2. Why is Creative Thinking Valuable To Worker?
3. How Creative Thinking Adds Value To Your Work!
1. What Is Creative Thinking? Definition and Meaning
A way of looking at problems or situations from a fresh perspective that suggests unorthodox solutions (which may look unsettling at first). Creative thinking can be stimulated both by an unstructured process such as brainstorming, and by a structured process such as lateral thinking.
2. Why Is Creative Thinking Valuable To Workers?
Creative Thinking techniques are designed to improve on logical thinking in different situations. They have been designed to take the weak points out of our thinking. Most importantly, as a large amount of time has gone into the clever design of creative thinking techniques they are able to save us time and effort in the long run. As they are based on a different way of thinking it is vital to keep an open mind when it comes to learning creative thinking techniques. Their counterintuitive nature will lead to valuable workflow improvements and insights that increase efficiency at work.
To highlight how creative thinking is capable to improve our work methods try answering the following questions:
When was the last time you thought about how you think?
Have you ever thought about your thinking process?
Have you ever designed a new (simple) process that takes advantage of your thinking style?
Have you thought about the limitations to your current thinking style?
If you answered NO to most or all of these questions you would not be alone. People have been relying on logical thinking for around 2400 years. There has been little change to thinking productivity in all these years. Creative thinking has been developed over the last 50 years and is based on finding methods to improve our thinking.
Creative thinking works very well on a few levels. Let’s take a look at one of these. Many creative thinking techniques are super simple yet very effective as they are based on provocation. That is a series of techniques designed to provoke us to think in a different way and easily break away from patterns of thinking which we have used in the past.
As an example, I am a toastmaster and have written many speeches to give at our meetings. I decided to write a new speech with a completely fresh style and message. I started out well but it did not take long and I found that I had fallen back into old habits . My speech sounded just like many that I had given in the past. This was easily solved when I heard a speech from another toastmaster on how he used a simple creative technique to provoke him to write a fresh and amazing speech each time. It seemed a little more work in the beginning but the result was far superior. The technique was to use a random word which we had to try to associate each element of our speech with.
“Creative thinking inspires ideas. Ideas inspire change” – Barbara Januszkiewicz
3. How Creative Thinking Adds Value To Your Work
I look at the Creative Thinking landscape, as a way to create a clear difference from other businesses or even staff members. The versatility that creative thinking brings to any individual is staggering. This is because there are literally dozens of creative thinking techniques already existing that are extremely effective in improving workflow and thinking style. More importantly, these techniques have been the product of tremendous thought to allow them to improve one or more specific work functions. Their brilliance is in the framework that strictly guides our thinking while leaving the result open to the flexibility to provide endless possibilities.
Try this simple creative exercise below to see how creativity works.
2 .. 5 … 9 …. 14 ….. 20 …… X
Can you figure out what X equals?
How did you go? How were you able to figure out what X equalled? If you said that you found a pattern then you were using logical thinking as it works on recognising patterns that we know from the past. The pattern was created by adding 3 to the first digit, 4 to the second, 5 to the third and 6 to the fourth. So X would equal 20 + 7 = 27. Logical thinking is fantastic for recognising and linking to patterns of the past. But it can hold you back when you want to create new and more creative answers to any challenges.
Did you notice the second pattern as well where each gap had one extra dot in it. If you did now you have crossed over to using one of the most valuable tools in creative thinking. It is the skill of being really observant. Simple yet effective. Developing a high level of observation will be a skill that will repay you handsomely for the rest of your life.
For example, high level observation skills could allow you to pick up what the most efficient staff are doing where you work. This would allow you to emulate their best work practices to improve your own working efficiency. Doing this could save you time and effort as well. That in turn would help you cope with high workloads and also lower stress levels.
I hope you have found this article helpful and that it will increase your interest in creative thinking. To build a better understanding of how to work less and achieve more please read the other articles on my blog.
A small request: If you liked this web page, please share it?
I know some people don’t share because they feel that website owners don’t need their “small” social share.
But here’s the thing…
A share from you would seriously help a lot with the growth of this site.
It won’t take more than 10 seconds of your time. The share buttons are right here.
Thank you so much!
Regards,
Eric Elsley
Work Less & Achieve More