Liberalisation, Privatisation and globalisation policies compel industries to compete with the world’s most efficient, innovative, quality-conscious organisations. To survive and thrive in a hyper - competitive environment, individuals as well as organisation should be highly creative. Creative thinking
Creative thinking involves the ability to find solutions to problems by changing one’s point of view when normal channels fail to give the answers.
Creative abilities
A problem develops when a goal is not achieved. By equipping, developing and sharpening creative abilities, one can solve the problems effectively and efficiently. These abilities are:
Fluency, flexibility, originality, problem sensitivity, ability to elaborate and ability to re-structure.
Steps in creativity
Step - 1: Information Survey
What are we going to achieve?
Have we got right information?
Step - 2: Building a Solution
Once the goal is clear, we can use the idea - generating techniques to come up with possible solutions. A quick use of a technique, perhaps taking 2 or 3 minutes.
Steps - 3: Reality Check
How the suggested solution will affect others in the problem area? That is, bringing the output of the technique into a practical form. Consider the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ points of our idea.
Step - 4: Implementation
Here, we put the solution into practice. This probably the most important stage. Many good ideas have failed due to poor implementation.
Obstacles to creativity
The following aspects, however, hinders creativity:
(1) Our pre-assumption about something leads to convergent thinking.
(2) Structure of brain, which is divided into two halves, is also responsible. The left half handles sequential thought and speech and those functions.
The right half is responsible for holistic thought, images and those functions, generally regarded as artistic.
We give more importance to the left side of the brain than the right. But creativity is a whole brain function.
(3) Obstacles to new ideas uproot originality.
Positive emotions
Positive emotions and creativity go hand in hand. The most obvious reason: Positive emotions leads to stress reduction which improves present mindedness as a result of better blood flow to the brain.
Another suggestion: Keep a problem constantly in your mind. Not in a stressful or anxious way, but enough to impress on your subconscious the importance of working this one through and, in time for you to gather the facts you need to reach a decision.
The following questions are designed to help you to solve any kind of problem in a Creative manner. Try applying them to one or two problems that confront you at present.
Understanding the problem
1. Have you defined the problem or objective in your own words?
2. Are there any other possible definitions of it worth considering? What general solutions do they suggest?
3. Decide what you are trying to perform. Where are you now and what are you trying to achieve?
4. Identify the important facts and factors. Do you need to spend more time on obtaining more information? What are the relevant policies, rules or procedures?
5. Have you reduced the complex problem to its simplest terms without over-simplifying it?
Towards solving the problem
6. Have you checked all your main assumptions?
7. Ask yourself and others several questions. What? Why? How? When? Where? Who?
8. List the obstacles that seem to block your path to a solution.
9. Work backwards. Imaging for yourself the end state, and then work from there to where you are now.
10. List all possible solutions, ways forward or courses of action.
11. Decide upon the criteria by which they must be put into action.
12. Narrow down the list to the feasible solutions, that is, the ones that are possible given the resources available.
How to be more creative
Creative thinking cannot be forced. It has to be discovered! It is often best to leave if for a while and let your subconscious mind take over.
Your subconscious and unconscious part of the brain - could open the door for you to this second key habit of mind.
Many people are still not even aware that their depth minds can carry out important mental functions for them, such as synthesising parts into new wholes or establishing new connections while they are engaged in other activities. Therefore they don’t listen with their inner ears.
Imaging your mind is like a personal fax machine. It would be good if you could sit down for an hour each morning before breakfast and receive inspired fax messages from your depth mind.
How to tap your mind power and brain power
1. There is a grat deal of untapped power within us. Creative thinking is exploring an unknown hinterland.
2. The meta-functions of the mind at work - analysing, valuing and synthesising - resonate in the whole mind.
Your depth mind - your subsequent and unconscious mind - replicates these functions.
3. Your depth mind is capable of more than analysis. It is the seat of your memory, at lest a part of it, and it’s also the repository of values that lie too deep for words. It is also a workshop where creative syntheses can be made by an invisible workmanship.
4. You most probably have experienced the beneficial effects of sleeping on a problem, and awakening to find that you mind has made itself up. Use that principle by programming your dept mind for a few minutes as you lie in the dark before you go to sleep.
5. Your dreams may occasionally be directly relevant. It is much more likely, however, that some indication, clue or idea will occur to you after ‘sleeping on it’. Perhaps during your waking hours for instance while you are shaving or washing the dishes, the idea will flash into your mind.
6. Follow Francis Bacon’s sound advice: A person would do well to carry a pencil in their pocket and write down the thoughts of the moment.
Those that come unsought are commonly the most valuable and should be secured, because they seldom return.
7. Remember: presentmindedness, using you mind power and brain power positive emotions, stress reduction, and creativity enhancement go together. You will discover many useful ways to enhance your creative power with your newfound enthusiasm.
By Dr. K. Kuhathasan, CEO: Cenlead
