Hi Folks,
This column has been set up on specific requests from members on Lateral Thinking & Creativity.
I devote 20% of my free time in teaching this subject in Colleges & Institutes about lateral thinking and would like to share my thoughts with you all through this column.
Am sure you must be thinking Creativity & Lateral thinking ...ME? surely you must be joking Rajat..it's okay for Sales & Marketing guys..Advertising fellows..right..
Read on..
If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance.
— Orville Wright, 1871-1948, American Co-Inventor of the first practical airplane
About Creativity at Work
Creativity at Work is a rich resource for developing personal creativity and organizational innovation in the workplace.
What is Creativity?
“Creativity is marked by the ability or power to create–to bring into existence, to invest with a new form, to produce through imaginative skill, to make or bring into existence something new.”
— Webster
“A product is creative when it is (a) novel and (b) appropriate. A novel product is original not predictable. The bigger the concept, and the more the product stimulates further work and ideas, the more the product is creative.”
— Sternberg & Lubart, Defying the Crowd
“Creativity is the process of bringing something new into being...creativity requires passion and commitment. Out of the creative act is born symbols and myths. It brings to our awareness what was previously hidden and points to new life. The experience is one of heightened consciousness–ecstasy.” — Rollo May
What is Innovation?
The dictionary defines innovation as the introduction of something new or different. Innovation is the implementation of creative inspiration.
The National Innovation Initiative ™ (NII) defines innovation as "The intersection of invention and insight, leading to the creation of social and economic value."
Innovation is fostered by information gathered from new connections; from insights gained by journeys into other disciplines or places; from active, collegial networks and fluid, open boundaries. Innovation arises from ongoing circles of exchange, where information is not just accumulated or stored, but created. Knowledge is generated anew from connections that weren't there before.
—Margaret J. Wheatley
Innovation requires a fresh way of looking at things, an understanding of people, and an entrepreneurial willingness to take risks and to work hard. An idea doesn’t become an innovation until it is widely adopted and incorporated into people’s daily lives. Most people resist change, so a key part of innovating is convincing other people that your idea is a good one — by enlisting their help, and, in doing so, by helping them see the usefulness of the idea.
— Art Fry (Inventor of 3M post-it notes)
Myths about Genius
Beliefs that only special, talented people are creative–and you have to be born that way– diminish our confidence in our creative abilities. The notion that geniuses such as Shakespeare, Picasso and Mozart were `gifted' is a myth, according to a recent study at Exeter University. Researchers examined outstanding performances in the arts, mathematics and sports, to find out if “the widespread belief that to reach high levels of ability a person must possess an innate potential called talent.”
The study concludes that excellence is determined by:
• opportunities
• encouragement
• training
• motivation
• & most of all–practise.
”Few showed early signs of promise prior to parental encouragement.” No one reached high levels of achievement in their field without devoting thousands of hours of serious training. Mozart trained for 16 years before he produced an acknowledged master work. Moreover many high performers achieve levels of excellence today that match the capabilities of a Mozart, or a Gold Medallist from the turn of the century. (The Vancouver Sun, Sept.12/98)
Psychological Perspective
“Behavior is generative; like the surface of a fast flowing river, it is inherently and continuously novel... behavior flows and it never stops changing. Novel behavior is generated continuously, but it is labeled creative only when it has some special value to the community... Generativity is the basic process that drives all the behavior we come to label creative.” — Robert Epstein PhD, Psychology Today July/Aug 1996
• Generative research shows that everyone has creative abilities. The more training you have and the more diverse the training, the greater potential for creative output.
• The average adult thinks of 3-6 alternatives for any given situation.
• The average child thinks of 60.
• Research has shown that in creativity quantity equals quality.
• The longer the list of ideas, the higher the quality the final solution. The highest quality ideas appear at the end of the list.
• Creativity is an individual process. Traditional brainstorming has been proven ineffective because of fear of social disapproval.
• Groups are best for idea selection rather than idea generation.
More in next posts...
Cheerio
Rajat
Cheerio
Rajat
This column has been set up on specific requests from members on Lateral Thinking & Creativity.
I devote 20% of my free time in teaching this subject in Colleges & Institutes about lateral thinking and would like to share my thoughts with you all through this column.
Am sure you must be thinking Creativity & Lateral thinking ...ME? surely you must be joking Rajat..it's okay for Sales & Marketing guys..Advertising fellows..right..
Read on..
If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance.
— Orville Wright, 1871-1948, American Co-Inventor of the first practical airplane
About Creativity at Work
Creativity at Work is a rich resource for developing personal creativity and organizational innovation in the workplace.
What is Creativity?
“Creativity is marked by the ability or power to create–to bring into existence, to invest with a new form, to produce through imaginative skill, to make or bring into existence something new.”
— Webster
“A product is creative when it is (a) novel and (b) appropriate. A novel product is original not predictable. The bigger the concept, and the more the product stimulates further work and ideas, the more the product is creative.”
— Sternberg & Lubart, Defying the Crowd
“Creativity is the process of bringing something new into being...creativity requires passion and commitment. Out of the creative act is born symbols and myths. It brings to our awareness what was previously hidden and points to new life. The experience is one of heightened consciousness–ecstasy.” — Rollo May
What is Innovation?
The dictionary defines innovation as the introduction of something new or different. Innovation is the implementation of creative inspiration.
The National Innovation Initiative ™ (NII) defines innovation as "The intersection of invention and insight, leading to the creation of social and economic value."
Innovation is fostered by information gathered from new connections; from insights gained by journeys into other disciplines or places; from active, collegial networks and fluid, open boundaries. Innovation arises from ongoing circles of exchange, where information is not just accumulated or stored, but created. Knowledge is generated anew from connections that weren't there before.
—Margaret J. Wheatley
Innovation requires a fresh way of looking at things, an understanding of people, and an entrepreneurial willingness to take risks and to work hard. An idea doesn’t become an innovation until it is widely adopted and incorporated into people’s daily lives. Most people resist change, so a key part of innovating is convincing other people that your idea is a good one — by enlisting their help, and, in doing so, by helping them see the usefulness of the idea.
— Art Fry (Inventor of 3M post-it notes)
Myths about Genius
Beliefs that only special, talented people are creative–and you have to be born that way– diminish our confidence in our creative abilities. The notion that geniuses such as Shakespeare, Picasso and Mozart were `gifted' is a myth, according to a recent study at Exeter University. Researchers examined outstanding performances in the arts, mathematics and sports, to find out if “the widespread belief that to reach high levels of ability a person must possess an innate potential called talent.”
The study concludes that excellence is determined by:
• opportunities
• encouragement
• training
• motivation
• & most of all–practise.
”Few showed early signs of promise prior to parental encouragement.” No one reached high levels of achievement in their field without devoting thousands of hours of serious training. Mozart trained for 16 years before he produced an acknowledged master work. Moreover many high performers achieve levels of excellence today that match the capabilities of a Mozart, or a Gold Medallist from the turn of the century. (The Vancouver Sun, Sept.12/98)
Psychological Perspective
“Behavior is generative; like the surface of a fast flowing river, it is inherently and continuously novel... behavior flows and it never stops changing. Novel behavior is generated continuously, but it is labeled creative only when it has some special value to the community... Generativity is the basic process that drives all the behavior we come to label creative.” — Robert Epstein PhD, Psychology Today July/Aug 1996
• Generative research shows that everyone has creative abilities. The more training you have and the more diverse the training, the greater potential for creative output.
• The average adult thinks of 3-6 alternatives for any given situation.
• The average child thinks of 60.
• Research has shown that in creativity quantity equals quality.
• The longer the list of ideas, the higher the quality the final solution. The highest quality ideas appear at the end of the list.
• Creativity is an individual process. Traditional brainstorming has been proven ineffective because of fear of social disapproval.
• Groups are best for idea selection rather than idea generation.
More in next posts...
Cheerio
Rajat
Cheerio
Rajat