“Dance above the surface of the world. Let your thoughts lift you into creativity that is not hampered by opinion.” – Red Haircrow
Imagination and creativity are the catalysts for transforming knowledge into insights, valuable ideas, and successful implementation. Infact you see the potential instead of the problem, you see the reasons to act rather than the reasons not to act. Ultimately, breakthrough results depend on these cognitive capabilities.
We the UX’er exercise creative thinking to generate fresh ideas, perspectives, spot opportunities that business hadn’t anticipated, and develop innovative solutions to problems.
Creative thinking is a key element to keep your brain tickling in any situations you are in, good or bad…You can do several things to foster Individuals or team’s creativity:
1. Give Yourself Space to Explore
Take a look at your schedule each day or week. If most of your day is spent “getting things done,” that’s a good sign you need to carve out some time for divergent thinking. So do yourself a favor and schedule it: Plan time to step away from the computer and mind-map your ideas for a new project, go for a walk outside, or read a book on an unfamiliar topic.
2. Engage in divergent and convergent thinking, Make it your MANTRA
To generate the most creativity, a team needs to engage first in divergent thinking—to see and do things in nontraditional ways and view familiar things from new angles and then in convergent thinking—to channel the results into concrete proposals for action.
Divergent Thinking:
Divergent thinking involves seeing and doing things in a range of nontraditional ways and viewing familiar things from new angles.
To engage in divergent thinking:
- Ask questions that haven’t been asked before.
- Analyze problems and situations from different perspectives.
- Make connections between facts or events that others have missed.
Convergent thinking:
Convergent thinking involves channeling the results of divergent thinking into concrete proposals for action. To engage in convergent thinking:
• Evaluate the ideas generated by divergent thinking to determine which are worth pursuing.
• Narrow the field of solutions within a given set of constraints. Your organisation’s strategy and culture and your team’s priorities can help you determine what is out of scope.
• Agree on next steps, whether that involves deciding among options or planning how to pursue the most promising course of action.
3. Cherish Diversity
Individual differences can produce the creative friction that sparks new ideas. Diversity of thought and perspective are safeguards against the tendency of people’s ideas to converge around a particular point of view. Diversity of background, thought, and skills gives good ideas more opportunities to develop.
4. See with fresh eyes – Fresh observations are the result of noticing and recording the details of situations.
5. Encourage Collaboration – When teams think creatively together, they boost their ability to collaborate.
6. Beware of Distractions – Even with the best of intentions, staying in your chosen mode of thinking won’t necessarily come easily.
When you’re in one frame of mind, adjust your environment to help you stay there, so that you can maximize it.
