Tips for Creative Thinking Development

🌟 Unleashing the Creative Spark: Strategies for a Sustained Innovation Journey 🌟 Throughout my innovation journey, I've discovered that we often bypass the necessary preconditions for nurturing creativity. It's a nuanced equilibrium, a blend of components that, when harmoniously combined, unleash our inventive spirits' full potential. Let me share with you the pivotal elements from my reflections: 1️⃣ Space: More than a physical corner, it's an expansive mindset. In my quest for creativity, I've found that both openness and curiosity are vital. Cultivating environments—be it physical, mental, or social—that promote broad thinking has been key. 2️⃣ Improvisation: The prowess to think swiftly and adapt spontaneously has been indispensable. Not merely confined to structured plans, but even more about gracefully navigating the unforeseen. 3️⃣ First Principles Thinking: Deconstructing complex issues to their essence and reassembling solutions from the bottom up has allowed me to innovate based on what genuinely works beyond assumptions. 4️⃣ Comfort in the Unknown: Embracing the lack of answers has led me to unconventional solutions. Lingering in uncertainty has been a gateway to exploring complex problems. 5️⃣ Safety for Autonomy: Free thought stems from a sense of security. It's in the safety of thought that the autonomy of the self is born, creating a sanctuary where ideas can thrive. 6️⃣ Embodiment: Acknowledging that our bodies are reservoirs of memories and insights, and learning to listen to its wisdom has opened unexpected paths for my creative thinking. 7️⃣ Dynamic Environment: Constantly stimulating and challenging my routine thought processes and perceptions has kept my mind flexible and open to new concepts. 8️⃣ Reflective Reservoir: I've learned that returning to past ideas with fresh eyes can transform dormant thoughts into renewed, actionable innovations. Some ideas also need time to evolve. 9️⃣ Time Travel: I tackle problems by envisioning the desired outcome and plotting the course backward. This method simplifies complexity, offering a clear, attainable plan for achieving objectives. 🔟 Boredom: I've embraced the lack of stimulation as a prelude to a creative surge. In the quiet, some idea seeds find fertile ground to sprout. 🔍 I'm curious about your strategies to tap into creativity and flow. What practices fuel your creative engine? Do any of the practices above resonate with you? I look forward to reading your insights and hope we can refine our collective approach to sustaining creativity and innovation.

Most don’t realize this: but creativity requires incredible mental dexterity. Creative thinking happens through loops of alternating between generative brainstorming (diverge) and problem-solving (converge). A framework I find useful: first, focus on exploration, then hone in on a direction, then explore again before narrowing down. Where did diverge-converge-diverge as a brainstorming method come from? An American psychologist, tasked with the psychological evaluation of airforce pilots during WWII, built a taxonomy on the six key operations in human intelligence — cognition, memory recording, memory retention, divergent production, convergent production, and evaluation. In turn, this inspired ad man Alex Osborn. The cofounder of legendary ad agency BBDO described the creative thinking process as a series of alternate loops of diverging-converging-diverging, in his seminal book, “Applied Imagination” (1953). This method, argued Osborn, allows one to think beyond the “obvious” and “top of mind” ideas during the generative brainstorm, and then switch to a mode of down-selection and focus. Going straight into convergence —without first, casting the net wide with divergence— is limiting. Here are some great tips on how you can use it in your day-today: When in divergence mode: • Defer judgment • Combine and build • Seek wild ideas • Go for quantity When in convergence mode: • Be deliberate • Check the objectives • Be affirmative • Consider novelty Have you done your creative reps today?

Without realizing it, we more than often bring a fixed mindset to any given problem. This can block us from seeing creative solutions problems or unlocking unforeseen opportunities. We end up in a cycle of iteration vs. innovation. 🌀🕯️💡 Start by embracing a growth mindset. 🧠 A growth mindset, proposed by @Stanford professor Carol Dweck in her book Mindset, describes those who believe that their success depends on time and effort. People with a growth mindset feel their skills and intelligence can be improved with effort and persistence. Then also practice a beginner's mind (Shoshin, 初心). 🌈 Having a beginner's mind means you approach the world through a beginner's eyes. You set aside your expert's mind in favor of seeing things differently, with childlike wonder. 🤩 A beginner's mind is… -Open to new experiences and perspectives. -Always curious and ready to learn. -Mindful and present in the moment (you show up differently) -Ready to let go of expectations, assumptions, and judgments that block growth. -Open to embracing change. -Humble, able to accept mistakes and see failures as opportunities. -Brave, set to take steps outside your comfort zone. “If your mind is empty … it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.” – Shunryu Suzuki 1. Set aside current experiences, case studies, and playbooks. You can't do new things if you approach them as you always do. Let go of the word 'should' and replace it with 'what if' and 'why not'. Be open to surprises. 2. Take inspiration from children. Be open to wonder and amazement. 3. Practice creativity as part of your everyday routines. 4. Slooooooow down. 5. Be curious. Ask questions as if everything is new. 6. Be optimistic. It's easy to find problems and make excuses. 7. Leave your ego behind. As my friend @ryanholiday says, "ego is the enemy." 8. Invite new voices to the table, regardless of role. Be inclusive. Be open. Create a safe space for everyone. 9. Be ready to make mistakes and even fail. If you don't fail, you're not trying anything new. Keep going. 10. Stay curious! 🙌 #creativity #innovation #leadership #growthmindset #leadershipmindset #beginnersmind

Often times when I coach global leaders they look at me funny when I ask them how much time a day do they specifically focus on… …strategic and creative thinking? “Well I usually engage in creative thinking everyday when we’re problem solving.” I see. But those are often technical initiatives already identified by you and your team. How much time each day do you put on the “hat” of visionary? More times than not, specific time allocated to visionary, creative, and strategic thinking is non-existent. If you are the organization or team’s leader and you are not intentionally thinking about your team’s future, who else is? Creative and visionary allocated time can sometimes be referred to as a form of pro-active meditation (at least that’s how my clients will describe it after consistently doing so). So where to start? First, I’ll challenge you to block 30 minutes on your calendar, two days out of the week (try to lock something in that you know is often the slowest time of your day). Then, find your rhythm during that time. Here are three different ways I’ve seen clients execute their visionary/creative thinking time: In a room with no electronics and a white board or piece of paper. Going for a walk with no electronics. Getting their fitness in without podcasts or music. The results shared with me and our team continue to provide extreme value to the leaders we are aligned with. If Former President Obama, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk can find the time to do this everyday- what’s holding you back? Creative thinking requires intentionality paired with action. Who knows what next big idea can be fostered with intentionality around your creative and visionary thinking. Try it. Try it, today. Go! 🚀

Give me 2 minutes, and I’ll give you a good reason to put your phone down During the brainstorming session, we’re using our analytic brains to come up with questions But our subconscious brains often have the answers Letting your brain ruminate without screen time is beneficial for coming up with answers to brainstorming questions. Here’s why: 1. Incubation Effect Stepping away from a problem leads to subconscious processing and often leads to fresh insights 2. Diverse connections Rumination helps your brain connect disparate ideas, leading to more diverse solutions than the immediate logical ones from brainstorming 3. Less mental fatigue Taking breaks to let your mind wander reduces mental fatigue, which leads to better creative thinking and problem-solving 4. Less stress Constant focus from brainstorming to screen time can cause stress and burnout, but rumination reduces stress and improves brainstorming 5. More creativity Rumination helps your mind think freely by letting it consider ideas without “logical” limits Practical tips for effective rumination: -Take short breaks without your phone -Engage in light activities (walking, doodling) -Sleep on it -Change your environment -Engage in mindful activities (meditation, breathing) Brainstorming can give us immediate results, but allowing our brains time to ruminate without screens gives us deeper and more creative solutions Mixing hard work with breaks and letting your mind work in the background can optimize brainstorming effectiveness Share this with the friend who never puts their phone down!

Creativity isn't a gift you're born with. It's a process you can learn. Here are 4 tactics to inspire imaginative thinking used by the US government's intelligence analysts. 1. 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 The most basic creativity technique that we all know. → Pose one clear focal question → Write ideas individually first → Display without criticism → Cluster themes naturally → Select the most promising paths 2. 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞-𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 Your biggest blindspots? External forces you're ignoring: → Map the generic problem → List social, tech, economic forces → Identify your influence points → Assess potential impacts → Find the hidden dominoes 3. 𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 Think like your adversary. It changes everything: → Find people who understand your competitor → Ask "What would I do in their shoes?" → Map out their likely moves → Write their strategy playbook → Use it to stress-test your plans 4. 𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 Stop predicting one future. Map multiple possibilities: → Interview domain experts → Brainstorm critical forces → Select uncertain variables → Create scenario matrices → Write narrative stories What other techniques do you use? ♻️ Find this valuable? Repost to help others. Follow me for posts on leadership, learning, and excellence. 📌 Want free PDFs of this and my top cheat sheets? You can find them here: https://lnkd.in/g2t-cU8P Hi 👋 I'm Vince, CEO of Sparkwise. I help orgs massively scale excellence by automating live group learning that sparks critical thinking, practice and action.

I hope this is the first thing you see today and that it inspires you to create. "Knowing how to look is a way of inventing" — Salvador Dali To me, inventing is just a form of creativity. People always tell me in workshops, "I'm just not creative." Have you heard this as a facilitator? Be honest! 🧠 As facilitators, we know that creativity is important for better problem-solving and collaborative decision-making, so how do we get our participants on board and smash their biases they bring to the session? 🧠 ↳ Remind them that creativity is not making something out of nothing. I love how Grace Hawthorn describes creativity in her book 'Making Possibilities Happen' — creativity is "to synthesize novel connections and express meaningful outcomes." That's it right there: connections! ↳ Express that looking at things from different perspectives is creative. You are adding your own experience and background to an idea that, within itself, transforms the idea and makes new connections. ↳ Start with a creative thinking activity to warm up their brains; just do it - don't tell them it's a creative thinking activity upfront. Show them they can be creative. Many activities are accessible for anyone to express creativity and normalize imperfection, risks, and mistakes. One I love for this is Bunny Behind the Back! ↳ Focus on idea transformation. Creativity isn't just about generating ideas but also about transforming them. Reimagining something into something different. Jean-Luc Godard says, "It's not where you take things from — it's where you take them to." ↳ Use questions. Creativity emerges from curiosity and asking questions. If your group is stuck — use an improv game and tell them they can only respond to others with a question. This helps people think differently, and it's pretty fun, too. There are so many more ways to help people get out of their own heads and see they are actually creative. What techniques do you use? Share with us! --- Found this useful? 💜 Repost for your network. 

We all know the classic “write it on a post-it note” trick for brainstorming, but let’s mix things up a bit! Giving people time to think independently before sharing ideas leads to more creative solutions. What if instead, you tried: 💡 Mind Mapping Apps: Use digital mind mapping tools where participants add their thoughts and connect ideas silently in real time. This visual collaboration helps everyone see the bigger picture. 💡 Audio Recording: Allow participants to record their ideas on a voice recorder app. This method helps capture spontaneous thoughts and ensures that quieter team members can express their ideas comfortably. 💡 Sketching Concepts: Encourage participants to sketch their ideas or solutions on paper or a tablet. Visual representations can often communicate complex ideas more effectively and spark further creativity. What other techniques have you tried to ensure all voices are heard? #Facilitation #Leadership #Innovation #Facilitator