In this slide deck you will learn 8 strategies to help build your creative ability and some fun and engaging challenges to get you started.

1. The theory of intelligence and
8 ways to reboot our minds and
build creative ability
8 STRATEGIES TO BUILD
CREATIVE ABILITY

2. Starting with some theory
from the field of
psychology and study of
human intelligence …

3. TRIARCHIC THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE
Intelligent behaviour arises from a
balance between analytical, creative and
practical abilities.
These abilities function collectively to allow
you to achieve success within particular
socio-cultural contexts.
Sternberg 1988, 1997, 1999

4. CREATIVE ABILITY
This includes divergent thinking - the ability to think of, or generate new, novel,
and interesting ideas.
It is also the ability to spontaneously make connections between ideas, or
groups of things - ones that often go unnoticed, or undiscovered by others.

5. ANALYTICAL ABILITY
The ability to think convergently. It requires critical thinking and appraisal as you
analyse and evaluate thoughts, ideas, and possible solutions.
This type of thinking is vital because not all ideas are good ones, some need to
be culled. You use this type of thinking to consider implications and project
possible responses, challenges, and outcomes.
Commonly we think of this ability as "critical thinking" at its best.

6. PRACTICAL ABILITY
The world is full of people who have good ideas, as well as ones who can pick
ideas apart. However, essential to creative work is the ability to think in practical
terms.
This is the ability to translate abstractions and theories into realistic applications.
It is the skill to sell or communicate your ideas to others, to convince your
audience that your ideas, creations, and products are valuable, different, useful,
innovative, unusual, and therefore worthy of consideration.

7. TRIARCHIC THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE
CREATIVE
ABILITIES:
Generate
invention,
discovery and
other creative
endeavors
ANALYTICAL
ABILITIES:
Evaluate,
analyse,
compare and
contrast
information
PRACTICAL ABILITIES:
Tie everything together based on
what you have learned works

8. SO HOW CAN YOU
BUILD YOUR
CREATIVE ABILITIES?

9. CREATIVITY
If you had to provide a working
definition of creativity …
How would you define it?

10. Creativity is the mental and
social process involving the
discovery of new ideas and
concepts

11. CRITICAL
THINKING
CREATIVE
THINKING
Analytic
Convergent
Vertical
Probability
Judgment
Focused
Objective
Answer
Left brain
Verbal
Linear
Reasoning
Generative
Divergent
Lateral
Possibility
Suspend judgment
Diffuse
Subjective
An answer
Right brain
Visual
Associative
Richness, novelty

12. CRITICAL
THINKING
CREATIVE
THINKING
YES, BUT .. YES, AND ..

13. Supporting the theory that
creative ability is malleable
means you can actively do
things to grow and develop
your creativity. RebootreBOOT

14. “Creativity
is not a talent.
Creativity
is a drive”
Hugh Macleod

15. 8 STRATEGIES TO
REBOOT YOUR MIND &
BUILD CREATIVE ABILITY
Reboot

16. 4 COGNITIVE
STRATEGIES
Fluency
Flexibility
Originality
Elaboration
4 AFFECTIVE
STRATEGIES
Curiosity
Complexity
Risk taking
Imagination

17. COGNITIVE
STRATEGIES
Fluency
Flexibility
Originality
Elaboration
AFFECTIVE
STRATEGIES
Curiosity
Complexity
Risk taking
Imagination

18. EXAMPLE
CHALLENGE
Change the rules in a game
of Scrabble so that you
play to lose.
Chocolate is a super food!
Consider the arguments for and
against this statement from different
audiences: kids, schools, government,
psychologists.
COGNITIVE STRATEGY
FLEXIBILITY
Approach things from a
alternate perspective
Consider from a different
point of view
Respond in a variety of
categories
REFRAMING

19. EXAMPLE
CHALLENGE
List:
• all the things that are
blue
• things to do with a pencil
• different dinner party
themes
COGNITIVE STRATEGY
FLUENCY
Quantity breeds quality
The more ideas you can think
of, the more likely an original
idea will appear.

20. EXAMPLE
CHALLENGE
How could Jack and Jill better
collect water from the well at the
top of the hill?
Create your own work-support
creature who could sit alongside you
and keep you on task.
COGNITIVE STRATEGY
ORIGINALITY
Producing unusual, unique or
clever ideas and combining
known ideals into a new
form.
Ideas may be original to
society, or original to you or
your team at a particular time
and place.

21. EXAMPLE
CHALLENGE
How could you improve both a
ladder and a fire extinguisher to
make them more effective in an
emergency?
Create a new ending to the story of
Cinderella
Add a new element to the game of
noughts and crosses to make it more
challenging.
COGNITIVE STRATEGY
ELABORATION
Stretching or expanding
upon ideas
Adding to an idea to make it
more interesting or complete

22. COGNITIVE
STRATEGIES
Fluency
Flexibility
Originality
Elaboration
AFFECTIVE
STRATEGIES
Curiosity
Complexity
Risk taking
Imagination

23. EXAMPLE
CHALLENGE
You wake up this morning to
discover that overnight all the trees
have simply vanished.
How did this happen?
What happens now?
How can we create a new life in a
world without trees (yes plants and
flowers still exist– just nothing over 1.5m high)
AFFECTIVE STRATEGY
CURIOSITY
Encouraging child-like
wonder
Being inquisitive and
following your intuition
Ask questions :
What? Why? How?

24. EXAMPLE
CHALLENGE
AFFECTIVE STRATEGY
COMPLEXITY
The feeling of being
challenged to seek out and
consider many different,
difficult or complex
alternatives.
Bringing structure to chaos
Seeing the gaps in
information or situations
Design a new alternative to a coffee
shop where you can get your coffee
on the run every morning.
You have just created this amazing
piece of art– its massive : 1.5m x 2m.
What needs to happen to get the
painting sold and the money in your
account?

25. EXAMPLE
CHALLENGE
AFFECTIVE STRATEGY
RISK TAKING
Having the courage to share
ideas, make a guess
Exposing yourself to criticism
or failure
Being prepared to justify and
explain your ideas
Your team mission is to rank the
following items in order of
importance so that you can survive
on the moon longer than any other
team:
• tanks of oxygen
• 5 l of water
• nylon rope
• carton of food
concentrate
• first aid kit
• parachute
• signal flares
• magnetic compass
• box of matches
• and a stellar
constellation map

26. EXAMPLE
CHALLENGE
AFFECTIVE STRATEGY
IMAGINATION
Putting yourself in another
place or time and building
mental images based on
your own intuitive feelings
There are no rules
You get in your car and discover a
Christmas candy–cane sitting on the
passenger seat.
How did it get there?
Make up your story to explain this
strange occurrence.

27. Want to work on building
your creative abilities? Check out our
Creative Challenges at
www.sparkover.com.au/creative-challenges
sparkOVER
Marketing Consulting and Training
tracey@sparkover.com.au
RebootreBOOT