How to get out of the creative impasse and solve any problem

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Get your brain working to its fullest with these techniques.

It doesn't matter if you are a creative person or not. It doesn't matter if you need ideas for a business or a new play. Creativity lives in each of us, and it is it that is responsible for the production of non-standard thoughts. We will tell you how to make the brain generate them.

What are the types of thinking

Think back to the last time you tried to find a way out of a difficult situation. You probably asked yourself: “What is the right thing to do? What's the best way to do this? In other words, you were trying to find the best option. This is the essence of convergent thinking. The downside of this approach is that you don't choose the best of the best, but the first thing that comes to mind. Or second, third - this does not change the essence. You need to choose the most successful solution after you have come up with dozens of non-standard ideas!

There are two types of thinking, which are aimed at finding not correct, but new solutions:

• Divergent - when we try to go beyond the obvious.
• Lateral - when a person looks at the problem from different angles.

Check which type of thinking is best developed for you.

Divergent thinking test (2 minutes)

Timed 1 minute. Remember and write down all the yellow items that you know. At the end of the time, note another 1 minute and continue the list of yellow items.

Count how many points you get. Surely among the first words you have listed "sun" and "lemon". At first, the most commonplace things come to mind, so the masters in the development of creativity advise to discard the first ideas. Pay attention to the second list. Perhaps you have 2-3 items there, but less obvious than in the first list.

Lateral Thinking Test (2 minutes)

Below you will see sets of letters that make up the words for nationality. Name these nationalities.

Which set of letters was the hardest to decipher? Perhaps "NLC"? So how does this stand for? Haven't you guessed? This is the "Englishman".

Unlike "NLC" in the rest of the sets, the first letter corresponds to the first letter of the complete word. Deciphering words, your brain has built a certain model. Having reached the last set, he began to briskly sort through the countries beginning with "H", and did not find a match.

Lateral thinking is the destruction of stereotypes. It was possible to put down spaces - "_ N _ L _ H _", and then you would have a better chance of deciphering the "Englishman".

The most common mistake when generating ideas is going too quickly to the convergent stage.

Three magic words will help you to linger on the stages of lateral and divergent thinking: “Yes, what else?”. Ask yourself this every time you think the idea is good. This is not enough. The idea must be stunning!

How to generate ideas

Here's how to wake up creative thinking so that ideas come to mind on their own. During creative sessions, you can work in a group or alone.

Step 1. Create a space for ideas

During the creative session, you should not be distracted by anything. Turn off all notifications and go away from your workplace. Unusual surroundings will stimulate thinking outside the box. The main thing is that it should be calm there.

Step 2. Determine the time for creativity

Remember that trivial ideas come first, so you need time to build. Expect to find creative solutions in 45-60 minutes.

The table shows the stages of the creative session and the approximate time that you can focus on.

Step 3: Tweet the creative idea

Twitter has imposed a 140-character limit on us, and that makes sense. If an idea can be summed up in one tweet, then you know where you are going. Write the goal of the project on the card, look for wording to keep within the given number of characters. Try writing multiple tweets for different audiences and pick the best one.

For example, a tweet about this article would be "Techniques to help you find new ideas, cut bad ones, and sell the best ones." There are only 80 characters. You could even add a call to action, “Develop your creativity,” and you still end up with less than 140 characters.

Step 4. Arrange a brainstorming session

At this stage, ideally, you should connect someone else, such as friends or colleagues. Tips for organizing a group brainstorming session are given below, but they can also be applied for a single session.

• Your job is to relieve tension. For example, introverts may refuse to share ideas until they have thought about them completely. Use different brainstorming techniques. So, everyone can write down their ideas on a sticker.
• At the beginning of the session, share an anecdote or funny incident to stir up the participants.
• Don't reject crazy ideas. It is much easier to find meaning in it than to revive a banal thought.
• Participants in the session should express all the ideas that come to their minds, no matter whether they are good or bad. Communicate this idea to them.
• Treat all suggestions equally. For example, just write them down without value judgment. If you criticize or praise, people will try to guess what you really want.
• Finish others' ideas. Sometimes a bad idea can grow into a good one.
• Take breaks every half hour. People cannot be creative for a long time.
• Be prepared for ideas to come to the participants after the session is over. Make sure they know who to contact.

Step 5. We use tools for the development of creativity

Creative techniques can help you break the deadlock. Use them in group sessions or when you are alone racking your brains over a problem.

Breaker of the rules

Make a list of all the rules that are usually followed. Ask: “What do we always do? How is it accepted here? Then come up with opposites for each rule.

For example, a language school always employs qualified teachers. What opposites can there be? No teachers at all. Yes, what else? Non-professionals? They can share their knowledge in exchange for training. Interns … Perhaps they can train older employees to use social media. Etc. Choose the most successful solutions that you will develop.

mission Impossible

List all the constraints within which you will be working (eg budget, staffing, resources, schedule). Take one of these restrictions and tighten it up until it becomes a mission impossible:

• How can we do this in one day?
• How can we do this for free?
• How can we do this without additional staff?

Ask yourself whose help you would have to use to complete your mission, despite extremely strict constraints.

Taming a crazy idea

If you really get into the creative process, there is bound to come a moment when you look at an idea and think, "This is crazy." What you think is a crazy and impractical idea may resonate if you turn to her heart.

This idea can be used as a starting point to find another solution.

List all the reasons why you like this crazy thought. For each reason, write a small plan to implement the idea within the constraints that exist in the project. Analyze what fresh thoughts came up during this exercise. Where did the spirit of the original crazy idea survive?

Remember, it's much easier to tame a crazy idea than to breathe life into a weak one. Use creativity techniques, and the creative dead end will be the beginning of the most original project in your life.

Based on the book "" by Steve Rowling.