UNDERSTANDING CREATIVITY

Thinking creatively helps you find ways to deal with challenges and form opportunities. Understand how creativity can help you become more successful in all areas of your life.

What is Creativity?
Creativity is the process of challenging accepted ideas and ways of doing things in order to find new solutions or concepts. Be aware of the obstacles that stand in the way of the creative impulse and understand the benefits that creative thinking can bring you.

1. Recognize that everyone has the ability to be Creative.
2. Change your current patterns of thinking.
3. Remember that change begins with questioning.
4. Understand logical and creative thinking are critical to each other.
5. Use your past experiences to find solutions.
6. Think creatively to increase your opportunities.
7. Explore possible options before making decisions.
8. Think of possible solutions to a problem and then evaluate them using logical thinking.
9. Use your imagination to find different solutions.
10. Understand how conditioning forces you to think in a prescribed way and limits your potential.
11. Aim to look at information in more productive, insightful ways.
12. Recognize that creativity is driven by the desire to improve processes.
13. Bypass your assumptions and think creatively.
14. Believe that you can think of solutions.
15. Try not to be constrained by rules.
16. Accept that problems are the food of creativity.
17. Understand your thinking processes so that you are able to adapt them.
18. Identify the side of the brain that you are naturally influenced by.
19. Notice how you approach problems, and think about whether you are naturally creative.
20. Recognize the advantages and pitfalls of different thinking patterns.
21. Structure your time so that it is more productive.
22. Generate lots of ideas before making decision.
23. Remember that there are many ways of looking at things.
24. Be ready to question the accepted.
25. View problems as an impetus to change.
26. Ask questions, even if they seem ridiculous.
27. Think about the change you would like to make and how you could initiate it.
28. Recognize that developing creativity takes time and practice.
29. Remove your self – imposed mental roadblocks by carrying out creative exercises.
30. Use coaching to help you change your current thinking pattern.
31. Ask a colleague you admire for advice on how to improve your creative skills.
32. Set a fixed amount of time for a coaching session.
33. Form clear goals to work towards during a coaching session.
34. Recognize that coaching is an effective means of changing your current patterns of behavior.
35. Pinpoint what you want, so that you can set about achieving it.
36. Think in terms of the results you want to achieve.
37. Focus on questions rather than predicting answers.
38. Learn to cross the natural barriers in your mind.
39. Ask yourself why you perceive an issue as a problem
40. Remember that problems are opportunities for change.
41. Questions and challenge ideas, rather than just accepting them.
42. Let your subconscious mind find solutions.
43. Invest time in learning to do things differently, so that you can identify new opportunities.
44. Tackle open – ended problems with creative thinking.
45. Consider whether a problem requires creative thinking or whether a solution is clear – cut.
46. Identify your desired outcomes, so that you can work towards achieving it.
47. Use creative tools to help you think in more productive ways.
48. Learn how to select the right tool to achieve the best results.
49. Believe there is a better way to do things and then find out what it is.
50. Write down your ideas and start to evaluate them.
51. Think about what you would like in an ideal world.
52. Be clear about your goals and ideas when you explain them to others.
53. Recognize that ideas that are left unimplemented have no value.
54. Write out your action plan, so that you can begin to put your ideas into practice.
55. Make sure that all your team members are clear about the goals of the project.
56. See how action plan help you work with others.
57. Manage creative people by being open – minded and flexible.
58. Evaluate creative ideas before your judge them.
59. Avoid rejecting ideas without considering them.
60. Always involve positive people in your decisions, as they often produce the best ideas.
61. Remember that collective thinking can reap many successful ideas.
62. Acknowledge that everyone has something to offer.
63. Learn how to use the necessary creative tools.
64. Aim to develop a team’s creative potential.
65. Notice how a team environment gives people confidence.
66. Share ideas so that you can fine tune them.
67. Remember that open debate produces consensus.
68. Make sure the composition of the team is appropriate for the problem.
69. Ensure the team understands the aim of the creative meeting.
70. Make sure that you prepare your meeting well.
71. Listen carefully, and make notes you can refer to.
72. Just call ideas out, rather than thinking about them first.
73. Suspend judgment, encourage the generation of ideas, and let other people’s thoughts inspire you.
74. Remember that data only becomes information after it is categorized.
75. Pinpoint the ideas that are obviously instant winners.
76. Choose to implement initially.
77. Choose categories that will help you manage the data.
78. Judge ideas on achievability and their value, and rate them on a scale of one to ten.
79. Try changing the way that you look at a problem.
80. Empower people to generate solutions.
81. Set a good example to your team by being proactive.
82. use questions that challenge acceptable thoughts.
83. Use closed questions to access information.
84. Be polite when you ask people questions.
85. Use closed questions to start a discussion, and then develop it by asking open questions.
86. Be sensitive when asking questions – avoid making people feel as if they are being interrogated.
87. Challenge ideas in order to fully understand what they represent.
88. Decide whether you are a dreamer, a realist, or a critic.
89. Notice what roles people in your team tend to play.
90. Make sure that everyone has the chance to speak.
91. Keep reviewing and questioning to stay ahead of the game.
92. Analyze your procedures to see how they can be improved.
93. Inspire people to accept any changes that you oppose.
94. Recognize that poor presentation skills kill ideas.
95. Ask your team to offer ideas on how processes can be improved.
96. Review the implications of your decisions.
97. Consider your ideas from every possible angle.
98. Be convincing when you present your ideas.
99. Remember that a team is only as strong as its leader.
100. Use feedback to help you improve your skills.
101. Avoid taking criticisms personally.