Creative Thinking

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In this session, you will learn the basic definitions of “creativity” from different authors as well as the many areas and fields in which it can be applied. We will expand your notion of creativity by exploring its different aspects: where and when can it be applied, what are the elements that compose it, what are its characteristics and the difference between creativity and imagination.

By the end of this session you should also be ready to set your own goals for the course and start working actively toward them.

There is an EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITY waiting for you now! Check the details in the additional material of this lecture.

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Let's dive in the world of Creativity!

• -Creativity definitions – from Csikszentmihalyi to Einstein! Find different definitions for Creativity.

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5 important things about creativity:

• -Creativity is everywhere
• -Why can't we say Creativity is a good or a bad thing.
• -Creativity belongs to humans, not objects. People are creative, objects are original
• -Everyone can be creative
• -Cultivate your Creative Confidence

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Why can't we say that Creativity is just about having ideas? Let´s dive more into this concept.

- Creativity vs. Imagination, according to Sir Ken Robinson

Creativity demands:

- Focus

- Structure

- Direction

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Three main elements need to exist for creativity to occur, according to Teresa Amabile:

• -Expertise
• -Creative Thinking skills
• -Motivation

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Let's summarize all that you learned during this first session!

- There is more than one definition of creativity.

- Creativity is everywhere and doesn't belong exclusively to the art world.

- Creativity is not good or bad in its essence and should be based on good values.

- Creativity belongs to humans and not to objects.

- The importance of cultivating your creative confidence.

- Creativity demands more than just having ideas. It demands knowledge, the creative thinking skills and the right motivation.

Take a look at the external links and suggested readings on the additional material of this session

You have an “experiential activity” in this section. If you haven't done it yet, check the additional material in lecture number 2.

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This session will be an invitation for you to take a moment before action. We will focus on the importance of stopping, of questioning the obvious, of exploring the power of vulnerability and of the past as good material to build the future.

After this session your consciousness will be more open and developed, primed to begin integrating different perspectives in the following sessions.

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The importance of “stopping” to enable the Creative process.

• -What does “stop” mean?
• -When should you stop and how long should you stop for?
• -Different ways of stopping:

- meditation

- talking to someone

- writing to someone / to yourself

- taking a walk

- exploring your own way!

There is an EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITY waiting for you now! Check the details in the additional material of this lecture.

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The importance of questioning what you consider to be obvious and what you may take for granted. How does this make you be more aware of your reality, how does this widen your perspective?

- The importance of questioning the obvious and questioning everything you take for granted.

- Examples of seeing the same things with a wider perspective, for example:

- Some stereotypes

- Some habits and visions in society

- Our usual reality

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Vulnerability is a fundamental aspect of the Creative process.

Exploring the relationship between Vulnerability and Creativity.

- Be open to what is different

- Be open with yourself

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What role does the past play on creativity?

- Using your acquired knowledge, everything that you have learned over the years, and building on it.

- Taking your acquired knowledge as a basis

- "Building on the ideas of others”

Considering the past and your acquired knowledge ensures that:

- we are not “re-inventing the wheel”

- we have more pieces to work with

- we are making a difference, in fact, adding value

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Here is the summary of this session on Consciousness. We have looked at:

- The importance of taking a moment to stop in order to gain consciousness about all the processes and to make important and conscious decisions. You decide how to do it, the way it works better for you.

- The importance of acting consciously by questioning the obvious, the stereotypes and what you usually take for granted.

- The role of vulnerability: accepting others and exposing your own vulnerability.

- Acquired knowledge and its importance in creating your future.

You have an “experiential activity” in this section. If you haven't done it yet, check the additional material in lecture number 9.

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In this session you will be invited to go on a trip around the “world of possibilities”. You will be challenged to reflect on the huge amount of realities that coexist at the same time and to keep them in mind when creating. The concept of thinking big will be explained through an exercise during the class. You will be reminded all the time that your way of seeing the world is just one of the many possible ways. This session will be focused on broadening the spectrum of possibility constantly. You will also be invited to dive into the theme of empathy, as part of the complete understating of the reality.

This entire session is focused on preparing your mindset for change and for differences.

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This session is about opening perspectives and about thinking big:

- What other worlds exist, and how do you perceive them?

- Are you open enough to see the differences?

- Are you aware of the huge amount of realities that coexist at this exact same time?

Thinking big means expanding the way we see the world and opening the box of possibilities. It's as if we can see not only our usual and closer reality, but we can also gain consciousness of other realities, other possibilities. So when you think big, your universe expands as well, you can see more and you can see further.

There is an EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITY waiting for you now! Check the details in the additional material of this lecture.

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In order to create, we will need an open mindset, absent from prejudices and misconceptions. You need a mindset that is also able to receive inputs that are different from what you already know and what you are used to.

When we talk about “opening perspective” we mean broadening the spectrum of possibility, creating space in your mind to integrate differences, things that you have never thought of before. Alternatively it could be your normal reality, but seen from a different point of view.

So, always keep in mind, that when you are in the creative process, it is good to consider:

- Different cultures

- Different times

- Different places

- Different resources

Use these and other questions to make you more aware of other possibilities.

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Empathy - the idea of being able to “put yourself in another person´s shoes”. This means putting yourself into their place and understanding their life, their problems or issues from their real point of view, and not according to what you think their reality is.

It's only when you know those other realities from within, and you understand how they actually work, by getting closer, that you can receive information and inspiration from them.

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This section was about the importance of opening perspective and thinking big.

• It is really important to never forget that we are not alone in the world and that we are only a small part of all that can happen. It is important to think big and understand all the possibilities, all we can reach, thinking of different cultures, different countries and different realities.
• Put your empathy into practice. That is what makes it possible to understand other realities from within.
• Keep your mind open and let inspiration come to you. This will enable you to make the most unexpected connections.
• And, as always, don't forget to see the suggested readings and external links.

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In this session you will be taken into the many aspects related to inspiration. From the places where you can get it, to the way you can filter inspiration, to how you receive it and from whom. You will learn to identify inspiration everywhere and in the most unexpected places and to question why those things inspire you.

You will also understand the importance of past knowledge as a source of inspiration, using it to create the future.

The process of developing respect and honesty toward the works that inspire you will be also discussed, so you can keep important attitudes for a clean creative mindset.

There is an EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITY waiting for you now! Check the details in the additional material of this lecture.

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Use the knowledge - what already exists - to start your own creative process, or to move your ideas forward.

Search for things that have already been used, created or explored. Google it, research about it, see what has been done before.

Explore some examples that explain the importance of having a global knowledge about other initiatives.

Start looking for inspiration in things that have already happened. It will inspire you for the "world of possibilities" we were mentioning in the last session.

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When you get inspiration from material that was created by other people, do not forget to mention his/her name or to quote him/her.

Respect other people's work by:

• Mentioning his/her name on the work that you are using as inspiration
• Building on his/her ideas.

Being fair, honest and open when creating is a fundamental attitude to keep your creative mindset clean.

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Some examples showing the importance of inspiration:

• Humans Thinking-Big inspired on Humans of New York.
• Our collage inspired on the Soulsight collage.

Projects in which you can find inspiration:

• The Birthday project
• TED talks
• Hypeness
• One minute wonder TV
• Creative Mornings meetings

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Inspiration is everywhere and can come from the most unexpected places – from simple things as Facebook or Twitter to great experiences from others. Go ahead and take inspiration from others, building on their ideas.

If you're thinking about creating new things, see what has already been done first. Explore how it has been done in other countries and how can you add value.

Have your mind open so you can be able to receive inspiration from everywhere and everyone that surrounds you.

Don't forget to check all the suggested readings and explore the projects and examples presented on the last video.

You have an “experiential activity” in this section. If you haven't done it yet, check the additional material in lecture number 19.

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The role of “others” in the creative process is fundamental. In this session you will learn to view “others” as a creative tribe who can both inspire and co-create with you.

You will reflect on what you have to gain from both different people and similar people in your creativity network and why. You will also learn about the concept of diverse strengths and of how they can add value to a team, when they are recognized and used. You will learn how all this is put into practice through real world examples and true stories. We will leave you an invitation to stay connected, enhancing the extreme relevance of “others” for the creative process.

Some tips for the process of building your creative path:

1) Take care of your relationships

2) Learn from others

3) Share and exchange know-how with others

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This time we are going to challenge you to open your network. Let's talk about the importance of joining people who are different from you and people who are similar to you.

1) What do you have to earn by joining people who are similar to you? (What some authors call “your tribe”):

• -It helps you reinsure your ideas
• -It helps you reinsure your perspectives
• -It gives you the feeling of being amongst someone who can understand you

• -It helps you complement your ideas
• -It gives you the vision of different approaches, distinct visions about the problem and about life in general.
• -It makes your creative team richer, by having different strengths at play.

There is an EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITY waiting for you now! Check the details in the additional material of this lecture.

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The concept of “Strength” is a very important construct from Positive Psychology (that studies what makes people and societies flourish).

Strengths are your built-in capacities for certain thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and that make you feel energized when being used.

Recognizing and applying your strengths and finding in others the strengths that complement yours will enrich your creative process.

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Some of the innumerous examples of services based on “collaboration”:

- Carsharing

- Couchsurfing

- Busuu

Find your own way of collaborating with people who are different from you and who are similar to you.

Don't forget that “OTHER PEOPLE MATTER”, as Christopher Peterson said.

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-The big take home message is: “Other people matter!”. If you want to go further in your creative process, go together.

-Collaboration is an important key for the creative process.

-Create synergies with people from your tribe (people that think and see things in a similar way) but never forget to consider also the perspectives and points of view from those who can see and do things in a different way.

-Use your strengths and surround yourself with people that can complement them, creating your best possible team.

-Explore all the additional readings and resources.

You have an “experiential activity” in this section. If you haven't done it yet, check the additional material in lecture number 25.

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This is the first session of the second content block, focused on applied tools for the creative process. The course starts getting more practical here. In this session you will learn some of the important characteristics of the creative process: fluidity, flexibility, originality, and the use of intuition. After this, you will explore its phases and the importance of understanding them in the context of real world situations. You will understand how it works and some concepts that come together with it: the importance of iteration and the place for failure. After exploring these practical aspects, we challenge you to find your own way of registering information from the outside and creating your own journey. At the end, we will give you some practical clues to adapting the process to yourself, using two important attitudes that will protect it and enhance it.

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The creative process should have the following characteristics:

• Fluidity - going after quantity
• Flexibility - generating ideas applied to different contexts, forms
• Originality - coming up with surprising ideas, looking for novelty
• It must be Intuitive – It invites you to follow mainly your intuition, without judging.

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The creative process should follow these steps:

1) Preparation – gathering as much information as you can. Reading, observing, researching.

2) Incubation - time to let everything settle down a little, doing something different without thinking of the original problem/challenge. The three “B's” (bed, bath, bus) represent those moments when you leave your mind lose and ideas generally appear.

3) Illumination” - the “Aha moment”, when the idea or the insight arises.

4) Evaluation - when you are going to confirm the viability of your ideas and use your judgment to evaluate them.

5) Implementation - when you try to put it into practice.

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Some important aspects you also have to consider when studying the steps of the creative process:

1) It is important to respect these phases, allowing yourself time for each one.

Try to make this process your own process. Adapt to your own needs and rhythm.

2) Following all this steps doesn't guarantee you that you will indeed find a solution. Don't give up if that happens and allow the process to evolve. The creative process is Iterative - it involves repetition.

3) Failure makes part of the process and makes it richer.

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An important habit we would like you to gain along this course is finding your time to register your creative process.

It is important to find a tool or platform where you can gather important information, things that inspire you:

• A box to collect objects
• An app to register ideas and quotes, images,…
• A notebook where you can write and draw what inspires you

It is important to explore and chose one for yourself, so you can filter reality and you are able to use what you take from it.

There is an EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITY waiting for you now! Check the details in the additional material of this lecture.

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Two clues for your own creative process:

- Be patient. Don't rush yourself and don't be hard on your rhythm. Slow down for some reflection from time to time, and enjoy the way.

- Practice. Practicing new ways of seeing things, reading more books and magazines, watching more inspiring videos, talking to people,…

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This was the first session of the second block, starting on the practical world of creativity.

- Remember the characteristics of the creative process: it must be fluid, flexible, original and intuitive.

- Follow the creativity steps – preparation, incubation, illumination, evaluation and implementation.

- As you saw all this process is iterative, and therefore it implies repetition and starting again, if needed.

- Consider failing as something positive and that makes part of the creative process.

- Adapt the process to yourself and explore it, being patient and practicing.

- Explore the readings and additional materials.

You have an “experiential activity” in this section. If you haven't done it yet, check the additional material in lecture number 33.

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After this session you will be able to explore divergent and convergent thinking to come up with new ideas and to systematize them. You will learn about specific techniques for each of the types of thought and learn when and how to implement them. Fundamental aspects of idea generation will be explored and discussed, so you can keep ideas coming in an organized, focused, free-flowing manner.

You will also be able to prepare practical aspects of your own creativity sessions.

After this session, you will run to the closest shop to buy as many colorful sticky notes you can find.

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• Divergent thinking - a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions.

• Convergent thinking - a thought process or method focused on searching a “correct” solution or the most appropriate for that case. Here, we look for similarities and we focus on trying to group ideas.

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Before you start exploring any tool, it is important to list the material and conditions that are needed:

a) Time - Make sure that before starting to use a technique, you assign enough free time to do it.

b) Space – For some of the activities you will need an empty wall or a board, or even a nice and empty floor or an empty table. Make sure you provide more space if you are doing a group session.

c) Material - Sticky-notes (colorful and with different sizes), pens, markers, paper or card, some old magazines that you can cut, scissors and tape.

Some conditions to keep in mind when creating:

1) - Start any activity by checking the material you will need and creating space to do it.

2)- Try to always keep the various ideas that are arriving visible, by writing them on sticky notes, for example and putting them on a wall or a board.

3)- Don't just follow instructions for each technique. Study them first and then adapt them to your context, to the material you have available and to your own style.

4)- For techniques that are made in a group, make sure you start your encounter with a small group warm up (moving, dancing, laughing,…)

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List of some of the many techniques available to generate ideas:

1) Brainstorming - gathering spontaneous ideas from a person or a group.

Rules for brainstorming, that are applied to most of the divergent techniques as well:

1- Differ judgment

2- Encourage wild ideas

3- Building on the ideas of others

4- Stay focused on the topics

5- One conversation at the time

6- Be visual

7- Go for quantity

2) “Free association” of ideas.

3) “Unexpected associations”

4) “Think in Extremes”

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Some of the several techniques used to organize and group ideas:

1) Metaplan - organizing ideas into clusters

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Explore the dynamics and make them yours. Choose the ones that adapt better to you and to the work you are doing or your goal.

Practice makes perfection – practicing these techniques will improve your ability and flexibility to apply them.

There is an EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITY waiting for you now! Check the details in the additional material of this lecture.

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As you could see there are a lot of available techniques. We just went through some of them. It is important that you explore them and try to gather more information about the ones that you may find more appropriate to you and to your needs.

Since practice makes it perfect, the more you apply them, the better for your expertise.

You have an “experiential activity” in this section. If you haven't done it yet, check the additional material in lecture number 41.

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In the course we will also consider those times when creativity doesn't flow and inspiration doesn't come. Session number 8 will be focused on exploring the possible blocks to creativity and some practical suggestions to overcome or avoid them. Not only will you explore practical techniques, but also your attitude towards creativity blocks: the fundamental role of optimism and courage to face the process without excuses and with proactivity. Some strategies used by Design Thinking will be discussed here, to increase your ability to face and overcome blocks.

A positive message at the end will keep you on the right track.

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We call a creativity block to these shorter or longer periods in which creativity is not simply flowing. We feel stuck and it seems that inspiration is not coming at all.

Though there are a lot of perspectives about the creativity blocks, we will explore 4 of them:

1) Environment & Society:

“My routine doesn't let me”

“This environment doesn't allow me”

“But then, my parents…”

“There's no budget for that…”

2) Perspectives & Knowledge:

“I don't understand what's the point”

“I studied something else”

“I'm not an expert in that”

“We have different points of view”

3) Emotions:

“I don't like to take risks”

“That would seem ridiculous!...”

“What's the use of it? No one is going to like it, anyway!”

“What if it doesn't work?”

“It's always the same thing, I know!”

“I don't see it that way!”

“All the books I read say the opposite”

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Creativity is focused on a positive attitude, so it is important to keep present Ed Catmull's sentence: “There are many blocks to creativity, but there are active steps we can take to protect the creative process”

The role of Optimism in creativity: “Optimism is the thing that kind of drives you forward. It's possible, you know?”- John Bilenberg

Practical ways to train your optimism:

• Replacing the "If only I” or the “If only they..." for "How Might I…? or “How might we...".

• Not pushing, but accepting that these blocks happen, respecting your rhythm and other peoples' rhythms. Allow yourself to observe what is happening.

• The importance of courage. Daring to try facing these blocks.

There is an EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITY waiting for you now! Check the details in the additional material of this lecture.

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1) “Get inspired!” – Go for a walk, talk to someone, meet some friends, go to an art exhibition or to a nice bookshop,..

2) Use the “round of suggestions” to get different perspectives about the situation that is bothering you. Use questions such as “How would you manage this?” ,“What would you do, if you were in my situation?”

3) If the block is coming from your fears or insecurities, just face them. By facing your fears you will learn a lot about yourself and maybe discover that you already have what you need to overcome what was blocking you.

Keep an optimistic attitude.

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• Accept that there are moments that you just feel blocked, stuck, when you aren't able to create.

• We can feel blocked by obstacles that we feel that are coming from the society or from within ourselves (perceptions or emotions).

• Let the excuses go

• Explore some of the tips and advises to overcome these blocks when they come.

• Don't forget to check the list of additional material after each lecture.

You have an “experiential activity” in this section. If you haven't done it yet, check the additional material in lecture number 45.

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Once the proper mindset and some practical aspects are defined, the creative mindset is ready to be applied. In this third segment you will start exploring the various applications of creative thinking to your personal life, through three different examples that serve as triggers for many others: work, education and aspects from daily life (personal style, organization of time and DIY initiatives). Basically, the challenge will be to explore and re-think your personal life and your choices, always with the clear notion that personal reinvention is indeed possible, through creative thinking.

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Re-think your way at work.

• Explore how can you be inspired to do your work in a creative way.
• Explore possibilities when creating your own work.

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Explore creativity applied to formal and non-formal education, by applying:

• Different interactions
• Different ways of teaching and learning
• Different approaches
• Different tools (using the body, music, group dynamics,…)

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Explore how you can apply creativity in the small everyday thing, by re-thinking:

1) Your personal fashion style?

2) The way you organize your time.

3) Doing DIY projects

Remember that Creativity can be applied everywhere.

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The main goal of this section is to open your perspectives about the “world of possibilities” in everyday life.

If you could take 2 examples that could trigger your mind into a process of reflection, our goal is accomplished.

Keep getting inspiration and learning from other examples and cases, since that will help you believe that those “different things” you never tried before are indeed possible.

Are you being creative in your life and in your choices?

There is an EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITY waiting for you now! Check the details in the additional material of this lecture.

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This is the last block of this course, centered on applied creativity.

You have an “experiential activity” in this section. If you haven't done it yet, check the additional material in lecture number 52.