Many fields, from neuroscience to industry have studied this intangible subject. What facilitates creativity? Is it linked to intelligence? Are we all creative thinkers? Creative expression is no longer confined to the arts (literature, dance, music, painting), it is now valued in all modern pursuits. The need for innovation and new solutions exists everywhere. The phrase “thinking outside the box” is a call to creativity!
Creativity involves imagining different possibilities, making fresh connections so that we see things in new ways and from different perspectives. One of the areas of consensus in the research on creativity involves the importance of divergent thinking. Convergent thinking aims at a single correct solution to a problem. Divergent thinking however involves multiple possible answers to a problem. Divergent thinking is often used as a synonym for creativity.
These days we often talk about right and left-brained activities. Creative thinking appears to reside in the right side of the brain. Generally speaking, the left brain uses language and logic to analyze and sort information into pieces. The right brain however does not analyze but rather synthesizes information by connecting very different things together. This seems to be the source of new creative ideas. Author Martha Beck says “when two previously unconnected neurons meet, you may understand something in a way you never understood it before…. The secret to mastering creativity in any field is knowing how to work with metaphor…This is like that”. Looking for similarities between totally unconnected things often leads to a solution, a new creation, an “ah ha” moment.
Author Ken Robinson says that another important factor in creativity is that creative people love the medium they work in. Dancers love movement, writers love words, mathematicians love numbers, business tycoons love making deals. When you love what you are doing, it is an important step in freeing your creative energies. I think we all know the feeling of finding a brilliant solution to something when we are no longer focused on it. This is because creative work is not always conscious, it involves our intuition, our subconscious minds and often our emotions.
Academic research aimed at stimulating university students has come up with some ideas we can all use to awaken our creative side: 1) Write down ideas you have when you have them. 2) Challenge yourself to try to solve a problem that has no known solution just for fun, use your imagination. Crazy ideas are welcome. 3) Broaden your knowledge base by taking a course, going to a museum, developing skills or trying things you have never done. 4) Spend time talking to interesting people that you may have nothing in common with. 5) Spend time in natural settings observing nature. And finally, 6) Have fun! Doing what you love puts you in an open, receptive space that is conducive to creative thinking.
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