Creative Thinking Techniques
Creative thinking techniques are different methods of thinking that can help you deliberately think of new ideas and strategies for their execution. Please, pay attention to the word: deliberately. It means that a thinker does not need to rely on random strokes of inspiration but can train his mind to go beyond the boundaries of everyday thinking and discover new paths to finding unorthodox ideas.
Creative thinking techniques can be learned and successfully applied in everyday life no matter whether you are an artist, entrepreneur, professional or scientist. Anyone with average IQ and standard education can learn and benefit from using these techniques. Just like any other skill, creative thinking skills should be regularly practised if you wish to master them and use them as one of your thinking styles.
Creative thinking techniques that are most commonly taught and practised are:
Mind Mapping is a technique that is most useful in developing Associative Thinking skills. It explores connections between diverse pieces of information to create a visual map consisting of words and images. The technique was developed by Tony Buzan and can be used to search for new ideas, analyse things and processes or memorise large amounts of information. The beauty of this technique is that you can modify the way you group information until you find your own style of mind mapping.
This technique was developed by Prof. Dr Edward De Bono. It is also known as Six Thinking Hats technique because it teaches you how to use different thinking styles: Exploratory Thinking, Positive Thinking, Critical Thinking, Emotional Thinking, Creative Thinking and Focused Thinking. It can be used individually, but it is most powerful when used in group sessions because it encourages collaborative thinking among team members which leads to better communication, understanding and team-spirit and ultimately creates true creative culture.
Whichever of these creative thinking techniques you decide to explore and practice, be prepared to become surprised at how creative you can be.
If you like this and previous posts please share them with your creative friends or visit the NCY Podcast and listen to my shows about creativity.
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