Why develop creativity and how not to stop in self-improvement

What is it about?

This is the last post in the How to Develop Creativity series. Today I will sum up and set myself and you for further development. There is no other way: read the post to the end, and you will understand what I mean.

Here are all the creativity tools discussed in the series:

associations;
empathy maps;
scumper;
freewriting;
PMI;
IFR;
doing nothing.

What other tools are there?

There are a huge number of them, but there are only two main types: those that lead to a positive change (for example, solving your problem), and the rest.

The seven tools I have talked about are just a small part of a large set for solving complex problems. In my blog about methods of developing creativity, I have collected 50 tools, my goal is 101, and this is not the limit.

Some will suit you, some will not, but you will never know if they suit you or not, if you do not try it in practice. That is why each material from the series published on Lifehacker ends with a practical task.

If you completed these tasks and you succeeded, great. If you do not understand something or you have questions, write to me. If you want to continue developing, read on.

Why is it important to develop creativity?

There are many reasons to learn to think outside the box and keep your thinking flexible. The most important of them, in my opinion, is the fourth industrial revolution and the onset of the era of artificial intelligence.

People have embarked on a path that will not allow us to remain as we are now - lazy, only consuming goods, procrastinating. We must change to reinvent our role in order to remain relevant to each other.

We must become better than the ideal algorithms that have already begun to massively displace people from their usual workplaces.

And if you now think that this is not about you, that this is some distant and unlikely outcome, I will not argue. Thank you for reading to these lines. Bye.

But if you understand and feel the approaching danger, then it's time to start changing: train your brain, learn to think abstractly, systematically, critically, rationally. Time to learn to think.

Many states are not interested in teaching their citizens to think. Most people do not teach their children to think correctly because they do not realize this need. No one will help you except yourself.

I am not afraid, I have no such goal. I want people to learn to think.

Okay, got it. I want to develop further, what to read?

A basic list of books on creativity development is as follows:

Freewriting by Mark Levy.
“Brilliant!” By Edward de Bono.
Stream, Mihai Csikszentmihalyi.
Design Thinking in Business by Tim Brown.
Steal Like an Artist by Austin Cleon.
"TRIZ", Mark Meerovich, Larisa Shragina.
CRAFT, Vasily Lebedev.
Understanding the Comic by Scott McCloud.
Meditation and Mindfulness by Andy Paddicomb.
Zen in the Art of Book Writing by Ray Bradbury.

For a year, you can slowly read them and try most of the tools in practice. I read 50-60 books a year and keep a separate list of literature to help develop creativity.

What to see?

If you're good at English, take courses on Coursera and watch TED talks about creativity and creativity. There are also Russian-language courses on creativity at the Universarium.

All creativity courses on Coursera.
All TED talks tagged creativity.
Courses at the "Universarium":
- "Fostering creativity in the family."
- "Sharpener for the mind."

How to start working on developing creative thinking?

If you are reading this, you have already started. Take just one step today - make a simple plan:

Choose a format that suits you: book, course, or TED talk.
Take a separate notebook or notepad for notes, you can use Google Docs or a notepad on your phone. Writing down your thoughts is a must!
Write down how much time per day you are willing to spend on development. You can start with 10-15 minutes (TED lectures can be filtered by time, individual lessons on Coursera are no more than 10 minutes long, the book can be read on a timer).
Write down what you will give up in everyday life in order to learn new things. Examples: I will not sit in social networks in the evenings, I will give up TV shows for a while, I will turn off my phone in the evening so as not to chat until I turn blue, and so on. Well, you yourself know where your time goes.
Start today, ideally now.

How to continue and not quit?

Here are some tips, but motivation is a tricky thing. Some things work well for you, and some don't. Need to try.

If you start writing down thoughts and thinking about the material, it will become easier. Even if something is not clear to you, write down what it is. Think about it, then you can come back.
The participation of a friend or acquaintance helps a lot. Find a like-minded person and start at the same time, agree that everyone prepares a short presentation based on the material covered, and then presents it. It will be easier this way. You can go through one material, and then you have the opportunity to immediately discuss the incomprehensible, or you can study different topics and then tell each other what you have learned.
Find a curator, ask him to constantly push you.
Ask your mom to be your "coach". And mom is pleased, and it is cool for you.

Acknowledgments and survey

Thank you for being with me these two months. I really hope that you have found it useful and effective for yourself personally or for your business.

I have a habit of getting feedback on what I do. Take a short survey about the quality of the materials, it will take no more than three minutes. Thanks.