How to Improve Your Creativity
Mark Simmons
DRIVING GROWTH THROUGH LEADERSHIP, CLEAR THINKING, STRATEGY AND CREATIVITY
How can you improve your creativity? Well, first let’s look at what creative problem solving looks like by doing a fun word association game.
Here are three words:?cheese, ocean, sky. Can you come up with a fourth that fits with each? (One answer is?blue, as in blue cheese, blue ocean and blue sky.) Problems like this one can be solved either by trial and error, or through insight where we get that “A-HA! moment” that often accompanies a creative leap. If you were an ancient Greek, “Eureka!” might be your cry.
We are all creative!
We all have the ability to think creatively, and certain activities can bring out that ability. Musicians, for instance, tend to think creatively. But just?listening to music also has a positive effect on creativity?as does?playing video games?or?engaging in aerobic activity. These activities put us in a positive mood and increase blood flow to the brain. To flex your creative muscle try some other word associations (answers at the bottom):
Light – Birthday – Stick
Cross – Rain – Tie
Boot – Summer – Ground
Manners – Round – Tennis
Health – Taker – Less
Off – Trumpet – Atomic
Carpet – Alert – Ink
(Answers at the bottom.)
领英推荐
Adam Green, director of the Georgetown Laboratory for Relational Cognition and president-elect of the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity, told?Entrepreneur.com:?“Creativity isn’t made out of a magical fairy part of the brain. It’s essentially using all the same tools that go into doing everything else … but applying those tools in creativity-specific ways.”
You can be creative if you choose to
When people try to think more creatively, they usually can. Green says that “cells that fire together, wire together.” The more you use your brain to do something, the stronger the connections between the cells involved become. We need to?dedicate more time in?our day to actively thinking, which usually means unplugging from email, social media and more.?Try putting this idea into action in your everyday routine by avoiding bringing your phone to bed or to the bathroom. Turn off notification settings for social media apps and email. Consider dedicating specific time in your day to thinking creatively.
Other advice Green gives is to change your surroundings, even if just minimally. Creativity “nudges” can come from changes as small as a warmer cup of coffee or different colors in the room. Try switching out some of the items on your desk, orienting yourself differently or doing an overhaul of the bulletin board you sit facing. Know that those “nudges” don’t only pertain to your physical surroundings — they’re also connected to your social setting. Take advantage of opportunities to periodically work in different areas of the office, sit with new colleagues or invite people from different departments to lunch.
Although you might not have much control over your work environment, making any possible adjustments could translate to a significant creativity boost. “You want your physical and social surroundings to change,” says Robert Epstein, senior research psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology. “If it’s the same old stuff on the walls and your desk — and the same people you’re talking to — that’s not necessarily good for creativity.”
Other techniques for getting a creative mindset
Motivational speaker Tony Robbins has some?useful advice?to having a more creative mindset:
Workshops to boost creativity
There are dozens of simple techniques like these that can boost creativity. Our creativity workshops help organizations improve creative thinking and innovation to improve productivity and competitiveness.
(Answers: Candle, Bow, Camp, Table, Care, Blast, Red)