.
Anyway, creative thinking can be developed and strengthened. About this and talk further.
How to develop creative thinking?
There are many ways to develop your creative thinking. Some of them are expressed in the form of a game, others - have direct practical application. Consider the basic techniques.
Word play
For this exercise, you should choose any two words from any text. This may be a book, SMS message, advertising in the stairwell and anything else. Further, if possible, it is necessary to find something in common between them, to connect in one context. Ideally, even invent a little story.
For example, take the words "traffic light" and "elephant". What do they have in common? At first glance, nothing. But, if you think about it, then the elephant and the traffic light can be in Africa. The same elephant can cross the road when the traffic light allows it. Either the traffic light is located on the trunk of a stylized elephant statue, etc. There are a lot of options and you can think of a completely unthinkable, but interesting story.
Lateral thinking
Attempt to curb creativity with the help of logic and erudition. The technology of lateral (non-obvious) thinking is to look at the task from all possible angles. And in one of them, it will unfold in a completely different light. An example from life. Everyone represents what screws are. You can attach something to them somewhere. But thanks to this construction fixture and pliers, it is easy to pull the cork stopper out of the wine bottle if you don't have a corkscrew on hand. The main thing is just to look at the situation from a different angle.
Six hats method
A good way to develop creative thinking and a split personality (if you practice yourself). During the consideration of a specific task or idea, participants are divided into six experts with clearly defined roles according to the color of their “hat”:
- White (logic) - it is required from the person in this hat to “sort through everything”;
- Yellow (optimism) - in this case, you should wear "rose-colored glasses" and see the benefits;
- Black (criticism) - involves the identification of "pitfalls" and shortcomings in other people's ideas;
- Green (creativity) - the most creative hat, being in which it is worthwhile to let your imagination fly free;
- Red (emotions) - its owner must describe the emotions that he has in response to the task;
- Blue (philosophy) - gets the most experienced participant who can summarize the statements of the rest.
Especially affect the creative thinking, if a person tries on a hat that does not fit him. This will instantly knock him out of his comfort zone, further intensifying the thought process.
Reverse Brainstorming
Another collective trick is how to enhance creative thinking. Brainstorming technology is known to many. Each participant is given the opportunity to express the maximum possible number of their ideas without prior criticism. At the end, all assumptions are collected and their rational discussion begins. Gradually, the best options remain. Reverse brainstorming allows you to run your imagination even more, because during it you have to express frankly wrong ideas. For example, the topic of discussion is to develop a new type of bottle. With a standard approach, all participants would start thinking about how to improve it. And during a reverse brainstorming, on the contrary, how to make it worse. As a result, there may be ideas that, with the usual approach, could not even have been born, but when discussing them, they will become the "highlight" of the new concept.
Reading the opposite
Children's game, which does not lose its relevance for adults. Creative thinking starts in any non-standard situation when we cannot act as a template. Starting to read signs or advertisements on the contrary, we instantly activate our creativity. It is best to play in pairs, walking around the city. One participant calls the words in this original way, and the second one tries to translate them as quickly as possible. Fun pastime and increased creativity is guaranteed.
Man's creative thinking is enhanced in the situation of abandoning the usual life algorithms. Sometimes circumstances are pushed to improve it, but often creative thinking can be developed independently. It is best to do this with someone, arranging a kind of competition with each other.
