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Creative Thinking.

Formal Creative Thinking


Of course it is possible to think creatively all the time. There are some people who simply fizz with new ideas and seem to see everything slightly differently from those around them.

These are the people who are always asking ‘Why?’, and ‘Why not?’.

They are natural problem-solvers and innovators.

However, for most people, creative thinking requires more effort. They prefer to save their creative thinking for when it is really necessary.

Typical examples of times when you might take the time to use creative thinking techniques include:

  • When you are facing a major problem or issue, and you cannot see an obvious way forward.

  • At times of change, when it is hard to see what might lie ahead, and you want to think about possible scenarios.

  • When there is a lot of disagreement about what needs to happen next, and no compromise seems possible without a lot of effort.

  • When you need something new, that hasn’t been tried before, but you are not sure what.

On occasions like this, it may be worth doing some ‘formal’ creative thinking, and using a trained facilitator to help the group get the most out of the session.

Creative Thinking Techniques

There are a number of tools and techniques that you can use to stimulate creative thinking.

These include brainstorming, drawing techniques such as mind-mapping and rich pictures, and role-play techniques. There is undoubtedly considerable scepticism about many of these techniques. However, most if not all have some science behind them, and certainly some evidence that they work. It is worth keeping an open mind when you try them.

There is more about suitable tools and techniques for creative thinking in our page on Creative thinking. 

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