![]() |
Creativity Information |
|
|
What Every Manager Should Know About How to Think Creatively
You may have heard of Roger von Oech's book, A Whack on the Side of the Head: How to Unlock Your Mind for Innovation. It's as much fun to read as its title suggests. It covers the ten common obstacles to creative thinking. It's about ways in which you can unlock your mind for innovation, for change, for more interest, or even for a career change. Mr. Von Oech writes about the time when his English teacher in high school put a small chalk dot on the blackboard and asked the class to tell him what it was. A few seconds passed, and then someone said, "It's a chalk dot on the board." The rest of the class seemed relieved that the obvious had been stated, and no one else had anything more to say. "I'm surprised at you," replied the teacher, "Yesterday I did the same exercise with a group of kindergartners, and they thought of fifty different things the chalk mark could be: * a cat's eye, The lesson that I wish to share with you is the importance of looking for more than one right answer. When you look, you will be surprised to learn how many answers are available. We have been trained in school to look only for the first right answer to every problem. The average person does this; the creative person looks for many. Looking beyond the first solution to a problem can result in a whole new set of serendipitous solutions - solutions that can be a hundred times better than the first one. Remember: When you maximize your potential, everyone wins. When you don't, we all lose. Š Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in ezines, newsletters, and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required. Contact him at: executiveandgroup-consulting@yahoo.com when you use this article. Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, Management Consultant and Trainer, conducts lectures, seminars, webinars, and writes articles on his theme: "... helping you maximize your potential." He offers management, marketing, and parenting resources at hisMaximizing Y our Potential blog.
MORE RESOURCES:
Creativity - Google News |
RELATED ARTICLES
Creativity Myths Sustained myths about Creativity and Innovation lead to confusion, bad practice and bad decision making. Some of them include:1. True Power Series Part I. Visualization: Image Production and Verbal Thought (5 minutes a day) There is no limit to what you can visualize. The most effective visualization usually happens when emotion is connected with a strong image as, for example, when you really want something specific that you think will make you happy. The 7 Simple Steps To Harnessing Your Creative Power And Achieving Incredible Success Let me repeat what I believe is the most powerful and fundamental knowledge available to man:"YOU CAN CREATE ANY ACTUAL PHYSICAL REALITY YOU WANT THROUGH THE INTENSE DESIRE, BELIEF AND PERSISTENCE OF YOUR MIND"Your desire for success brought this knowledge to you at this very moment, there is no doubt of that. But do you know how to harness it? To wield the power it makes available?Every great man and woman to ever walk the Earth harnessed this knowledge and wielded a power that allowed them to exceed the limitations of regular humanity. Make EVERY DAY An Artist Retreat Day What do you enjoy most about going on an Artist Retreat Day? For most of us it's getting away from our "normal routine", having our creativity sparked by new surroundings and having the luxury of "open time" to work on our creative projects.A retreat gives us the opportunity to step outside the day-to-day and look at the big picture of our creative dreams. Why Do We Need Creativity? Creativity is central to the management of our individual lives, but in modern times few people are able to access this as a resource. Alan Watts writes in The Wisdom of Insecurity:"We have allowed brain thinking to develop and dominate our lives out of all proportion to 'instinctual wisdom'; which we are allowing to slump into atrophy. Trying to Create From Distorted Perceptions? We've all met people who are "negative" - negative thinkers who consistently see the glass as half empty.In certain situations, particularly stressful ones, even the most positive person can fall victim to this distorted thinking. What is Creativity? Here in England September represents the end of Summer and the beginning of Autumn as well as the start of the new school year and the start of many new initiatives in business, life and lots more besides.When anyone is looking to make any kind of change in their life, often the approach they take needs to become attractive or appealing in order for them to maintain it and often it may not remain attractive or appealing for as long as we like. Art of Creation with Attention Attention is the greatest creative power in the world. If you command your attention, you command your creation/life. Stress VS Creativity Now when I use the term "creativity", I mean the kind of states of mind and body where thoughts and ideas flow freely; where there is a STREAM of data information that comes clearly from a very different place than one might normally inhabit and which translates smoothly and perfectly into colours, visions, sounds, patterns, movements, actions and resolutions.These are very beautiful states, very precious; this flow of "creativity" is nourishing, enlivening and one can do so many things for a long time without feeling in the slightest bit tired; when it is done, one is happy, very much at peace and delighted, too. Dare to Dream Have you ever thought of this? When you were young and at school the teachers always reprimanded the dreamers - "You live on another planet", "You've got your head full of silly notions!" and the like.Then we are in the playground. Characteristics: Creative Types VS Clods! Here are some odds & ends I have observed in creative-expert-genius types:Direction of Motivation: creatives move toward what they want in all areas of their life while the clods move away from what they don't want.Time Orientation: creatives look forward to completion. The Art of Keeping a Journal Journal keeping is basically without rules. It is an uncensored invitation to cut & paste, sketch & chart, and to visualize and unravel every great and small thought. Creative Memory Tricks What's the biggest problem with memory tricks? Remembering to use them, of course. There are many memory techniques that work well, but you'll forget them when you need them most - unless you make using them a habit. Seeing Problems From Their Creative Side Did you know that winning actually puts less wear and tear on the body than worrying? And did you know that you could worry yourself sick to the point that you'll end up in a hospital bed? And that, depending on the severity of the problem, when it becomes chronic and acceptable mode of conduct, it could lead to options beyond hospitalization? It could very well lead to imprisonment or interment!Dr. Charles H. Gift of a Letter "What cannot letters inspire? They have souls; they can speak; they have in them all that force which expresses the transports of the heart; they have all the fire of our passions." Letter from Heloise to Abelard (from Gift of a Letter by Alexandra Stoddard)Just returning from the National Stationery Show in New York City, I was struck by the energetic "forward motion" of the thousands of vendors still enthusiastic about the power of the hand-written note. Why Creative Visualization Works Experience has shown that creative visualization works. It is quite possible to prove that circumstances and events follow thoughts. Top Ten Reasons To Start Creativity Coaching DEVELOP YOUR ARTISTIC CONFIDENCE I'd really like to write but I don't have enough time. Creativity coaching can give you back control over your calendar. 3 Simple Steps To Solving Problems You can move beyond your stuck states by contemplating all the possible consequences of your own particular situation.What is it that you want to work in your life?What inner obstacles prevent you from achieving the successful outcome you desire?Once you have confronted your own fears, pulled the emotional skeleton's out of your mental closet, then you will be ready to take stock of your current situation, look at it objectively, and try out new strategies. Think Orange! Creativity and the Sacral Chakra Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could just flick a switch and turn on your creativity? Sadly, at times, tapping into your creativity can feel like trying to squeeze water from a stone. The good news is, there are ways of encouraging creativity and one of these ways is through balancing your sacral chakra. Creating Reality - Discovering the Magician Within We all create our own reality each and every day, whether we are aware of the power that we possess or not. We all have a built-in mechanism that runs twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three-hundred-sixty-five days a year, non-stop. |
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |