Management Tips:

Importance of creativity in knowledge revolution era

Dr. K. Kuhathasan, CEO, CENLEAD

Creative thinking is an ability, which can be developed. The present era in marked by knowledge revolution only creative people can meet the challenges of the emerging business environment. Until quite recently, it was widely believed that it is a supernatural gift bestowed on only a few.

Albert Einstein had this to say: The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift. 'Such an imbalance defies logic.

As lateral thinking expert Edward de Bono pointed out. "Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns", 'The good news is that you can learn to reawaken your creativity, shake off your old thought patterns and start creating some new ones.

Brain right

The area of the brain most commonly associated with creative thinking is the right hemisphere.

The creative individual has a strong and vibrant success orientation. It is directed toward extending the range and quality of those experiences that bring him a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of self-fulfillment.

His life requires an endless sequence of new challenges, directions and goals. utilising fully his creative and inventive capacities, he want his life to become a series of continuous self-creations in which he takes an active part.

Most of the people who work in organisations are constantly interrupted by telephone calls, urgent memos, visits by colleagues, idle chatter, unscheduled meetings, letter-writing and a whole host of administrative functions that leave little time for creative thinking.

One effective way of overcoming this is to define and redefine one's primary functions so that time is reserved for creativity.

Characteristics of the creative

The creative individual has many distinct attributes or characteristics by which he or she can be identified and that significantly differentiates him from those who are less creative.

The kind and degree of creativity varies, of course, from person to person, and it is unlikely that any individual could possess all of the characteristics to a uniformly high degree.

Flexibility

The creative person is flexible in his thinking. He is able to choose and explore a wide variety of approaches to his problem without losing sight of his overall goal or purpose.

During problem solving, if new developments or changed circumstances demand it, he can easily drop one line of thought, or an unworkable approach, and take up another.

He shows resourcefulness in his ability to shift gears, to discard one frame of reference for another, to change perspective, stray off the beaten path, modify approaches and adapt quickly to new development or requirements.

He constantly asks himself, "What else?" or "What would happen if I viewed the problem from a different angle?"

The creative person has keen powers of observation and an unusual ability to perceive and point out problems, situations and challenges that have escaped the attention of others.

This is because of his (or her) greater sensitivity to the unusual or the promising aspects of the situation-the hidden opportunities often not perceived by other individuals.

Hence he tends to be dissatisfied with things as they are and is eager to improve upon them.

Originality

The creative person displays originality in his thinking. Since his thought processes are not jammed up with stereo types he can reach out beyond the ordinary or commonplace, and think of more unusual, more unique solutions to his problems.

His originality expresses itself also in his ability to take apart firmly structured and established systems, to dissolve existing syntheses and to use elements and concepts beyond the limits they possess in their primary contexts, to create a new combination, and relationships.

Curiosity

Creativity is contingent upon the preservation of the curiosity and sense of wonder that is apparent in youth, and so conspicuously absent in many grownups.

Openness to feelings and unconscious mind

The creative person has more energy, is more impulsive, and is more responsive to emotions and feelings than the less creative person. since he is more in touch with and open to, his feelings he has a better access to the buried materials in his unconscious.

Or, to put it differently, because of his relative lack of defensive distortions, inhibitions and repressions he is able to have a more direct and uncluttered pipeline to the real world of ideas in the unconscious mind.

Motivation

Basic to creative achievement is a strong desire to create. The creative person derives great satisfaction from his creative activities and is keenly interested in his chosen work.

Any difficulties that he inevitably encounters do not discourage him. He welcomes problems as personal challenge and looks forward to the time when he can grapple with them. He assumes an optimistic stance vis-a-vis his problem.

Persistence and concentration

An enormous capacity for taking pains, a dogged persistence in the face of difficulties and frustrations and vast amount of sheer arduous work are some of the additional outstanding attributes of creative persons.

Ability to think in images

Creative people rely heavily on internal visual imagery or "thought-visions" These are at time exceptionally clear and complete; at their times they can be murky and tied loosely to an assortment of vague and meandering thoughts. But whether clear or murky, imagery frequently contains the kernel of a new, original idea.

Ability to analyse and synthesise

The creative person is able to analyse and break down a problem into parts and to perceive the relationships that exist between the parts and the whole. Analysis is frequently thought of as being diametrically opposed to creativity, but it is part and parcel of the ability to synthesise.

Prolonged searching and analysis almost always precede creative synthesis; they are complementary aspects of a single process in creative problem solving.

Ability to tolerate isolation

When ready to work, the creative person isolates himself from the distractions and interruptions of his environment in order to establish a receptive, leisurely mood. He arranges circumstances so that he can be completely alone, undisturbed and solely concentrated of the creative task at hand.

Creative memory

The unconscious is a vast storehouse of memories; facts observations, impressions, ideas and associations. The creative individual's unconscious is always richly stocked with these, but this does not in itself indicate creative ability.

Most of us know people who seem to have all kinds of information and facts at their fingertips, yet have never been able to achieve much in a creative way. Frequently the reason for this is that their memory functions as a rigidly ordered storehouse of deposited concepts, which precludes a flexible and imaginative use of them.

Incubation

There comes a time, during the creative process, when thinking gets ponderous and clogged, when errors start to pile up and no further new insights occur. This is the time when the creative person ceases his work on the problem and turns to something different and less confining.

Many creative people find a welcome change of pace in music, painting, sightseeing, manual tacks, daydreaming, etc.

These activities not only provide a refreshing interlude, but allow the unconscious mental processes freedom to operate unrestrained by conscious concentration.

Suggestions

Here is a list of suggestions to help you get started. You might like to try using your creativity to come up with some ideas of your own.

Take regular physical exercise.
Eat a varied and balanced diet.
Practise relaxation and meditation techniques.
Improve our self-confidence.
Keep a journal, and keep note of your progress.
Read imaginative fiction.
Practise thinking of alternative uses for everyday objects.
Practise finding similarities between dissimilar things.
Take up artistic pursuits like writing articles.
Visit inspirational places.
Take up activities you wouldn't normally think of doing.
Try being more spontaneous and outgoing.
Listen to classical music.
Regularly look for ways to break out of your comfort zone.
Do everyday things and routines in a different way.
Make new friends and expand your social circle.
Think of yourself as a creative person.
Think of creativity as a way of life.
Model yourself on a famous creative person you admire.
Develop a rebellious streak.
Allow yourself to daydream.
Don't be afraid to be wrong or make mistakes.
Don't be too hasty in making judgments.
Be curious about everything.

Daydreaming too is very important in the creative process because it allows you to experience the deeper, intuitive processes of the mind. It happens when we go, 'inside' ourselves and enter what is known as an 'alpha state' which is when we are relaxed, 'unfocused' and alpha brainwave levels are low.

For this reason the period just before we go to sleep is especially conducive to this type of thinking.