Think Creative

Modern economy is based on discovering and creating of new needs, and on providing new products and services designed to meet those needs. Big companies have Research and Development departments which brainstorm ideas about how to create new values for their clients on daily basis. But great ideas are not born only in the minds of innovation experts; they are also born in the minds of many other employees working in the company. The problem is they are not always recognized, presented and appreciated.  At work we are  required to come up with new ideas  whenever there is some problem that needs to be solved. This is the situation where bosses are most open to various creative suggestions simply because they feel they are in trouble and are looking for a way out. If you are one of those who are creative and fast enough, you will have no problem to come forward and provide right solutions that will be easily recognized and accepted. But not everybody gets a chance to be a...

One of the most important characteristics of successful thinkers is their ability to focus. How many times has it happened to you that you spent some time and energy thinking about something and you ended up with a bunch of interesting ideas on all other problems except on the one that you had actually been required to think about? This will happen every time unless you manage to maintain a clear focus on the subject that you are thinking about. According to a famous expert on creative thinking  Dr Edward de Bono , there are two types of focuses: Area Focus and Purpose Focus. Area Focus  enables us to think broadly about some subject and generate all kinds of ideas connected to that subject. For example, let’s say that my Area Focus is this blog. In that case I will think about different topics that I could write about, ways to draw traffic to my blog, different design templates for my homepage, etc. Or, I could choose my backyard garden as an Area Focus for my thinking...

Now that I have caught your attention with this catchy headline, I will have to correct myself and rephrase it into:  How to Get Creative Ideas from a Team That is Not Familiar with Using Their Creativity . I firmly believe that each and every one of us is creative - it’s just that there are those who use their creative potentials and  those who believe that they are not creative . If you think that your employees are not creative enough, you should ask yourself why is it so?  The most common reasons are because: -     they do not have the opportunity to be creative  - nobody ever asks them for their opinion, they are only required to follow the rules and procedures; -     they do not have courage to express their ideas  – they fear that they are not creative enough; -     they are not motivated to be creative  – nobody listens and appreciates their ideas;  when they speak their minds their ideas ...

I bet you often thought how unfair it is that some people so easily practice their creativity and others constantly struggle to get new ideas. Creative problem solving is a skill like any other, you just need to learn a few problem solving techniques, and with some practice, you will soon be able to think of a creative solution whenever you need one. In this post I will show you one of the basic thinking techniques that will help you generate heaps of ideas in a very short time. Why are we not creative? Most people are not creative simply because they look for quick and easy answers to their creative problems. When faced with a problem our mind follows well established thinking patterns and generates ideas based upon our previous experiences. This was very useful in prehistoric times when our ancestors had to make quick decisions in order to survive dangerous situations, but nowadays, this thinking mechanism is exactly the thing that obstructs our creativity. So the first task for ...

Brainstorming was invented in the early 40's by Alex Osborn. An advertising executive who strived to develop new and interesting concepts to help promote better ideas in his work. The technique became very successful, and now today, many firms and groups use brainstorming as a method by which to get concepts flowing. This has spatted debate to their value as well as developed several other techniques and process that can help in the development of their ideas. One of these other processes is the acclaimed Lateral Thinking process, developed by Edward De Bono. What however, has to be discussed is do these extra brain stimulators really work? Women and Shoes One day, two mothers and two daughters went shopping for shoes. Their shopping spree was successful — each bought a pair of shoes, and all together, they had three pairs. How is this possible? How long does it take to solve this problem? Well, with the understanding of some of the things that De Bono talks about with patter...