Creativity Basics
There are a large number of specific
creativity tools and
techniques available. Most of
these are based on a small number of basic principles. In essence:
the goal of creativity is to generate more good ideas
This is a numbers game - the best way of having more good ideas is to have more
ideas. Of course we'll also have more bad ideas, but so long as we can distinguish
betwen the good and bad ones that doesn't matter. The goal of most creativity techniques
is thus:
to generate large numbers of ideas
Idea Generation
So, how do we generate more ideas? There are many detailed creativity techniques, most of
which use one or more of the following basic principles:
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- Maximise Experience
There is an argument that we never actually create anything new, we simply reorganise and
rearrange. Experience is our raw material for this process, so get more experience. Widen your horizons, read,
learn, get involved. The more experience you have to work with the more potential you have
to be creative.
- Judge Slowly
Many good ideas are lost simply because we are too quick to judge. A thought is thrown out
because it is "obviously" of no use. Yet very often some of these "useless" ideas can,
with a little modification, lead to breakthroughs.
- Record
How often have you had a brilliant idea and thought "I'll do something about that later."
When later comes, the idea has gone. Get into the habit of carrying a notebook
everywhere and write down every idea, however fleeting.
- Adapt
Evolution is about adaption and the same applies to creativity. Brilliant ideas very
rarely spring fully formed into the mind. Usually they are produced from adapting other
ideas, some of which might be unworkable on their own. The basic methods of adaption can
be grouped in many ways, one I like to use is "CoMRADe":
Combination, Modification, Reversal, Addition, Deletion
These can either be applied consciously during a creativity session or simply allowed to bubble away in the back of
the mind.
- Select
Producing good ideas is one thing, recognising them another. To create many good ideas we
must also create many bad ideas. At some stage we must evaluate and select. The key is not
to do it too early.
- Implement
A good idea remains just that, a good idea. To make it worthwhile it must also be
implemented. Whether it's something as simple as adding a new herb to a casserole or as
complex as scripting a television series an idea must be implemented to have value. Of
course, you needn't do the implementation yourself. Some of the richest people on most
planets are those who know how to leverage the implementation skill of others.
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External Links:
Ideassaedi: Ideas in all directions
