IDEA	
  FACTORY
— How psychology can boost your creativity


psykologifabriken.se
1. GET A NEW SET OF CREATIVITY SKILLS
2. LEARN HOW TO INCREASE OTHER PEOPLES CREATIVITY
3. RATIONAL FOR HOW TO GENERATE IDEAS ”ON DEMAND”
GOALS FOR TODAY’S WORKSHOP
Agenda
1. A psychological view on creativity
2. Discover what kills creativity
3. On demand creativity
Rules for a great workshop
1. No dissing: be affirmative and happy
2. Don’t put yourself or anyone else on a pedestal
3. Assume everything is possible
+ coffee
Agenda
1. A psychological view on creativity
2. Discover what kills creativity
3. On-demand creativity
Who is the most creative person you know?
”There’s only a few geniuses in the world, and
it takes a genius to identify another genius”
Immanuel Kant
”The research is conclusive: Creativity is a set of
behaviors that you can learn to do better,
successful creativity is about 80 percent learned”
Keith Sawyer, psychologist
Creativity
Something you do, not something you are
Can you spot a behavior?
Alf is happy
Lisa is angry
Per has a vad attitude
Carole throws a plate on the floor
Fiona is a rainmaker
Ali turned in his paper before deadline
Behavior
Something observable, specific and that’s not an interpretation
Trait: meticulous
Behavior: double check, ask for feedback,
prepare in advance
Trait: creative
Behavior: read an article about a new subject,
give feedback, have a coffee with someone outside
one’s own field
The importance of valuing creativity
Define three creative behaviors
How can we increase
creative behaviors?
A B C
Antecedents
Comes before a behavior with the aim to increase
A B C
A = corporate values, to do-lists
B = suggest an improvement, ask for feedback
C =
Consequences
Rewards or punishments
A B C
A = corporate values, to do lists
B = suggest an improvement, ask for feedback
C = ”great idea”, ”that will never work”
#10 Förstärk en vän eller kollegas kreativitet
What consequences can increase
creative behaviors?
How do you go from behavior to habit?
Habit
Behavior that happens unconsciously on a daily basis.
About 50 percent of the behaviors we perform daily are habits
”Creative people are more aware of what's happening around
them. They notice things that they aren't necessarily looking for.
At a party, creative people are more likely to talk to strangers,
rather than to hang out with the people they already know”
Keith Swayer, psychologist
1. BE SPECIFIC
Identify a clear and specific behavior that
you want to turn into a habit.
2. MAKE IT EASY
Simplicity changes behavior. How can you
make the behavior easier?
3. TRIGGER THE BEHAVIOR
Can you add a cue that will remind you to
perform the behavior?
HOW TO HACK THE HABIT LOOP
WOOP
Wish: what behavior would you like to turn into a habit?
Outcome: why is it important to create this habit?
Obstacle: why will it be tough to create the habit?
Plan: if this then that
Agenda
1. A psychological view on creativity
2. Discover what kills creativity
3. On demand creativity
What kills creativity?
1. Excessive worry
2. Assumptions about how things ”should” be
3. Stress
Worry
Excessive negative thoughts about what could
happen in the future
A B C
A = corporate values, to do lists
B = suggest an improvement, ask for feedback
C = ”great idea”, ”that will never work”
What potential consequences are holding you
back from performing more creative behaviors?
Brainwriting - 635
Gather 6 people
You each write down 3 ideas
Pass your notes between each other 5 times, adding one new
idea each time
Assumptions
A preconceived notion about how things ”should” be
and how people (including oneself) ”should” behave
How do you think political correctness
effect workplace creativity?
”Creativity in mixed-sex groups emerges, not by removing
behavioral constraints, but by imposing them. Setting a norm
unleashes creative expression by countering the uncertainty that
arises in mixed-sex work groups”
— Jennifer Chatman, professor of the Haas School’s
Management
1973
COW
”cow”
”cow” COW
Arbitrary Applied Relations
The assumptions that two variables are connected, without
having a first hand experience fo them being connected
”Reversed assumptions”
How to think different about your job
A restaurant:
…has chefs
…is housed in a particular premise
… have menues
”Reversed assumptions”
1. Write down three features of your job
2. Add ”doesn’t” to each feature
3. Generate ideas that does not include the feature
Stress & creativityPsykologifabriken’s creativity challenge
Fight or Flight
Flow
A state of complete concentration where time and space disappears.
We become less self conscious and have access to richer associations
Competence
Levelofdifficulty
FLOW!
Competence
Levelofdifficult
FLOW!
Boredom
Frustration
What can you do to increase your
chances of reaching flow?
Agenda
1. A psychological view on creativity
2. Discover what kills creativity
3. On-demand creativity
Dj for Ipad, var detta det bästa alternativet?
1. Attach papers

2. Wear as a ring

3. Fishing hook

4. Drink mixer

5. To make a fortune if you sell it to someone who have never
seen anything like it before

6. As a conductor stick as long as the orchestra has a good
enough vision
A paper clip can be used to...
”Never miss an opportunity to learn something
new! You never know when that odd new
knowledge will spark a surprising analogy, a new
way of thinking about your own problem”
— Keith Sawyer, psychologist
What can you do to charge your
”creativity batteries”?
1. Select a card
2. Card+your subject=amazing ideas
3. Repeat step 1 and 2
Impossible to
implement
Easy to implement
Has been done before Has never been done before
HOW?
WOW!NOW
1. GET A SET OF CREATIVITY SKILLS
2. LEARN HOW TO INCREASE OTHER PEOPLES CREATIVITY
3. RATIONAL FOR HOW TO GENERATE IDEAS ”ON DEMAND”
GOALS FOR TODAYS WORKSHOP
niklas@psykologifabriken.se
Free online creativity course:
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Idea factory by Psykologifabriken