LWSSL313_Innovative_Creative_Thinking

Innovative and Creative Thinking

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Self-management (Advanced)

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Innovative and Creative Thinking

Thinking Outside the Box and Embracing New Ideas and Approaches

Innovative and Creative Thinking

Creativity is the unique ability of the mind and spirit that allows us to create something valuable, organized, beautiful, or meaningful seemingly from nothing. A creative thinker perceives connections and possibilities that others may overlook. We can identify creativity when an artist or brilliant thinker takes available materials and transforms them into something new and lasting. You don’t need to pull new ideas from thin air. As a creative thinker, your role is to merge existing ideas or elements. If you manage to create an unexpected yet valuable combination of concepts or items that were previously unconnected, you will be recognized as a creative thinker. You will have enhanced the value of the combination, as the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

Thinking Outside the Box and Embracing New Ideas and Approaches

• Making the Familiar Strange

• The Depth Mind

• Embracing Uncertainty

• Analytical and Synthetic Thinking

These ideas are foundational for fostering innovative and creative approaches across various domains. By focusing on making connections, questioning norms, and allowing the unconscious mind to contribute, creative thinkers can push the boundaries of conventional thought.

Click on the concepts to read the information.

• Building on Existing Ideas

• Thinking Outside the Box

Note: if you want to know more about this topic, check Adair, 2009.

• Challenging Assumptions

Webliography

• Adair, J. (2007). Creative Thinking. Kogan Page. ISBN-13 978 0 7494 4799 1
• Amstrong-Smith, S. (2023). Effective Crisis Management. A Robust A-Z Guide for Demonstrating Resilience by Utilizing Best Practices, Case Studies, and Experiences. BPB online. ISBN 978-93-55512-710
• Foerster, A. & Kreuz, P. (2007). Different Thinking. Creative Strategies for the Innovative Business. Kogan Page. ISBN-10 0 7494 4840 7
• Glover, Tawwab, N. (2021). Set Boundaries, Find Peace a Guide to Reclaiming Yourself. TarcherPerigee Book. Penguin Random House LLC. ISBN 9780593192092
• McKay, M., Wood, J.C. (2011). The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Diary. Monitoring your Emotional Regulation Day by Day. New Harbinger Publications, Inc. ISBN: 9781608822744
• OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com

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Making the Familiar Strange A creative thinker sees familiar things in new ways by deliberately making them appear strange or unfamiliar. This approach restarts the mind's creative processes.

Embracing Uncertainty Creative thinkers must learn to tolerate uncertainty and doubt. Innovation often emerges from ambiguity, where clarity isn't immediately available.

The Depth Mind Refers to the role of the unconscious in problem-solving and idea generation. Letting the mind work subconsciously on a problem often leads to moments of illumination.

Thinking Outside the Box Creative thinking requires breaking free from mental constraints, such as preconceived notions or assumptions. Adair discusses the need to move beyond invisible limitations (the "box") that our minds unconsciously impose on us.

Building on Existing Ideas Creativity involves combining existing elements or ideas in new ways. It's less about inventing something entirely new and more about making novel connections between familiar concepts.

Analytical and Synthetic Thinking Creative thinking involves both analysis (breaking things down) and synthesis (bringing different elements together). A good creative thinker can move between these modes flexibly.

Challenging Assumptions Testing and questioning our assumptions is a critical part of creative thinking. By rethinking what we take for granted, we open the door to new possibilities.