Chapter 1 slides

UFS 104 : CREATIVE AND CRITICAL THINKING

CHAPTER 1:
What is Creative Thinking

© 2010 Cosmopoint

Chapter 1: What is Creative Thinking

Topic Outlines

  What is Creative Thinking and why should you be creative ?
  How to be creative and Myths about Creative Thinking and
Problem Solving
  3 Basic Principles
  Theories of Creative Process
  Characteristic of Creative Thinking
  Enhancing Creative Thinking in Students and Removing
Blockage

© 2010 Cosmopoint Slide 2 of 28


Learning Outcomes

At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:

  Understand and describe what is creative thinking
  Understand the views of creative thinking
  Understand the principles of creative thinking
  Understanding and enhance creative in their thinking



What is Creative Thinking?

An Ability.
•  to imagine or invent something new.

•  As we will see below, creativity is not the
ability to create out of nothing (only God
can do that), but the ability to generate
new ideas by combining, changing, or
reapplying existing ideas.

•  Some creative ideas are astonishing
and brilliant, while others are just simple,
good, practical ideas that no one seems
to have thought of yet.

•  everyone has substantial creative ability.
Just look at how creative children are.

•  In adults, creativity has too often been
suppressed through education, but it is
still there and can be reawakened.
© 2010 Cosmopoint Slide 4 of 28 Topics



An Attitude.
•  Creativity is also an attitude: the ability to accept change and newness, a
willingness to play with ideas and possibilities, a flexibility of outlook, the habit of
enjoying the good, while looking for ways to improve it.

•  We are socialized into accepting only a small number of permitted or normal
things, like chocolate-covered strawberries, for example.

•  The creative person realizes that there are other possibilities, like peanut butter
and banana sandwiches, or chocolate-covered prunes.




A Process.
•  Creative people work hard and
continually to improve ideas and
solutions, by making gradual alterations
and refinements to their works.

•  Contrary to the mythology surrounding
creativity, very, very few works of creative
excellence are produced with a single
stroke of brilliance or in a frenzy of rapid
activity.

•  Much closer to the real truth are the
stories of companies who had to take the
invention away from the inventor in order
to market it because the inventor would
have kept on tweaking it and fiddling with
it, always trying to make it a little better.



Why should you be Creative?

come up with more ideas
creativity can help you do a
in a shorter space of time
better job of what you do.
and more good ideas.

generating ideas quickly - More ideas and better
ideas will spring some that ideas - that's something
better solve your problem in that can help any person
new and exciting ways. in any job.



Why should you be Creative?

Each of us has creative talents that Most often people who believe that
reflect our individual personality and they are creative will achieve
experiences in pursuing creativity. success in their career

achieving creativity, be able to think
positively and have a good attitude A positive attitude and mindset for
beneficial change guides your brain
for example willing to learn new and energy toward getting the
things to improve your level of results your desire.
knowledge and educational.



How to be Creative?

•  Broaden yourself to more than one field.
•  Read widely.
•  Use analogies to link things together.
•  Work on different projects at the same time.
Make new connections •  Use visual as well as verbal representations.
•  Don't work on what everyone else is doing.
•  Use multiple methods.
•  Find new ways of making problems soluble, e.g. by new
techniques.

•  Take anomalies seriously.
•  Learn from failures.
Expect the unexpected •  Recover from failures.
•  Avoid excessive attachment to your own ideas.
•  Be willing to recognize and admit mistakes

•  Focus on key problems.
•  Be systematic and keep records.
Be persistent •  Confirm early, disconfirm late.
•  Concentrate tenaciously on a subject.



How to be Creative?
•  Pursue projects that are fun.
•  Play with ideas and things.
•  Ask interesting questions.
•  Take risks.
Get excited •  Have a devotion for truth and a passion for reputation.
•  Have an inclination toward originality and a taste for research.
•  Have a desire for the gratification of discovery.
•  Have a strong desire to comprehend.
•  Never do anything that bores you

•  Find smart collaborators.
•  Organize good teams.
•  Study how others are successful.
•  Listen to people with experience.
•  Foster different cognitive styles.
Be sociable •  Communicate your work to others.
•  Marry for psychological compatibility.
•  Tell close colleagues everything you know.
•  Communicate research results effectively.
•  Learn from winners.
•  Have people to fall back on when you get into trouble

•  Find rich environments.
•  Build instruments.
•  Seek inspiration in nature.
Use the world •  Have good laboratory facilities and use them.
•  Observe and reflect intensely.
•  Perform experiments that rigorously test hypotheses



Three Basic Principles

New ideas are composed of old elements
Creativity is mainly about alternative possibilities - how to come up
with new and useful ideas.
To come up with something new is to produce something that is
distinctive and special.
Ideas are usually composed of different elements, and we look for
new combination of ideas by joining different ideas together, deleting
some elements, or replacing some elements by other ones.

Not all new ideas are on a par
The kind of creativity that is valued is the ability to come up with new
and useful ideas, ideas that serve an important need or creates a new
trend that makes an impact
Artistic creativity consists in the creation of artwork and expressing
one's ideas and emotions through various forms of art.
Cognitive creativity is a matter of coming up with solutions to practical
or theoretical problems

Creativity is enhanced by the ability to detect
connections between ideas
A successful marketing campaign might appeal to certain
psychological studies and relate to particular trends in the society.
This involves seeing a connection between the subject matter one is
interested in (the marketing exercise) and other subjects (sociology
and psychology) which might seem somewhat remote



Myths about Creative Thinking and Problem Solving

Every problem has only one solution (or one right answer)

goal of problem solving is to solve the problem, and most problems can be solved in any number of ways

The best answer/solution/method has already been found
history of any solution set and you'll see that improvements, new solutions, new right answers, are always being
found.yourself.
many solutions now seen as best or at least entrenched were put in place hastily and without much thought

Creative answers are complex technologically
a few problems require complex technological solutions
Even many problems that seem to require a technological solution can be addressed in other ways.

Ideas either come or they don't. Nothing will help
many successful techniques for stimulating idea generation



Using Sensing and meaning

Sight:
what appeals your eye as you have a vision. Come in to a conclusion clearly and sum up whether it is
the size, color, title or the art work that appeals you.

Hearing:
What do you hear? Does it sound stiff, fine or confusing? Concentrate and think about how does it
feel when you proceed with an intention to read in further towards the end of it.

Smell:
Does your favorite book have a peculiar smell? Does it remind you of some
place?

Touch:
Try to recollect the feeling at your first touch at the elements. Then think
of what you felt each time you touched it. Think of what the texture of it
made you feel like. Does it feel smooth, grainy or rough?

Taste:
This may sound bizarre! However, taste has an important role to
play. You need to imagine the taste your tongue provides you when
you think of the product.



Using your Sense

Once you are through with

working out on your ﬁve senses,

your brain is left with certain

images and these pictures

would enhance your power of
concentration.



Using your Sense

Remember,

that you require putting in a lot of

sensations into your creative thinking activity.

The exercise for creative thinking …will storm your brain with
excellent IDEAS



Theories of Creative Process

•  Divided into 2 stages: •  Similar to Dawning’s theory
•  Pooling elements - Process •  We just need to leave the
involve gathering problem alone.
information related to the •  Think other think that will
problem make your relax and happy
•  Searching for a combination
in the creative process

Saturation Incubation

•  It’s a final stage Verification Inspiration •  When incubation is due
•  Valid the process in order to to the process of
ensure it’s applicable unconscious mind
solutions or not •  The problem can be
•  If it’s fail, the creative settled more easily
process need to return to without any interruption .
the first step



Characteristic of Creative Thinking

Originality Elaboration Fluency Flexibility
•  Refers to the •  The ability to clarify on •  The ability to produce •  ability to shift his mental
uniqueness of any given a particular subject. an abundance of ideas set when the
response. •  Elaboration is the circumstances require
•  Originality is shown by bridge the individual it.
an unusual, unique, or must access in order to
•  For example, as a •  Flexibility is the ability to
fashion designer, you
rare response communicate his try to come out or overcome mental
‘creative’ idea to outside produce as much as blocks, to adjust the
of himself. approach to a problem
•  For example •  Shown by the number
you can in giving ideas
•  Not to get stuck by
•  Design a dream and your creativity
of additions and details towards the main assuming rules and
computer of the future. that can be made to conditions which do not
objective of the
•  Think of how many some simple stimulus to company. apply to a problem
things you could use a make it more complex.
cable for. •  The additions can be in
•  How many uses can the form of decoration,
•  For example, you
you list for a VCD? be able to work under
colour, shading or pressure and be able
design. to control your
emotions



Enhancing Creative Thinking in Students

•  Remove the creative thinking blockages in students
STEP 1

•  Make them aware of the nature of the creative process
STEP 2

•  Introduce and practice creative thinking strategies
STEP 3

•  Create a creative environment
STEP 4



Removing Blockages to Creative Thinking

Cant accept the To remove –
failure - convince ourselves
Fear to fail is always
punishments and that making
Fears of Failure developed in our
criticism in front of mistakes is normal
mind
the people after and a process of
making errors successful learning

find ways to get
blocked by negative hold so that they
influences may think can feel good find that they may
Lack of Confidence everything they do be unhappy and
will be unsuccessful avoid taking risks depressed
– don’t want to try because they afraid
of failures

functional fixity -
conceptual fixity –
one is unable to
conceptual fixity and one is unable to
Thinking Fixity functional fixity imagine the concept
imagine thinking in
other than usual
after being revealed
way



Removing Blockages to Creative Thinking

the best way –
breathing space
when creativity need breathing
in the middle of
Lack of Breathing blocks - natural space for the
the creative
Space for Incubation for one to let the process over-
process before
problem alone think the problem
producing new
ideas

unable to remain
open minded when Should be help to
facing ambiguous In order to avoid
cope –
and chaotic situation – introduced with
Low Tolerance for disharmonies and
Help - “no unusual situation
Ambiguity fears these
withdrawn” from the in increasingly
world but open to the experience
challenging steps
“world” – process to produce
be creative



Fears of Failure - Trying to Find the “Right” Answer!

One of the worst aspects of formal education is the
focus on the correct answer to a particular question or
problem.
While this approach helps us function in society, it
hurts creative thinking because real-life issues are
ambiguous.
There’s often more than one “correct” answer, and the
second one you come up with might be better than the
first.


Lack of Confidence - don’t want to try!

We hate being wrong, and yet mistakes often teach
us the most.
Thomas Edison was wrong 1,800 times before
getting the light bulb right. Edison’s greatest
strength was that he was not afraid to be wrong.
The best thing we do is learn from our mistakes,
but we have to free ourselves to make mistakes in
the first place.


Thinking Fixity - Following Rules !

One way to view creative thinking is to look at it as a destructive
force. You’re tearing away the often arbitrary rules that others
have set for you, and asking either “why” or “why not”
whenever confronted with the way “everyone” does things.
This is easier said than done, since people will often defend the
rules they follow even in the face of evidence that the rule
doesn’t work. People love to celebrate rebels like Richard
Branson, but few seem brave enough to emulate him. Quit
worshipping rule breakers and start breaking some rules.


Lack of Breathing Space for Incubation!

Give time…..!

Try not to evaluate the actual feasibility of an approach until you’ve allowed it to exist on its own for a bit.
Spend time asking “what if” as often as possible, and simply allow your imagination to go where it wants.
You might just find yourself discovering a crazy idea that’s so insanely practical that no one’s thought of
it before. © 2010 Cosmopoint Slide 25 of 28


Low Tolerance for Ambiguity!

We rationally realize that
most every situation is
ambiguous to some
degree.
And although dividing
complex situations into
black and white boxes
can lead to disaster, we
still do it. The fact that
most people are
uncomfortable exploring
uncertainty gives you an
advantage, as long as you
can embrace ambiguity
rather than run from it.



Movie – How to be creative by Tony Buzan



THANK YOU
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK WITH

CHAPTER 2
THE CREATIVE TECHNIQUE


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