An introduction tocreative thinking –

Outside and Inside the box

About me

About Creative Huddle

About Creative Huddle

Understand Generate

Facilitate Manage

Produce

Evaluate

Develop Communicate

Play Collaborate

Why is it important?Is creativity important?

IBM held conversations with 1,500 CEOs (2010)

CEOs should seed creativity across organisations rather than set apart ‘creative types’ in siloed departments

Why is it important?Adobe conducted surveys of 5,000 adults, 1,000 per country, in US, UK, Germany, France & Japan (2012)

25% feel that they are living up to their creative potential

Yet….

People spend only 25% of their time at work creating

There is increasing pressure to be productive rather than creative at work

At least half agree that they are increasingly being expected to think creatively at work

Do people feel creative?

Fluency (the ability to produce great number of ideas or problem solutions in a short period of time);

Flexibility (the ability to simultaneously propose a variety of approaches to a specific problem);

Originality (the ability to produce new, original ideas);

Elaboration (the ability to systematize and organize the details of an idea in a head and carry it out).

JP Guilford

Divergent thinking

Openness was found to be the strongest personality correlate of divergent thinking

JP Guilford

Intellectual curiosity, imagination, artistic interests, liberal attitudes, originality

Divergent thinking

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabridge Uinvervtisy, it deosnt mttaer in waht oredr the litteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a ttoal mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is besauae ocne we laren how to raed we bgien to aargnre the lteerts in our mnid to see waht we epxcet tp see. The huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. We do tihs ucnsolniuscoy.

Avoiding traps

What do I do at weekends?

?

When information enters the mind, it self-organizes into patterns

This is the pattern recognition and pattern completion process of the brain

Avoiding traps

Project M - projectmlab.com

“We are all creative idiots”

Beware of heuristic biases

Your brain is the box you have to think outside

Avoiding traps

Try different things

Take a new route to work

Ask a different generation

Read a different newspaper / magazine

Ask your family

Go for a walk in the park

Change your job title

Do something different as a group

Reframe Restrict Remix

Creativity techniques

“If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on finding the solution, I would spend the first fifty-five minutes determining how to frame the problem.

For once I know the proper question to ask I can solve the problem in less than five minutes.”

Albert Einstein

Reframe

Obstacles = Possibilities

Barriers = Opportunities

Reframe

Reframe

Reframe

Meaning – what else could this mean?

Context – where else could this be useful?

Learning – what can I learn from this?

Humour – what’s the funny side of this?

Reframe

Restrict

Refreshing and cool,love is a sweet summer rainthat washes the world.

Love is like winterWarm breaths thaw cold hearts untilone day the spring comes

Restrict

Restrict

Connect & combine PEOPLE OBJECTS

PLACES IDEAS

Remix

David Byrne visits Japan

Remix

Combine and improve

Welcome unusual ideas

Withhold criticism

Focus on quantity

Alex Osborn, Applied Imagination, 1953

Brainstorming rules

Social Matching

Free Riding / Social Loafing

Evaluation Apprehension

Blocking

No Criticism

Individuals Have More Ideas

Brainstorming problems

How can you make construction sexy?

Generate as many ideas as possible

Work on your own

Observation Lab

Form a pair with the person next to you

Come up with as many ideas as possible

How could you encourage more people to get into construction?

Observation Lab

In a group

Come up with as many ideas as possible

How could you rethink ‘the audience’?

Observation Lab

Let’s evaluate & developWhat did you like?

How could you add to the ideas?

What might make them work better?

Substitute Combine Adapt ModifyPut to another useEliminate Reverse 

SCAMPERMaking ideas stronger

Taking risks, embracing mistakes ‘Art is mostly the result of doing something wrong, then coming up with a different solution.’

‘Learning that mistakes are acceptable, and an essential part of the process, is a big lesson. You have to make a mark, any mark, and take it from there.’

Contact me

james@creativehuddle.co.uk

@thejamesallen / @creative_huddle