Here are seven ways you can instantly tap into your natural creativity and create anything you want.
1.Think like a child.
As adults, we tend to think in terms of showing how smart we are. As children, we were simply spontaneous and much more creative in our thinking. To regain your childlike curiosity, simply wonder about things and step away from what you thought was here and real.
2. Make new contacts.
You don't need a college degree to be innovative. All you have to do is connect existing ideas. For example, ice cream was invented in 2000 B.C., but it took another 3900 years for someone to come up with the idea of a cone. Combining two seemingly unrelated items and getting creative is what makes a genius.
3.Be a little illogical.
It's a typical western trait to want to pack things into neat bundles. We like solutions to problems and answers to questions. To be creative, you have to get used to what doesn't fit you. Eastern traditions are more consistent with disharmony. As in this Zen koan or question: What does one hand clapping sound like?
4. Try to smile more.
Tom Peters says that creativity in the workplace can be measured by the Laughter Meter, or how much people laugh. Humor is one of his best creative tools. It rips us out of our usual patterns and puts together ideas that shouldn't be put together. It has been found that students?ability to solve problems rises by 60% after listening to comedy tapes.
5. Think beyond your limits.
Many of the products we take for granted today are the result of people thinking outside the box. John Lynn recalls when he attended his first computer conference at a hotel in the 1980s, someone joked that they'd be thinking the next thing of would be computerised doors. When he returned to the same hotel twenty years later, every door was fitted with a computer-programmed keycard.
6. Adapt and Adopt.
You don't need blue-sky thinking to be creative. You can stay creative by adapting what works elsewhere. An American airline adopted the techniques of F1 pit crews because they wanted quicker turnarounds on their flights. Nature is another idea source? Georges de Mestral invented Velcro by adapting the way certain seeds stick to clothing.
7. Remember Your Dreams.
Dreams and daydreams allow you to relax and work with your subconscious mind to generate a wealth of ideas. The Roffey Park Management Institute calls this "washing-up creativity." This is because most flashes of inspiration happen while walking the dog or doing the washing up.
Apply these seven creative thinking techniques and make them part of your daily thinking. We guarantee that new solutions to problems will appear easily and quickly.
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