Creativity, Tools and Techniques

Creativity is a phenomenon
whereby something new and
somehow valuable is formed.
The created item may be
intangible or a physical object.
Defining Creativity and Innovation
 Creativity is the act of turning new and
imaginative ideas into reality.
 Creativity is characterised by the ability to

perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden

patterns, to make connections between
seemingly unrelated phenomena, and to
generate solutions.
 Creativity involves two processes: thinking,

then producing.
Example of invention:

Who built the first engine car?

Karl Benz
 Karl Benz gets the credit for inventing
the automobile because his car was
practical, used a gasoline-powered
internal-combustion engine and worked
like modern cars do today.
 Benz was born in 1844 in Karlsruhe, a

city in southwest Germany.

What are some innovations of the car?
Are These The Most Important Automotive Innovations In
History?
 1) The Steam Engine.
 2) Gasoline Engine.
 3) Automatic Transmission.
 4) Power Steering.
 5) Electronic Stability Systems.
 6) Electronically Controlled Torque Vectoring Differential.
 7) On-Board Diagnostics II.
 8) Airbags.
 Creativity is a skill that can be developed
and a process that can be managed.
 Creativity begins with a foundation of

knowledge, learning a discipline, and

mastering a way of thinking.
 You can learn to be creative by
experimenting, exploring, questioning
assumptions, using imagination and
synthesing information.
Explain
Ifyou have ideas but don't act on
them, you are imaginative but not
creative.
8 Creative Thinking Techniques and The Tools To Use

1. Mind Mapping.
2. The Checklist. Young children are amazingly
creative. ...
3. Six Thinking Hats. ...
4. Lateral Thinking. ...
5. Random Word Generation. ...
6. Picture Association. ...
7. Change Perspective. ...
8. Get Up and Go Out.
1. Mind mapping
 Let’sbegin with a timeless classic.
 Mind mapping (aka brainstorming or spider

diagrams) is the little black dress of idea

generation; it never goes out of fashion.
 It almost feels wrong to walk into an agency

and not see some form of mind map on a

whiteboard somewhere.
 Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by
which efforts are made to find a conclusion for a
specific problem by gathering a list of ideas
spontaneously contributed by its members.
With that, here are four key ground rules that are
useful when conducting a brainstorming session:
1. There are no dumb ideas. Period.
2. Don't criticize other people's ideas.
3. Build on other people's ideas.
4. Reverse the thought of “quality over quantity.” Here
we want quantity; the more creative ideas the better.
 The key to mind mapping is to take note of
every idea that comes up. Don’t neglect
anything, no matter how far-fetched it may
seem.
 Save the critical selection process for later.
 Generate as many ideas as possible; the

more you jot down, the bigger chance of

finding that golden ticket idea.
 Spider diagram is widely used for
planning or creating ideas in a neat and
clearly structured layout.
Spider diagram allows you to think about the main
idea and then how the ideas are seen to be present
in many parts.
Mind maps can also be drawn by
hand, either as "notes" during a
lecture, meeting or planning
session.
What are the objectives of mind mapping?

A mind map is a graphical way to represent

ideas and concepts.
 It is a visual thinking tool that helps structuring

information, helping you to better analyze,

comprehend, synthesize, recall and generate
new ideas.
 Just as in every great idea, its power lies in its

simplicity.
 The point of a concept paper is to provide a
clear summary of the research project.
 It should enable a casual reader to
understand what the researcher is
investigating, why it is important, and how
the investigation will proceed
2 types of concepts
 Macro-concepts are sometimes referred to as“
integrating concepts” because they integrate
thinking across different disciplines and are
broad.

 Micro-concepts are discipline-specific and are

critical for providing increasing depth and rigour
to curriculum and instruction
2. The Checklist. Young children are amazingly
creative.
 Young children are amazingly creative.
 Their curiosity, imagination and thirst for

knowledge seem boundless.

 They ask questions about everything, because

practically everything is new to them.

 If you’ve ever played the ‘Why?’ game with a

kid, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

 It’s infuriating, yet surprisingly enlightening.
 As we get older, we tend to stop asking
so many questions.
 We accept a lot more, because it’s all

been explained to us before.

 Perhaps it’s because of this, that adults

are stereotypically perceived as having

very little imagination.
 Maybe if we asked more questions, our
content might be a little bit more
imaginative.
 This is where the checklist technique can

help.
 This is essentially a list of questions which

you should ask yourself before beginning

your work.
 Alex Osborn, who is often coined as the father of
brainstorming, established around 75 creative
questions to help encourage ideas in his fantastic
book, Applied Imagination.
 It’s well worth a read if you can get hold of it, but to

give you a head start, there are six universal questions

that can be asked:
 Why?
 Where?
 When?
 Who?
 What?

 Ask yourself these question (in some form)
every time you create content, and chances
are you’ll come up with some pretty
interesting answers.
3. Six Thinking Hats
 Developed by Edward de Bono in the early 80s, this popular
technique is now used by businesses all over the world.
 They involve putting on a selection of metaphorical hats when it
comes to making a decision. Each hat represents a different direction
of thinking.

 White Hat – Facts

 Red Hat – Emotions
 Black Hat – Judgement, Caution
 Yellow Hat – Logic
 Green Hat – Creativity
 Blue Hat – Control
3. Six Thinking Hats
(Six Thinking Hats - Decision-Making Skills from Mind Tools)
 Edward de Bono is the founding father of this six
thinking hats technique and wrote a book about this
called the Six Thinking Hats in 1985.
 A thinking hat is a metaphor for a certain way of

thinking. By mentally wearing different thinking hats

people are forced to look at a problem from
different perspectives.
What is the meaning of Six Thinking Hats?
 Six Thinking Hats or Edward de Bono's Six Hats is
a good decision making technique and method for
group discussions and individual thinking.
 Combined with the parallel thinking process, this

technique helps groups think more effectively.

 It is a means to organize thinking processes in a

detailed and cohesive manner.

What do we know? What does this tell us
How do we approach this problem?, what are the ground rules?
What are some alternatives? how ca we innovate?
What are the benefits?
How does this make us feel?/ customers feel?
What doesn’t work?/ what could go wrong?
4. Lateral Thinking
 Another term coined by Dr. de Bono, this
involves looking at your situation in a different
way.
 The simplest answer is not always right. We

solve most problems in a linear fashion, i.e. if

something happens it must have been…
because of….
 We take a step by step approach to
finding our answers. De Bono encouraged
others to look at their situation
differently, to step sideways for a second
if you will. This allows people to re-
examine their predicament from a much
more creative point of view.
 Say for example you have a client who
sells tractors. If you were thinking in a
linear fashion, you may feel the need to
create content about how great tractors
are because you need to sell tractors.
Thinking about things laterally though
opens up a world of possibilities. Try
looking at the bigger picture.
 Tractorsare a key component to farming, farming
produces food and resources. Farms also house
animals. A popular children’s rhyme about farm
animals is Old McDonald, you may wonder how that
rhyme came to be. Why not create content around
the origin of that rhyme?

 That’s just a (very) basic example, but you can

clearly see how lateral thinking can be used to help
inspire you.
Lateral Thinking.
 Lateral thinking is a manner of solving
problems using an indirect and creative
approach via reasoning that is not
immediately obvious.
 It involves ideas that may not be
obtainable using only traditional step-by-
step logic.
What is lateral thinking technique?

 Lateral thinking is the mental process of generating

ideas and solving problems by looking at a situation
or problem from a unique perspective.
 It is the ability to think creatively or “outside the

box.”
 De Bono explained typical problem solving
techniques involve a linear, step-by-step approach.
5. Random Word Generation

 I love this technique. Simply pick two random words and

try and tie your content to it in the most imaginative way
possible. Simple as that.

 The real fun part is how you choose to come up with the
words. You could use an online generator; you could flick
through a dictionary; or you could write words on a
bunch of plastic balls, throw them into the air, and then
choose the words on the first two balls you catch. Have
fun.
6. Picture Association

 If you’re truly stuck for ideas, perform an

image search on your topic of choice, pick a
random photo.
 Work backwards from the picture, developing

a story around how the photo was taken.

 For example, if you see a picture of a dog
looking up at the night sky, ask yourself what it
could be thinking.
 Is it a stargazing dog?
 Does that dog secretly long to be an astronaut?
 Perhaps a story about a space dog would be

awesome! In fact a space dog would make a

great mascot for any business so we could look
at the best business mascots.
 So on so forth.
7. Change Perspective

 This can often be hard to do, but try putting

yourself in other people’s shoes. Sometimes you can
get too attached to your own work, You may be too
close to notice that there are faults visible from afar.
 Share your ideas with others, and get a fresh pair of

eyes to look at your work. Encourage constructive

criticism, you don’t have to take it all on board, but
it may offer up some seriously beneficial
observations.
8. Get Up and Go Out

 People underestimate the value of being

bored. If you work around screens all day,
if can often prove both relaxing and
rewarding to just get up and walk about
for a bit. Let your mind wander instead of
focussing on a task so hard it hurts.
 Takea walk around your local woods, indulge
yourself in your own personal contemplation
montage as you skim rocks across a pond. Let
the miracle of nature, and that brief moment of
what is hopefully peace and quiet, inspire and
energise you.
 Similarly,
many believe that the practice of
meditation, clearing their mind of all thoughts
and allowing themselves to be at peace, is a
fantastic method to help spur creativity.
Although I’ve never personally tried it, I can see
how people might find it rewarding.
 Our very own Mike Essex has already recorded
a Koozai TV video covering some really
resourceful tips on how to be more creative
with your work, including time management
exercises such as Blocking and the Pomodoro
technique. Check out the video below for more
information: