A Whack On The Side of The Head

What Is Creative Thinking?
The creative person wants to be a know-it-all. He wants to know about all kinds of things: ancient
history, nineteenth century mathematics, current manufacturing techniques, flower arranging, and
hog futures. He never knows when these ideas might come together to form a new idea. It may
happen six minutes later or six years down the road. But the creative person has faith that it will
happen.
The real key to being creative lies in what you do with your knowledge.
Changing context is one way to discover the possibilities of your resources.
Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.
Much of our educational system is an elaborate game of guess what the teacher is thinking.
Many of us have been taught that the best ideas are in someone elses head.
Mental Lock
1. The right answers.
2. Thats not logical.
3. Follow the rules.
4. Be practical.
5. Play is Frevolous.
6. Thats not my area.
7. Dont be foolish.
8. Avoid ambiguity.
9. To err is wrong.
10. Im not creative.
The danger of habits is that a person can become a prisoner of familiarity. The more often you do
something in the same way-whether its cooking a meal or managing a project-the more difficult it
is to do it in any other way.
The Right Answer
Life is ambiguous; there are many right answers-all depending on what you are looking for. But if
you think there is only one right answer, them you will stop looking as soon as you find one.
If you have only one idea, you have only one course of action open to you, and this is quite risky
in a world where flexibility is a requirement for survival.
The best way to get a good idea is to get a lot of ideas. (the second answer)
Thats Not Logical.

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who divide everything into two groups, and
those who dont.
In the imaginative phase : thinking something different.
In the practical phase: getting something done.
A metaphor is a mental map.
The metaphor is an excellent tool to help you thinking something different.
Pay attention to the metaphors you use in your own thinking.
Follow The Rules

Intelligence is our ability to recognize patterns.
Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.
Breaking out of one pattern in order to create a new one.
Its difficult to be innovative if youre following blind assumptions.
Creative thinking may simply means the realization that there is no particular cirtue in doing
things the way they have always been done.
One of lifes great pleasures is falling out of love with a previously cherished idea. When that
happens youre free to look for new ones.
Why did this concept, program, project, or idea come to be? Then follow this question with, do
these reasons still exist? If the answer is no, then eliminating the idea.
One of lifes most overvalued pleasures is sexual intercourse; and, one of lifes least appreciated
pleasures is defecation.
Be Practical
If you dont take risks, you wont achieve what you want.
Imagine youre the idea you are trying to develop.
An impractical idea leads to a practical, creative one.
Play is Frivolous
Learn to pauseor nothing worthwhile will catch up to you.
Thats Not My Area

Specialization is dangerous because it can lead to the attitude thats not my area.when this
happens, a person may not only delimit her problems to too small an area, she may also looking
for idea in other fields.
Innovation is usually the result of connections of past experience. But if you have the same
experiences as everyday else, youre unlikely to look in a different direction.
Be an explorer
Anyone can look for fashion in a boutique or history in a museum. The creative person looks for
history in an airport and fashion in an airport.
The explorer searches for ideas outside your area.
The more divergent your sources, the more original the idea you create is likely to be.
Make it a point to keep on a lookout for novel and interesting ideas that others have used
successfully. Your idea has to be original only in its adaption to the problem you are currently
working on.
Only the most foolish of mice would hide in a cats ear. But only the wisest of cats would think to
look there.
Dont Be Foolish
An idea that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?
Reverse your viewpoint
You cant see the good ideas behind you by looking twice as hard at whats in front of you.
Avoid Ambiguity
Listen to your dreams
Your dreams are uniquely yours. Take advantage of them to help you resolve conflicts, inspires
solutions, and suggest new approaches.
To Err Is Wrong
An activity that produces a hit may also produce a miss.
How many people do you see who are afraid to try something new because of this fear of failure?
We remove ourselves from many learning experiences except for those occurring in themost
private circumstances.
If you want the hits, be prepared for the misses.
Think error as a stepping stone to a new idea.
If you hit every time, the target is too near or too big.
If we did things correctly every time, we would never have to change course, and wed end up
with more of the same.
Im Not Creative
Self-fulfilling prophecies
What concerns me is not the way things are, but rather the way people think things are.
Winners see themselves as winning and losers generally give themselves a reason or an excuse to
lose.
The creative people thought they were creative, and the less creative people didnt think they
were.
A Whack on the Other Side of the Head.

Your explorer is your role for searching for new information and resources;
Your artist is your role for turning these resources into new ideas.
Your judge is your role for evaluating the merits of an idea and deciding what to do with it; and,
Your warrior is your role for carrying your idea into action.
There are two main reasons for low creative performance: weak roles and bad timing.
Using a role at a wrong time-such as employing your judge to explore for information or your
artist to implement your idea-is counterproductive.
Explorer:
Look for new ideas in a lot of different places. Look for the second and third answer. Be more
tolerant of ambiguity.
Artist:
Highly imaginative. Ask what if, challenge the rules, and looking at things in different ways.
Judge:
More discerning, critical, but also constructive-using even the stupidest idea as stepping stones to
practical, creative ideas. Playing the fool to knock myself out of group-think situations.
Warrior:
.
Either you let your life slip away by not doing things you want to do, or you get up and do them.
The things you can do to reach your goal.
To fight a bull when you are not sacred is nothing; not to fight a bull when you are sacred is
nothing; to fight a bull when you are sacred-there is something. What put a lion in your heart?
Your family?
Get Rid of Excuses
What three factors will make it difficult for you to reach your objective? How can you get rid of
there excuses?
Each of us has a mental map of the world complete with dragons. Where does fear hold you back?
What dragon can you slay?
Flex Your Risk Muscle
Have Something At Stake
Have something at stake-survival, self-esteem, money, reputation-so that youll be motivated to
make your idea successful.
What are you dissatisfied about? How can you turn irritation into inspiration?
Use Your Shield
A thick skin is a gift from God. What negative reaction do you expect? How can you deflect it?
Sell Sell Sell
Its not creative unless it sells. You can have the greatest idea in the world, but if you cant sell it,
you wont get very far.
Set A Deadline
Where is your sense of urgency? What tight deadlines can you give yourself?
Be Persistent
Ancient Whacks of Heraclitus

Everything Flows
What is the flow of your issue? Where will it be in the future? What patterns describe its
behavior? Do you need to change your point of view to see the change?
Appreciate the Now. if everything is changing, then we need to appreciate the now because
soon it will be gone. If its a bad situation, then take heart, because that too will be gone. What is
the moment?
The Most Beautiful Order is a Heap of Sweepings Piled Up At Random
Pick an object at random. How does it relate to your issue? What connects can you make? What
patterns can you find?. What similarities do you see? What light does it shed on your issue?
Play with it
This attitude allows you play with the issue at hand, to push and move its various pieces and
elements, to look at it in a variety of contexts, to experiment and try different things, and to find
out what works and what doesnt. as a result of this play, you come to know and understand the
different sides of the issue. From this mastery arises.
The key to creative insight consists not so mush in gaining new knowledge but in finding new
ways of thinking about what you know. Creativity requires an attitude that allows you to play with
and to manipulate your knowledge so that it takes on new meanings. This is an attitude where you
dont see each fact as separate bit of knowledge but rather as a link in A chain of ideas.
What different ways can you think about what you know? In what different context can you put
your issue?
What can you forget? What can you ignore?
Sea water is both pure and polluted: for fish its drinkable and life-giving; for humans undrinkable
and destructive.
Context determines meaning.
Much of the creativity is the ability to take one thing or a concept and out it in different contexts
so that it takes on new meanings.
A thing, idea, or issue can be framed in a variety of different ways depending on ones point of
view. Using different words and concepts to reframe a situation is a vital creative thingking skill.
It gives you flexibility in the way you approach the world. Such as is the beach the end of the
ocean or the beginning of land?
Reversing your point of view

To raise efficiency to 30%
To reduce inefficiency to 70%
It takes less energy to move on to the next phase of process than fighting to stay in the current one.
Its like rowing a boat on a river: it takes more effort to remain stationary heading into the current
than it does to go with the flow.
When there is no sun. we can see the evening stars.
Donkeys prefer garbage to gold

Do other value your issue the way you do? How do you need to educate them?
How willing are you to make your idea successful?

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What are some of the mental locks that can inhibit creative thinking?

How can changing contexts help spark creative ideas?

What Is Creative Thinking?

The Right Answer

Thats Not Logical.

Follow The Rules

Thats Not My Area

A Whack on the Other Side of the Head.

Ancient Whacks of Heraclitus

Reversing your point of view

When there is no sun. we can see the evening stars.

Donkeys prefer garbage to gold

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