Creative thinking is essential for…just about everything! What does it really mean to be a creative thinker? Can everybody be good at creative thinking?
I think there are several parts to being a creative thinker. It’s not just any one of these things, but putting all of these into one person certainly creates the potential for high levels of creative thinking:
• Imagination – I think it takes a lot of imagination for creative thinking to work. Often you have to envision how a problem could be solved or how life can be better before you really get ideas going.
• Curiosity – you have to be one who can learn new things and wonder how things even work. The process of exploring and learning naturally creates an environment where new ideas can be born.
• Perseverance – once you have a vision or idea, if creative thinking is really going to have an affect then the person with the idea has to have the patience to allow the idea to take root in others.
While there will always be those individuals who seem to come up with the more radical ideas, anyone can get the creative juices flowing. The art of creative thinking has some scientific elements to it as well. So when you need some new ideas, give these tips a shot:
• Time – often we need to give our brains time to wrap around a scenario. Giving yourself the time to allow your brain to work through the problem can result, for example, in those late night epiphanies we all seem to get.
• Focus – make the effort to fully understand the problem and focus on solutions. This is a great way to make sure that you truly understand the issues and can therefore see what a solution looks like.
• Step back – look at your problem or idea with a big picture mentality. Sometimes we all get too close to a problem and have a hard time seeing the forest through the trees.
• Break the box – intentionally entertain ideas that seem improbable or even outright silly. Give yourself permission to play outside the box. You might just amaze yourself and discover a solution you might not have considered otherwise.
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