Innovative thinking:

Get creative

Productivity Consultant, - Brandix Lanka Limited

A long time ago, upon his first visit to the ocean, a scientist noticed that the sea level was rising. In fact, after carefully measuring it for a few hours, he noted that it was rising at the rate of more than a foot per hour. He took out his pen and paper, and quickly calculated that at this rate the ocean would be 700 feet higher in less than a month, drowning most of the major cities of the world. Within a year only the highest mountain tops would be above water.

When he ran off to sound the alarm and show his calculations to others, they corrected his error. The ocean came up every day, the people explained, and then went down again. He somehow had not learned about tides, but soon saw that the people were right.

‘Think twice’ is a reminder to consider things before assuming that the first assumption is correct. It reflects the carpenter’s rule: ‘measure twice, cut once.’ Measuring twice is a rule that prevents a lot of mistakes in carpentry. In intellectual pursuits, thinking twice does the same thing – preventing errors.

Thinking better is about Productive Thinking, with its many aspects of why it’s important, how it works and how to use it at work, study, home and at play. Productive Thinking is a practical, easy-to-learn, repeatable process that helps people understand more clearly, think more creatively and plan more effectively. It is based on the thinking strategies developed by people celebrated for their creativity.

The principles involving better thinking are straight-forward: separate your thinking into creative and critical thinking; stay with the question; generate ideas; and look for unexpected connections. Without all these theories, people tend to forget things as they grow up.

Some people suffer greatly from short memory. A simple exercise will explain why. Think about what you had for dinner. If you can manage that, then keep on going further back into earlier dinners. It is clear now that it is not that you lost your memory. You have lost concentration. According to James Thornton, author of the brain Yields its secrets, it is not that we lose intelligence as we age. It’s just that we need to improve our ability to think.

Suggestions for creative thinking

1. Time it right. Older people think more clearly in the morning; younger people, in the afternoon. A majority of people start thinking better just before going to bed. In fact good ideas emerge just before sleep. When creative ideas emerge, you must be ready to note them down, for which you should have a small note book by the side of your bed with a pen or pencil.

2. Kick start your day. Research shows that the amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee can help concentration. But if you are prone to anxiety, you are probably better off avoiding it.

3. Anchor new memories to established ones. ‘Think of your existing memory as a scaffold upon which to fit new information,’ says cognitive researcher Denise Park.

‘Don’t isolate new information. Always relate it to something.’

4. Give your ideas a chance. Many of us are rewarded for our abilities to rapidly evaluate facts and make quick decisions. Creativity demands a much more leisurely and playful approach – a willingness to give ‘absurd’ ideas a chance.

5. Pick a stimulating professions and an intelligent partner. Studies suggest that people whose careers demand exercise of the intellect are more likely to sustain high levels of mental performance during their lives. Marrying someone intelligent may also provide you with ongoing stimulation.

6. Expose yourself to multiple experiences. Creativity often boils down to the ability to adapt solution from one aspect of life to another. Velcro for instance, was inspired by burrs that stick to clothing. The ‘ring-pull’ can was originally based on the way a banana is peeled.

7. Learn from Leonardo. In his book, How to think like Leonardo Da Vinci, author Michael Gelb offers several brain-enriching strategies that worked for the ultimate renaissance man. Among them: learning to juggle and drawing with your non-writing hand.

8. ‘The Mozart Effect’- A brain exposed to Mozart’s music generates more complex connections. This allows faster, integrated access to more information.

9. Try something new. Near the end of his life, impressionist painter Henri Matisse revitalized his art by exchanging brushes for scissors, which he used to create a series of brilliant paper cut–outs. Such experimentation appears to be the hallmark of successful creativity. In a study that compared creative people who burn out with those who continue to create, the main difference is that latter were constantly exposing themselves to new knowledge.

10. Follow your passion. Recently, a Dutch psychologist tried to work out what separated chess masters from chess grandmasters. He subjected groups of each to a battery of tests – IQ, memory, spatial reasoning.

He found no difference between them in any of the tests. The only difference was that grandmasters simply loved chess more. They had more passion and demonstrated more commitment to it. Passion may well be the key to creativity.