Creative Problem Solving - Training Presentation
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Creative problem solving is a technique to approach a problem or address a challenge in an imaginative way; it helps us flex our minds, find path-breaking ideas and take suitable actions thereafter.
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Creative Problem Solving - Training Presentation
- 2. Contents Conclusion Creative Problem Solving Process Divergent and Convergent Thinking Introduction Applying Left or Right Brain Creativity Models and Theories Creative Methods
- 3. What is Creativity ? Creativity is a distinguishing characteristic of human excellence in every area of behavior. —E. Paul Torrance Activity: Take a minute and write down a few of your first impressions when you see or hear the word Creativity. Now write down a few of the first impressions when you see or hear the words Problem Solving.
- 4. Symbolic Formula for Understanding Creativity C= fa(K,I,E) Creativity is a function of Knowledge, Imagination, and Evaluation, reflecting an interpersonal attitude toward the beneficial and positive use of creativity Ruth Noller, Buffalo State University
- 5. What is Problem Solving? A state of desire for reaching a definite 'goal' from a present condition that either is not directly moving toward the goal, is far from it, or needs more complex logic for finding a missing description of conditions or steps toward the goal. S. Ian Robertson, Problem solving, Psychology Press, 2001
- 6. Convergent Thinking Finding ‘one’ right solution Divergent Thinking Generating multiple ideas for a given topic
- 7. CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING (CPS) PROCESS Objective Finding Fact finding Problem finding Idea Finding Solution Finding Acceptance finding
- 8. Objective Finding Identify Goal, Wish, Challenge What is the goal, wish, or challenge upon which you want to work?
- 9. Fact Finding Gather Data What's the situation or background? What are all the facts, questions, data, feelings that are involved
- 10. Problem Finding • Clarify the Problem • What is the problem that really needs to be focuses on? What is the concern that really needs to be addressed?
- 11. Idea Finding Generate Ideas What are all the possible solutions for how to solve the problem?
- 12. Solution Finding Select & Strengthen Solutions How can you strengthen the solution? How can you select the solutions to know which one will work best?
- 13. Solution Finding Select & Strengthen Solutions How can you strengthen the solution? How can you select the solutions to know which one will work best?
- 14. Acceptance finding (Idea implementation) Plan for Action What are all the action steps that need to take place in order to implement your solution?
- 15. Creative Methods Tools for Creative Ideas: http://goo.gl/7vQw
- 16. Idea Generation: Brick Activity
- 17. Mind Mapping
- 18. 2 Parts Magnet Electrical White – Black-Red Freezer Boxy Cooling Solar Silver Round Multiple Cooling Areas Attribute Listing
- 19. Brush Your Teeth
- 20. Beliefs, Habits, Skills Knowledge
- 22. Bricolage + Exquisite Corpse as Creativity Techniques
- 23. Problem You are given the objects shown: a candle, a book of matches, and a box of tacks. Your task is to find a way to attach the candle to the wall of the room, at eye level, so that it will burn properly and illuminate the room.
- 24. The key insight in this problem is that the box that the tacks are contained in is not just for holding tacks, but can be used as a mount, too — again, a change in the representation. Solution
- 25. Creativity Models and Theories Even the oddest idea may have some value Environment factors http://mycreativityskills.com/ Generativity theory -Robert Epstein Investment theory of creativity -Robert Sternberg
- 26. Applying Left and Right Brain Thinking: Truths and Myths
- 27. Conclusion
- 29. and have Fun..
Editor's Notes
- Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison and other creative geniuses have always worked in the same way. They did not wait for creative ideas to strike them. Rather they focused on trying to solve a clearly stated problem, at least in their minds. This approach has been formalized as Creative Problem Solving (CPS). CPS is a simple process that involves breaking down a problem to understand it, generating ideas to solve the problem and evaluating those ideas to find the most effective solutions. Highly creative people tend to follow this process in their heads, without thinking about it. Creative problem solving isn't just brainstorming, although that's what many people may associate it with. It's actually a well-defined process that can help you from problem definition to implementing solutions
- Studying creativity, creative problem solving, and change leadership enables individuals to expand their abilities and develop all of their potential. Being able to solve problems sometimes involves dealing with pragmatics (logic) and semantics (interpretation of the problem). The ability to understand what the goal of the problem is and what rules could be applied represent the key to solving the problem. Sometimes the problem requires some abstract thinking and coming up with a creative solution.
- Creativity is a function of an interpersonal attitude toward the beneficial and positive use of creativity in combination with three factors: knowledge, imagination, and evaluation K (knowledge) – obtained through our life experiences. I (imagination) – ones ability to generate ideas or make connections. E (evaluation) – examning the advantages and disadvantages of a particular idea or situation. The most important piece of the equation is the small letter “a,” which represents the need for a positive attitude. Without this, personal creativity cannot flourish. In order to maximize your creative abilities, consider your “K,I,E.” But never forget your positive attitude and belief that you are creative.
- "The whole idea behind creative problem solving is the assumption that you know something that will help solve this problem, but you're not thinking of it right now," explains Art Markman, cognitive psychologist and author of "Smart Thinking.“ Most of the time, we get stuck on a problem because our focus is too narrow. When you think specifically, you limit your memory and stifle creativity. As humans gained knowledge and technology has progressed, we needed tools to communicate, we developed telephones. As the world transformed into global village, we invented internet to connect
- When trying to solve any problem, there are two basic ways we can think about the possible solution. These two types of thinking are called convergent and divergent thinking. Convergent thinking is the type of thinking we do when solving a well-defined, straightforward, correct answer to a problem. Convergent thinking is used when there is a simple, correct answer to a question. For example, what's the capital of England? The answer is London. If you knew the answer, you used convergent thinking. Creativity is not relevant to convergent thinking because you don't have to be creative to know the answer to this problem; all you have to do is come up with the stated, factual answer. When you're in school and you take a multiple-choice test you are probably using convergent thinking - you might be supplying definitions for terms or remembering a person's name that goes with a particular theory. In contrast, divergent thinking is the type of thinking we do when solving an abstract or new problem that has many possible answers, solutions, or outcomes. Remember the beginning of this lesson when you thought about how to make a structure to protect an egg from breaking? There are many possible structures you could make, so coming up with that solution required creativity, or divergent thinking. When you write a poem or story you have an endless supply of possible characters, words to use, and themes or events that might happen, so this creative process requires divergent thinking.
- Talk about 1UP..and Bell of Awesomeness Source: http://goo.gl/pCKdx
- Pinpointing the challenge or goal and delineating your preferred output is the basis of the CPS strategy. At times, people pay no heed to certain essential aspects about the problem or take something for granted to solve it rapidly. This causes an obscurement of the thought process, and the person fails to take note of the big picture. Delineating the goal or objective provides a lucid idea pertaining to the problem that facilitates the investigation of various possible solutions to it. Questions: What bottlenecks or barriers exist? What is it that you wish to be better organized?
- Collecting information pertaining to the problem and associated data is essential for comprehending the problem. At this stage, make a list of key details such as what and who is involved, assumptions and perceptions, viewpoints of interested parties, feelings and facts, and so on so that you may begin the process of crafting ideas. Questions: Who should be or is already involved? Why doesn’t/does it happen?
- Using the problem objective and gathered data as a basis, determine possible challenges that may come about and the possible opportunities that are present inside of it. This would assist you with concentrating on the problem. It is so simple to move your attention away from the aim and to come up with answers to the incorrect problems. Questions: What is the actual problem? What is the key objective?
- Reusing a solution when we come across a problem that we possibly encountered before, is a very easy process. Our mind detects ‘conceptual blocks’ that comprise hurdles such as commitment, complacency, compression, and constancy. These hinder us from thinking creatively and developing fresh concepts or ideas. Thus, it is essential to investigate, brainstorm and determine as many probable solutions as you can. Bell of Awesomeness 1UP Employee of the month – anonymous ratings
- After you’ve done with coming up with new ideas and noting down probable solutions in list fashion, assess them to determine whether they meet your specification for success and can be executed. Improvise, reinforce and select the best idea. Make sure that the solutions are not only creative, but also useful. At times, will power is the sole solution. Questions: Will it work? Are the technology and materials available?
- After you’ve done with coming up with new ideas and noting down probable solutions in list fashion, assess them to determine whether they meet your specification for success and can be executed. Improvise, reinforce and select the best idea. Make sure that the solutions are not only creative, but also useful. At times, will power is the sole solution. Questions: Will it work? Are the technology and materials available?
- You have selected the best probable solution that is both actionable and satisfies the requirements for success. The next thing to do is to plan your steps for action by lucidly describing responsibilities and determining the best method to utilize the available resources. The calls for action that you put out should be comprehended by all associated with the problem solving process so that it becomes an accepted solution
- Sometimes, we need external methods to help us touch all the bases in our creative capability. Here, we'll look at a couple of good methods for helping us generate new ideas. There are a wide range of creativity exercises available; these are but a few. Finding and practicing the development of ideas is an important aspect to becoming more creative. Tools for creating ideas. http://creatingminds.org/tools/tools_ideation.htm Originality Engine [use your native language; you'll think faster and be more creative!] http://goo.gl/Rstx3p
- A Mind Map, which is also sometimes called the cognitive web or brain map, is a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain. It harnesses the full range of cortical skills – word, image, number, logic, rhythm, color and spatial awareness – in a single, uniquely powerful manner. In so doing, it gives you the freedom to roam the infinite expanses of your brain. The Mind Map can be applied to every aspect of life where improved learning and clearer thinking will enhance human performance. Draw Your Future - Patti Dobrowolski TED Talk on Youtube is a diagram used for visually outlining information using nodes and levels to generate ideas based off of a keyword or key idea. Here we've got the Post-Its from the attribute listing video as an example to explain mindmapping as a creative tool. Creating a mindmap can be a good way to do the attribute listing exercise. In this case, Post-It notes are the core idea being the product we're looking to alter. And so that becomes the central idea, with the second level of nodes being the traits to be altered. From here, you can list which traits can be changed and organize each subcategory easily. So again, different ways you can change the shape or material of a Post-It to give it a new use. You can also go on to make associations to other ideas and make connections you might not have thought of. In this case, creating a Post-It out of a different material, like fabric, would allow you to make visual associations to a new uses of the product. Also, thinking about different ways traits can be changed. For example, oversized Post-Its made from fabric could have a use in apparel. While some ideas may be odd, or may not seem to be practical. The idea is that you're free to jot down whatever comes to mind, even if it doesn't make any sense at the time. Another useful thing with mindmaps is that they are a good way to organize information with graphic elements, such as color, shape, or size for emphasis. Or to make connections between the subcategories later on. So here with another more abstract example, take the word creativity. Trying to define an abstract concept can sometimes be difficult, but it helps to take advantage of the visual format of mindmaps. When you want to connect one idea to another in a different category on the other side of the web, you can user a certain element like color or shape to make that connection. This is a good method to lay out all of your ideas and associations with a topic in a visual manner. So you're free to make connections you may not have thought of before. Essentially, mindmaps are a way of creating visual analogies between abstract concepts. And to help trigger new ideas much in the way, the simple act of doodling or drawing allows your mind to think more clearly and creatively. So at their core, mindmaps utilize existing knowledge. And allow you to make connections by free association or laying out ideas in a non-linear structure. Information is visually categorized and structured to create some type of hierarchy. But you have more freedom to find connections to other ideas as your map grows. Creating mindmaps also helps with mnemonic memorization and can be a useful study tool. For this class, it's helpful to create a mindmap for your weekly DSDs and other projects to quickly come up with creative ideas. And to visualize what follows into the realm of creative different and fits your social aspect of the project. They are a convenient way for anyone, though visual thinkers in particular, to jot down notes or generate ideas as quickly and with freedom from self-censoring of ideas. In addition, free mindmapping software exists, that helps with the visual and spatial organization of information. And you'll find the link to that in the course materials.
- Okay, so, you know, the whole thing is we're going to talk about the idea of something called attribute listing. And usually, it begins from, doing observations about your environment, but the, the object I use is a refrigerator in saying, let's look at that from a design perspective and then, when we go through and list all the attributes of our refrigerator, we can figure out ways to change it and make something completely new. So, the trick with attribute listing is to be very complete and go through whatever you're talking about in extreme detail. And you can do this with a process or you can do it with an object. So, we're doing it with an object, a normal refrigerator, whatever a normal refrigerator is around the world. So, let's go through, you can imagine along with me, and I'll try to make a list of things that defines a refrigerator. What is a refrigerator. Why. First of all, it tends to be boxy. It tends to be white, or it could be black, or it could be stainless steel. In terms of refrigerators, I've seen them, sometimes they're other colors. A lot of times it has two parts, two areas, and one of them's usually, like, really cold freezers, and the other part is just kind of cool, the refrigerator part. A lot of times refrigerators have a flat top and sometimes the cat goes up there, and sometimes people put things up there like cereal boxes. A lot of times they have a dusty thing on the bottom, and they suck in air to cool themselves. And, a lot of times they're electrical, and a lot times they're magnetic. We know this because a lot of people put magnets on the side, and they put art up either on the front or the sides, not on the back because that's usually against the wall. And, they're kind of rectangular. So, aside from that, it also hums some of the time. And, so you go through your senses and try to figure out what does a refrigerator do, what does a refrigerator like, what does a refrigerator taste like. We usually don't taste our refrigerators. You can smell your refrigerator, and you can do that by accident when you open the door. And so we try to change those things. So, some things that we could do is we could try to make a refrigerator, maybe round. We would have to put it someplace else, not in the corner or on the side of the room. Or, we can try to say, we'll have a number of different places at various cooling temperatures throughout. So we'll make it, instead of cool, make it variable. [SOUND] And it could be red, or it could be pink, or it could be made out of wood. All of these are possible. And this is a great way for people to develop new products. 3M did this with Post-It Notes, and a lot of car manufacturers do this, and appliance manufacturers try to add new features. Two areas, maybe we'll, instead of having two, we'll have six different spots in the refrigerator that have different temperatures. And instead of a freezer on the bottom, we could just skip the freezer altogether, or we can have multiple freezers, a very, very deep, the cold freezer area, and one that doesn't chill your ice cream too much. So, maybe we'll have two freezers. Happily, we can also try to do something about the dustiness. We know that it's going to be dusty, it's going to attract cat hair, and dirt, and things like that, so maybe we say, we want an air filter on the bottom of our refrigerator that we can clean often, and one that sucks up all the dirt in the house. [SOUND] Sometimes it doesn't have to be electrical either. I suppose the real goal in a hot climate is to have a solar powered air conditioner, solar powered refrigerator. When the sun shines it actually powers the air conditioner better. This runs the compressor that changes the gas in terms of states. You can also do this with a number of other features, run it by cold water, or you can run it through ammonia gas, or something like that, so to change. [SOUND] So, in any case, what you do with an attribute listing is you go through and you list every single attribute of the object or the task that you're working on. The more, the better. And then, go through and change each one. You can make it better. You can make it worse. You can make it bigger or smaller, but you've got your list of prompts in terms of what you can change to make your object completely different. [BLANK_AUDIO]
- One way to build your creative capacity is to exercise your creativity on a regular basis. A good way to do this is to piggyback on other patterns or habits and make the creative habits stronger. A positive habit most people have is brushing their teeth. We do this a number of times a day. When we get up, when we're getting ready for bed, and sometimes after we've eaten something spicy and are going to be close to other people. Dentists often say that we should brush longer, and suggest singing a tune while you brush. There are children's tooth brushes that play a tune to keep kids brushing. So as a habit, the next time you're brushing your teeth, spot something in the bathroom and think of ten different things you can do with that object. You keep brushing until you come up with ten new uses. You'll brush longer at the beginning as you develop your thinking skills. The thing you work with could be a towel ,a drinking glass, or someone else's toothbrush. It doesn't matter, but think of ten things that are different than it's original intended use. For example, I could use the tooth brush to clean out the faucet or I could use the towel as a cape. Use a different object to focus on each time you do this exercise. Over time, you'll get better at coming up with unusual uses while cleaning your teeth. As you generate ideas, your teeth will be cleaner as well, and you'll practice your ability to generate a large number of different and interesting ideas, a practice, which will help you even when you're not brushing your teeth.
- Your beliefs, habits, and skills are all very important. Belief comes from experience and exposure to ideas about creativity and one's own experience. The most important component for being creative is a belief in one's own creative capacity. You must recognize that creativity is present in us all. And that the level of creativity of anybody can be increased if they choose to do so. One should believe in your own creativity, and also act in ways that encourage you to develop your creativity. Having creative habits are important. Habits can be described as having characteristics that regularly develop, demonstrate increased creativity. These types of routines are important. These habits include consistent development of divergent ideas, regularly providing more responses than required, involving oneself in challenging and different out, activities and consistently seeking more, to be more creative. All the time, ask yourself how I can be more creative. What are the other possible choices? At the same time, our assumptions and personal limits on action can also be addressed and overcome. The skills of creativity need development as well. Whether in the process of making something habitual, or in the conscious use of a creative methodology. Practicing the techniques will make them more habitual, even in the simplest task of generating more ideas.
- Why do children play? Play is a concept in psychology and sociology considers play to be a mechanism by which children explore the world. However, what is the connection to enhance creativity children have? We know that as creativity takes a sharp downturn around the fourth grade, the act of play begins to diminish as well. Certainly, there is some correlation. In a series of studies going back to 1968 on idea generation, 98% of three year olds scored within the creative genius range. By the time those kids reach the age of10, this number had declined to 32%. And by the time these kids were adults, that number was only 2% of creative geniuses. There are some correlations between play and creativity that we can measure. Play, like creativity, is a concept that is often difficult to define concretely and depends on the situation. We essentially know it when we see it. However, we know that creativity is a culturally and personally dependent construct, and play is very much the same way. There are some other connections between play and creativity. First, play is by nature intrinsically motivating and never dependent on external rewards. As we've discussed, creativity is not exclusively dependent on intrinsic motivation, but according to Mobele's research, does best when the drive to create and innovate comes from within. Second, both play and creativity are methods in which a set of skills are explored and refined. Both are also mechanisms in which we can explore objects and material use. Children are natural explorers and will often engage in object play, in which they explore all the alternative uses for an object outside of its intended function. We all have evolved biases in which we process objects, which shape our experiences and adaptive behavior. The tendency to not identify alternative uses for objects is called functional fixedness, and is a bias that happens in childhood. One indicator of creativity is to observe children who are observing other children who are doing something with an object or otherwise in a creative or novel way. This is true with adults who are doing something different, novel, or creative, and can be a good indicator when we are looking to measure creative skill. Third, play is identified by a pretend make believe quality according to both play and creativity researchers, including psychologist Csikszentmihalyi as discussed in his notable book, Creativity Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. Both very much depend on a sense of curiosity and a what if frame of mind. This, when experienced through play, often leads to out-of-the-box type thinking and moments where creative, novel ideas can occur. Finally, when engaged in creative endeavors and in play, we often experience what Csikszentmihalyi has titled a state of flow. Flow theory is defined as the state of mind when one is immersed in an activity through fun, motivation, and happiness, and all outside matters including a sense of time are lost. So in considering these four points, what can we realistically learn about observing children in play, as it relates to creativity in our own lives? One strategy is to identify problems not as a problem statement, which we are often trained to do, but rather as a pattern recognition in which habits, traits, and other reoccurring patterns are identified. This exploration method is seen in children as a way in which to explore social and cultural norms and to test those boundaries, free from real life consequences. In short, taking a step back from a problem you wish to solve and approaching it in a state of play, fun, or happiness, free from consequences, can help encourage creative thinking. Another strategy for idea generation canbe explored through visual thinking. This doesn't mean visual arts, but rather a non-verbal Exploration of possible ideas. In figural versions of the Torrance Test, children demonstrate heightened creative elaboration alongside originality, when given a shape and asked to turn it into a picture, or series of pictures. This type of thinking stems from the potential for creative elaboration of simple elements. As children age, we see that many cultural, representational, and simplified images are displayed minimizing the potential for novel and varied responses. Doing these types of incomplete figures and picture construction tasks frequently are one method of non-verbal idea generation, which overtime help improve flexibility and originality of answers. These are removed from the unusual uses and common problems approach we see with verbal attribute listening. A third strategy is using verbal stimuli as an attribute listing to mimic object use in child's play. Remember all the uses you can do with a brick? This type of activity is using Guilford and later, Torrance's tests of unusual uses. Given an object and an hour to play, young children will explore the potential of tools for realistic and imaginary opportunities. The important thing to note is that, prior to the fourth grade, children are able to list arrange of answers when asked, what can you do with a brick, or another object, because they have a limited awareness of a wrong answer. Part of play exists as an opportunity for children to explore the world, free from judgment And be curious, which contributes to heightened ability to generate fluent, flexible, and original answers. A large number of varied and unique answers to a given prompt. The many facets and uses of play all have a role in the different forms of creative idea generation and exploration. Some evidence suggests certain types of play, such as creating elaborate paracosms or fantasy play involving make-believe and alternate worlds, as a child are an indicator of above-average creative ability as an adult. Creating elaborate games as a child also suggests a potential for creative elaboration as an adult. In finding methods of creative idea generation techniques that work best for you, it might help to think about how you play to the kid, and how what inspired your curiosity and internal motivation. Approaching problems from this standpoint is invaluable in developing a consistent range of creative ideas. As Picasso said, every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. He was speaking of creativity, doing things differently free from judgment, and staying curious, staying playful and fun. And creativity is an important part of being able to generate many fluent, flexible, and original ideas.
- [MUSIC] Bricolage is the creation of a work by means of available material and typically involves appropriating one material for a new purpose.. Creating an outfit to wear out of food items or plastic bags, not only utilizes this material outside of its intended purpose, but also constructs a commentary on the nature of the material itself. Bricolage can also apply to the process of creativity itself. Where collecting a range of ideas is encouraged, as is free association with concepts. One might do in mind mapping. In Steven Johnson's book, Where Good Ideas Come From, he discusses the evolutionary concept of exaptation where one biological trait is adapted for an entirely new purpose. His example in the book is bird feathers, originally purposed for warmth, were exapted for flight. As with Johnson's concepts discussed at this point, creativity often follows a similar pattern to biology. Bricolage as a key concept or theoretical framework, applies to many fields and domains in which creativity is key. Culturally, bricolage is seen as a phenomenon in which one idea, icon, symbol or object is given a new use and therefore a new meaning. The safety pin became an icon or representation of the punk movement where it was transformed into a decorative object. Applying this type of transformation requires a certain amount of creative skill. To generate new uses for objects. Bricolage is a technique as seen in situations where access to resources is limited. Whether due to economic or regional situations, or due to design and budget constraints. And is also seen as a part of daily life or experimentation as often needed. These constraints are a good thing as we so chose. Creativity often flourishes when constraints are imposed. [BLANK_AUDIO] Another creativity technique that is sometimes used by artists, educators and writers, that you can use to spawn new ideas based on this type of communitorial creativity or using the materials that you have around you is called exquisite corpse. This is a technique originally developed by the surrealists of the 20th century to get over creative blocks. Exquisite corpse can be used in a group as an alternative to brain storming or as a form of group attribute listing. In its visual format, members of a group contribute to a drawing by passing the drawing around and each adding to it. Either drawing on top of another drawing or dividing the paper into sections And each member drawing in one section at a time before passing it on to the next. Verbal and written forms exist as well. One poetry form is called renga, but you can also use this technique simply by writing a sentence or an idea and passing the page to another to expand upon the idea. The goal is to generate ideas collaboratively as the end of each idea inspires the next. Similar to a mind map, except you have a group of individuals contributing to a web of ideas. Again, this is a form of combinatorial creativity. Bricolage is more about repurposing materials and using items in novel ways. Exquisite corpse is a technique about combining the resources of a group. In the associated PDF with this lecture, you'll find some fantastic links to examples of wonderful creative projects [BLANK_AUDIO] Including a DIY spacesuit and a landfill philharmonic orchestra. This PDF also includes links to Rube Goldberg machines, which are a fantastic example of creativity, bricolage, and novel uses of material not covered by this video. [BLANK_AUDIO]
- You know, I didn't say at the beginning that of the course that I was going to help you develop your own creativity and wasn't going to focus on what creativity is. At the same time, it's important to have some understanding, so we can move forward to move more effectively. Research provides us with an understanding of how we can fully utilize and develop our creativity. Some of the research focuses on the personal aspects of creativity. Some deals with creativity that develops as we live our lives, and we can also see how our organization, work place, or school affects our creative potential. There's a substantial record of research in the field of creativity, but this lecture will focus on the most important aspects for our presentation. I invite you to dig deeper into the field and explore the full depth of inquiry into creativity after you complete the course. Much of creativity theory grows from the mid 20th century research of Gillford and Torrence. They often focused on the generation of new ideas called divergent thinking. Which is the focus on the course. They looked at what could be called littlec creativity. That is creativity that is used on an everyday basis by most people. Big C creativity, in contrast, focuses on learning about creativity by studying how the famous world challenging characters have been creative. These would include people such as Einstein, Picasso, and Steven Hawking. One important theory in the field of creativity is called Generativity theory, which was developed by Robert Epstein. His background is behave realist having worked with the renown psychologist B.F.Skinner. He contends that people's creative output is based on a number of factors. They all happen in our environment, all of which can be consciously changed. A link to his online test is adjacent to this lecture. As part of this course, you should complete that brief survey. Your results will be emailed to you, but won't be connected as part of this course. The four areas that can be improved are propensity for creativity, are recording our new ideas by having a notebook or recording device with us at all times. Seeking challenges in our lives by subjecting yourself to difficult task. Broadening your knowledge by learning your fields different than your expertise. And changing your immediate environment and surroundings. Each of these can help discover and retain new ideas. An additional theory developed by Robert Sternberg and Todd Lubart is the investment theory of creativity. Ideas are like investments they say, and creative people often find or create unpopular are undervalued ideas, which through improvement and persuasion are better accepted and they're far more valuable. We can learn from this model, that through being careful to examine a wide variety of alternative ideas, even though some may at first seem unworkable, that it's valuable. With some slight changes, even the oddest idea may have some value. While creativity starts with our own abilities. Creativity can also be affected by our habits, our environment, our workplace, or educational situation. Teresa Amabile of the Harvard Business School has done extensive research into the social development of creativity. Her component theory of creativity looks at a blend of parts or aspects such as personal skill and intelligence, motivation, and resources which can affect creativity and innovation. Motivation is a key component, and internal motivation, the personal drive and choice is much more powerful in developing higher levels of creativity than is external motivation. In short, paying people to be more creative has not been proven to be very effective. Some of her writings are included in the additional reading section of the course. Creativity at its inception can be simply described. And can be advanced through simple techniques that help in generating more ideas, but it also has additional levels of complexity which can be investigated. Again, see the additional readings list for beginning of your own research into the topic. [SOUND] [BLANK_AUDIO]
- The black and white dichotomy of left and right brain thinking can be a compelling way to think about our own inherent skill sets and personality traits. [BLANK_AUDIO] Popular thinking suggests that left brain thinkers are logical, detail and fact oriented, linear, analytical, and a lot of other traits associated with Type A personalities. In contrast, right brain thinkers are free spirits, open, non linear, imaginative, non verbal and of course, creative. But where does the concept of left and right brain thinking really come from, and is there any truth to this left and right brain dominance? Can we really compartmentalize creativity into functions of one half of our brain, and can we improve ourselves by thinking about the skill sets in this way? Since the age of antiquity, it was often believed that the left side of the brain was the dominant one because it was on the left side of the body, same as the heart. During the 1800s, a lot of experiments were done that gave evidence to suggest that this was true. In general the left hemisphere controls language, processing sound and speech control. At the time, this was believed to mean that the left was actually dominant. It wasn't until the 1950s that a professor named Roger Sperry developed a set of experiments that showed this left dominant view was flawed. Sperry's research involved epileptic patients who had undergone surgery to remove the nerve fibers connecting the two hemispheres of the brain. The experiments revealed that the right hemisphere was actually dominant when it came to certain tasks, such as interpreting emotions and facial expressions, and recognizing patterns. It wasn't long after these experiments that the concept of a left and right dichotomy, a clear cut division between hemispheres of the brain and the relation to our skills set, became popularized. Several factors contributed to this. With the rise of self help books, it became easy to compartmentalize personality traits. Educational models became tailored to learning styles. Right brain thinking became heavily associated with artistic endeavors in the public eye with the popular book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by an art instructor named Betty Edwards. Now what the right hemisphere of the brain really does is take charge of spatial perceptions to help you make sense of the world around you. Drawing on the right side of the brain really means to draw what you see. It means to develop a new way of translating your visual sense into your tactile sense. [BLANK_AUDIO] The left side of the brain is in charge of retrieving facts and pulling things from memory. In the case of drawing, drawing from the left side of the brain means representation through symbols of objects, rather than drawing what you see. So in reality, a skill like drawing can depend on both sides of the brain. This is true for other fields. Take math, which is often considered a left brain activity. Certain tasks, like counting, are performed by the left side of the brain, while others, such as estimating and applying real world problems, are done by the right. Which means that both skills, in math and drawing, require both hemispheres to work properly. There really is no logical or creative side. A recent major study of the University of Utah confirms this. They found no physical evidence that we are either left or right brain dominant. We use both equally for a variety of tasks. This is linked in the suggested readings. In Daniel Pink's book, A Whole New Mind, another one of your recommended readings for this course, he discusses a concept he calls symphony. This is the ability to put together the pieces, see relationships between seemingly unrelated fields, to deduct broad patterns, or to invent something new through a combination of elements no one else thought to pair. This ability is crucial to creativity and depends on your entire brain to work. So what does being able to see relationships and make connections between seemingly unrelated things really have to do with creativity? Creativity researcher Csikszentmihalyi, another one of your recommended readings, sums up creativity's origins as crossing boundaries of domains. The ability to make big leaps and see the whole picture is a common trait of highly innovative people with game changing ideas. So in short, thinking about creativity as a right brain dominant activity, or only a artistic endeavor, or limiting yourself to thinking that you are only a left bran thinker, are all detrimental to your actual creative skill. Observing details, organizing facts and pieces of a whole, and maintaining a realistic outlook while frequently maintaining a view of the big picture with potential outcomes, as well as working in a consistently stimulating environment, and finding outlets for your imagination. These are all key to creative skill in any domain, and require a holistic outlet to how our minds really work.
- When you get out of your comfort zone, SPARKS FLY AND MAGIC HAPPENS
- When you get out of your comfort zone, SPARKS FLY AND MAGIC HAPPENS