Creativity Toolkit I: Changing Perspectives, Certification link.
- Being Creative - Changing Perspectives & Cueing Creativity.
- Raw Materials and End Products - PAGES Five Roles of concepts : Parts, Actions, Goals, Event, Self-Concept.
- The Creative Journey - a long journey with many bumps in the road.
- Supporting Creativity
1. Being Creative
Suggested Readings:
- Cronin, M. A., & Loewenstein, J. (2018) The craft of creativity (chapters 1 and 5). Stanford University Press.
- Dyer, J., Gregersen, H., & Christensen, C. (2013). The innovator’s DNA: Mastering the five skills of disruptive innovators. Harvard Business Press.
- Heath, C., & Heath, D. (2013). Decisive: How to make better choices in life and work. Random House.
Creativity is a Skill You Can Learn : Creativity as a Process.
1.1 Changing Perspectives
Creative is Changing Perspectives, not finding new things. When our perspective changes, we think about information in a different way, remember different knowledge and bring that to bear in a different way. We transform what we get from memory, what we remember and what we would imagine going forward.
Assumptions - We made our maze in our mind. In order to take in enormous amounts of information around the world, we make a system assumptions, with category and relations between them. When observing the world, we have to lock on one single perspective (in order to think, we don't have a choice). It is useful, but also constrain our thinking.
- Using : Ordinary thinking of everyday, use the same perspective, same assumptions, to continue our story.
- Adding to : Add new thing to the pre-exist perspective, but won’t dramatically change it.
- Changing : Open our narrow point of view to new things, then look both forward and backward.
- Building : require to learn.
Stop our current story. Change our perspective away from the story towards the perspective of the story.
1.2 Cueing Creativity
The Impasse Cue, when we feel stuck or encounter barriers in our creative journey (stop our story), which cues that we have miss something. Which force us to reconsider our goals and perspectives, leading to innovative solutions.
The Dissatisfaction Cue, our current habits and perspectives lead us to anticipate a predictable and unfulfilling outcome, prompting us to question the meaning of our efforts.
The Surprise Cue. Surprises (expectation failure) can prompt creativity by challenging our existing perspectives and encouraging us to explore new ideas.
The Crosstalk Cue, when insights from one story influence another, prompting new ideas. To experience crosstalk, one must be open to new information and diverse perspectives.
2. Raw Materials and End Products
Separate Concepts on the thing and the thing itself.
2.1 Raw Materials
Understand Perspective : the collection of concepts and the interpretation of collectively that it generates. Many concepts which used to represent all different elements of a story. Five Roles of concepts : Parts, Actions, Goals, Event, Self-Concept.
Example : Nine dots puzzle.
2.2 End Products
Insights : the initial sparks of creativity, often leading to a change in perspective that can redirect our thinking and problem-solving.
Inventions. Insights are quick realizations that can lead to new perspectives, while inventions are the tangible outcomes of those insights, often taking years to develop.
Enlightenments represent new generated knowledge that changes how we think about the world and can be applied in various contexts.
Insights can lead to inventions, and both can contribute to enlightenments, enhancing our overall understanding and ability to innovate.
3. The Creative Journey
Persist despite rejection. Rejection can motivate and lead to unique paths in creativity.
Flexibility (Tools to change perspective):
- Analogy and Metaphor.
- Recognition of pattern - underlying consistency.
- Different pattern perspective, lead to different method.
- Think abstractly about your stories.
- Talk with different people, with different communication.
- Re-categorization. Changing how we think about objects or ideas by switching categories.
- Zooming In and Out. (Focus or broader)
- Considering the Opposite
- Switching PAGES.
- Combination. combinations of existing ideas can lead to new inventions.
- Scenario-based. (e.g., truck soap for washing trucks)
- Property mapping. (e.g., soap shaped like a truck)
- Complex blends. (e.g., hybrid machines like car part incubators)
- Association. random association in life.
Test for Car
why do people choose to push forward? Joy in Creativity, Intrinsic Motivation, Supporting Creativity.
4. Supporting Creativity
Core tasks around providing feedback, setting rewards, and managing resources and setting constraints can encourage rather than discourage creativity
4.1 Organizational Culture to Support Creativity
Growth mindset encourages individuals to believe they can enhance their creativity. Loose cultures encourage exploration and autonomy, which can foster creativity.
4.2 Cultivating Creativity via Feedback, Rewards, External Factors
Rewards and reward systems and their impact on creativity.
Types of Constraints: These can be time-related (deadlines) or resource-related (limited materials). Constraints encourage individuals to move away from familiar solutions and seek innovative approaches.
4.3 Spaces Encouraging Creativity
Color, lighting, and physical space in work environments can significantly impact creativity and openness to new ideas.