We Can All Be Creative
A variety of problems routinely demand our attention. While some are trivial and relatively easy to cope with others require truly creative solutions to be effectively resolved. When asked, most people will say they are not very creative. By that they mean they don’t have much natural artistic ability but artistic ability and creativity are not the same. In “A Whack on the Side of the Head” Roger von Oech defines creativity as combining two or more ideas that were not previously associated. Using this definition I suggest there are quite a few creative people out there, even if they aren’t writing music, chiseling sculpture, or painting masterpieces. Unfortunately most of us have never been taught how to harness our creativity.

One Thing Leads to Another
If you’ve ever participated in a facilitated group brainstorming session you know there are several fundamental rules. One rule requires participants withhold any criticism of ideas, even the ideas which are clearly impractical and unrealistic. This “no idea is a bad idea” rule facilitates free thinking. It encourages the open expression of ideas and reduces the stifling effects of criticism. In the brainstorming group it is often a crazy, off the wall idea that leads to other, more practical suggestions. Roger von Oech calls these ideas “stepping stones.” Their value is not in their practical application but in their ability to take our thinking in a new direction.

When I’m working with a group that is stuck I will sometimes suggest an outrageous idea, just to get people thinking and talking. I normally receive a few funny looks and I’m sure there are people saying to themselves “he seemed so much smarter than that.” Despite the risk to my reputation, the results are almost always worth it. By the time the group finds a workable solution to their problem nobody, except me, remembers the crazy idea that started it all.

The Process of Thinking
According to Roger Fisher and Alan Sharp, authors of “Getting It Done,” thinking is essentially a three step process. The process is roughly broken down as follows: 1) idea generation, 2) idea evaluation, and 3) idea selection. The first step, idea generation, follows the same principles as a group brainstorming session but you can use it by yourself.

Idea generation is simply the production of ideas. It is during this phase we come up with potential solutions to problems. Our creativity and imagination are most active in the idea generation phase of thinking. During idea evaluation we look at our ideas critically to determine whether they are feasible. We ask ourselves questions like:

• How likely is this to work?
• What will other people think?
• Do I have the ability to implement this idea?
• What is going to cause it to fail?

Most of our ideas are eliminated in the evaluation step of our thinking process. The final step in the process is idea selection. After we’ve evaluated our ideas we determine which we should pursue and which should be ignored.

It stands to reason that the more ideas you have to choose from, the better your final decision will be. The problem most of us have is we combine the first two steps of the process, idea generation and idea evaluation. In other words, we tend to evaluate our ideas as soon as we form them. This has the unintended effect of dampening our creativity which leaves us with fewer ideas. If we consciously separate idea generation from idea evaluation, we are free to dream up many more possible solutions to whatever problem we are solving. When that happens we end up with a broader set of ideas from which we can find a solution. Next time you are looking for a solution to a problem try this simple process.

1. Force yourself to come up with a predetermined number of ideas before you evaluate any of them. Depending on the problem try generating 5 to 10 ideas. Make a simple list and resist the urge to begin critiquing anything until you’ve written down your predetermined number of ideas. As soon as you find yourself thinking “that won’t work because…” stop, write down the idea, and then start thinking of the next idea.
2. After you generate your list, begin evaluating the ideas. Chances are you will not like your first idea as much as some of the others. You may even find there are two ideas that are not going to work on their own but combining them into a hybrid approach produces a much better solution than anything else you can imagine.
3. When you’ve evaluated your list of ideas, select one of them to pursue. You will feel much more confident knowing you have chosen from a larger list and considered numerous approaches.

Conclusion
Increasing our capacity to find creative solutions begins with a conscious effort to delay evaluation until many ideas have been generated. By forcing yourself to generate numerous ideas, you often have to think about the problem from a new angle just to complete the list. This combination of non-judgmental thinking and a preset goal for the number of ideas often leads to creative thoughts that simply would not be reached if you were satisfied with a smaller list of potential solutions. Set your goal for the number of ideas to something large enough that it will force you to look beyond the obvious solutions.

Key Points

• Having many ideas to work with gives you a better set of possible solutions.
• Premature idea evaluation can stifle creative thinking.
• Being aware of “stepping stones” can prevent you from immediately ignoring ideas you know won’t work.
• Most of the time our best ideas are not our first ideas.

Sources

• If you would like to read more about creative thinking, here are a few sources we used.
• Von Oech, Roger. A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative, Warner Books, 1990
• Fisher, Roger and Sharp, Alan. Getting It Done: How to Lead When You’re Not In Charge, Harper Paperbacks, 1999