For strategiies, you Managing inflammation through mindfulness ask your strtegies how the Creativs story they are reading relates to Cardiovascular exercise and improved lung capacity story they have already read. By approaching planning with a creative thinking mindset, you can surface ideas and plans which may not have come up with a more traditional planning process. Concept maps represent knowledge graphic form.

Creative thinking strategies -

But what happens if you create a rule like, we cannot spend any money, or, these must be driven by social media alone. In order to accomplish your goal under these conditions, you must think more creatively and deeply, deploying more concentrated problem-solving skills than if you could try any approach you wanted.

Alternatively, you might approach a problem with a framework that forces you to think under specific circumstances or with a rigid set of steps. Six thinking hats is a great workshop activity that asks participants to frame and reframe a problem from six different angles.

While it might first seem counterintuitive, the use of rules or frameworks can create fertile ground for creative thinking and lead to more realized solutions! The Six Thinking Hats creative thinking meeting facilitation problem solving issue resolution idea generation conflict resolution.

The Six Thinking Hats are used by individuals and groups to separate out conflicting styles of thinking. They enable and encourage a group of people to think constructively together in exploring and implementing change, rather than using argument to fight over who is right and who is wrong.

Not all problems are created equal. Depending on how much it directly affects you, you might see a given problem as being more or less important than your colleagues, leading to a different response and approach to solving the problem.

This creative thinking skill is all about being able to switch between seeing the bigger picture while also considering how something might manifest on a smaller scale. Think of how frustrating it can be when an executive team makes sweeping changes that affect frontline staff in a way they might not have anticipated.

Micro and macro thinking means seeing both problems and potential solutions from multiple perspectives and adjusting accordingly.

Another key aspect of applying this approach is knowing the limits of your own knowledge and involving stakeholders from all levels of an organization to inform your ideation and problem-solving process.

Stakeholder Round Robin Brainstorm idea generation brainstorming perspectives remote-friendly online. Learning to practice micro and macro thinking often starts with first listening to and understanding the needs and perspectives of others.

Especially those who have varied positions in relation to the problem, solutions, or organization you are working with. Stakeholder Round Robin Brainstorm is an effective method of surfacing insights and perspectives quickly and productively. Of all the creative thinking skills on this list, visual thinking might be one you are most familiar with.

Visual thinking is a method of processing, learning, and presenting information and concepts with visual assets such as images. Visual thinking is often associated with creative thinking because of the consumption and creation of images at its heart.

Applying this creative thinking skill means being able to interpret visual information, present concepts in an often simple visual manner, and communicate in a way that is more universally understood.

Drawing stick people is actively encouraged! Visual approaches to problem-solving can help foster shared understanding and help people be more succinct or creative in their ideas.

Remember: if an idea is too complex to be put into pictures, perhaps it needs further refinement. Imagie-ination idea generation gamestorming.

Images have the ability to spark insights and to create new associations and possible connections. That is why pictures help generate new ideas, which is exactly the point of this exercise.

While you might be able to jump straight into direct applications of visual thinking, it can help to try an exercise where you and a group explore using images simply and engagingly. Imagie-ination helps unlock the power of visual thinking as a team while also helping generate ideas too!

Abstraction or abstract thinking is the art of taking things out of their normal context and presenting them in a radical new light. You can create a similar effect by recontextualizing ideas, concepts, and problems and by looking at them from different, perhaps even conflicting points of view.

Abstract thinking is often built on engaging with absurdities, paradoxes, and unexpected connections. As such, it can often be fun, wild and surprising, and is a great way to generate creative ideas even in those who might be resistant to other forms of creative thinking.

Lean into the weird! Forced Analogy divergent thinking zoom virtual remote-friendly. Forced Analogy is a quick, fun activity you can use to promote abstract thinking. Comparing one thing to another seemingly unrelated thing asks for a creative approach to context and metaphor and can really unlock a groups divergent thinking process.

Telling stories or narrativizing a problem can help us not only see things differently but understand where we share common ground with others. Leverage this inclination to help people not only realize they are creative thinkers by nature but to help them share something of themselves too! As a creative thinking skill, storytelling is about applying our natural proclivity for stories into new situations or thinking about how to reappraise or present material narratively.

Think of the basic storytelling concept like the idea that all stories have a beginning, middle, and end — how might we bring this thinking to a tough challenge, a new product, or when solving a customer complaint? Whichever way you go, remember that stories are a universal element of culture and you have a rich lineage to dip into if you need a new perspective.

Telling Our Stories hyperisland team teambuilding. To work effectively together team members need to build relations, show trust, and be open with each other. This method supports those things through a process of structured storytelling.

Team members answer questions related to their childhood, young adulthood, and now; then weave them into a story to share with the rest of their team. Telling Stories in a collaborative space is one of the best ways you can approach creative thinking through narrative.

By doing this activity as a team, you can help a group see the benefit of applying storytelling approaches outside of more traditional forms.

The trick with making reflective space work as a larger part of your working practice is knowing when to take time to reflect, building space into your regular schedule, and finding techniques that allow things to surface effectively.

This might mean going for a walk with the intention to be present in noticing the world around you and gaining insights that can help your situation. It might also mean remembering to take time to rest or simply read and give your brain something good to chew on.

I notice, I wonder design observation empathy issue analysis. Observation and intuition are critical design tools. This exercise helps you leverage both. In a creative thinking context, reflection often means giving an idea time to unfurl and to resist the temptation to force it — by creating space to observe and reflect with I notice, I wonder you might see new ways of thinking emerge naturally.

When we began working on a site-wide redesign, we had to deploy a large number of creative thinking skills to make the process smooth and effective.

When first determining how to approach the project and scope the work, we reviewed how we had worked together on large projects in the past. While we saw there was room to improve, finding the best way to proceed and make the changes we needed was no easy task.

Challenging the entire process from start to finish with a creative thinking mindset and trying to stay open to alternative methods where possible was what unlocked the process for us. By reconsidering how we were running meetings, sharing feedback, and collaborating, we were able to identify where we were going wrong and then try alternative approaches more freely.

This really helped us refine the working process and tailor it to our particular team and goals. Another example came with finding a new approach when work stalled on a specific page.

For our features page, we began by following the standard approach we had developed — writing the copy and structuring the page first before then following with illustrations and images. In this case, our existing approach got us to an impasse : it felt difficult for our designer to be creative and find the best way to translate ideas into images if the copy had already been defined and the structure felt too rigid.

What we decided to do was to reverse the workflow completely and allow the designer to create design elements before we wrote the copy and implemented too rigid a structure.

Throughout the project, creative thinking allowed us to challenge whether the existing way we did something was the right one and gave us scope to experiment and be open when finding solutions.

Not only did this help us solve the immediate problems as they arose but they helped us come up with a great new design too! Creative thinking can come in extremely handy when it comes to communicating.

Like many virtual teams, we faced the challenge of some meetings feeling unproductive. The issues ranged from overrunning, crosstalk, not everyone feeling heard or able to contribute, or getting lost in ancillary discussions that were not productive or necessary.

In an online setting, it can be hard to keep everyone on track and for things to run smoothly without accidentally talking over one another or causing frustration. Using the finger rules technique in a remote setting allowed people to easily show when they wanted to speak and what they wanted to discuss without disrupting the flow of the meeting.

In this example, we moved to a weekly format while also ensuring that we continue daily check-ins on Slack. This method is an example of creatively approaching a communication problem by thinking outside of the box and being prepared to challenge core assumptions.

While we all wanted to stay informed, it really helped to reconsider the methods for staying informed and whether our current approach was the best way to achieve what we needed. Remember that looking to others and being inspired by how they did things can be as transformative as trying to reinvent the wheel!

A final example is how we approached collaborating on creating the new design. While all projects at SessionLab feature collaboration between multiple parties, in this case we wanted to create space for everyone on the team to contribute. We found that when trying to collectively brainstorm in a live, remote session, it became difficult for everyone to contribute and reflect on what was being shared by other members of the team effectively.

Some people had been able to prepare less than others, other people were less aware of all the circumstances of the project, or others were less able to switch gears during their working day.

This led to some contributions being missed, a messier working process, and a feeling of being rushed — all of which lead to less effective outcomes than we might have hoped for. In this case, we thought of how asynchronous work , reflection time, and some small process changes might help solve the problems we were running into.

We wanted to be able to respond to what was being shared more effectively while also creating space for everyone to contribute in a way that was most productive for them. Starting the brainstorming session in personal MURAL boards asynchronously and on our own time meant everyone was able to ideate at the time that was best for them and without any distractions.

This approach reduced the amount of time we actively spent working together in a meeting while improving the quality of the work. It helped people engage with the process, reduced potential frustration, and also meant we were more able to respond fully to the suggestions of others.

This was a great example of how thinking creatively and learning from others can help create better outcomes and a more streamlined process. Thinking about the creative thinking skills above and considering which you might be missing or could benefit from purposeful attention is a great place to start, though there are also some concrete ways you can approach the process and improve your creative thinking abilities in a pinch.

All skills get better with practice and creative thinking is no exception. The very act of being open to new approaches and perspectives is itself a way to improve your creative thinking skill set.

However you try to implement creative thinking, know that exploration, iteration, and practice are fundamental parts of the process. Try starting small and practice your creative thinking skills in your interpersonal relationships and collaborative projects.

Take note of how it goes and try building up to larger and larger implementations of your creative thinking approaches. A key part of cultivating or improving any new skill is to be fully present and aware when utilizing that skill.

Consider how a sculptor needs to be aware of their materials, how they handle the material and place them on the board in order to be truly successful. Being present in the moment is important for any collaborative process, but is an especially vital aspect of creative thinking.

If you find yourself frustrated, excited, engaged, or stuck, make a mental note of how you are feeling and consider how you might do things differently. Staying present and actively engaging with how a situation makes you feel before responding is one of the most effective ways of cultivating and improving your creative thinking — be sure to give it a go!

Good ideas and finding new approaches can take time and an important part of the creative thinking process is creating space not only for reflection but to rest and allow things to surface.

This might mean building more quiet, mindful time into your routine, reading and finding new inspiration, or simply learning to take a break. While this can be difficult to get into the habit of, it does get easier with time. Try blocking out reflective time in your calendar or letting others know that you are taking the time in order to make it stick and avoid interruptions.

One of the biggest barriers to thinking creatively is simply not being open to what is in front of you. Try to stay open and apply creative thinking without pressure or being overly critical in order to improve those skills and let more creative approaches surface in the future.

One of the best ways to find new perspectives and alternative ways of thinking is by looking to others. Try finding sources outside of your normal circles, whatever the medium. It can be very easy to get into creative bubbles that might unwittingly exclude new forms of thinking.

By broadening your social, creative and critical circles , you can be exposed to all kinds of potentially inspiring or creatively engaging ways of thinking and doing. An important aspect of creative thinking is applying the learnings from one discipline or approach to another.

If a developer were to throw themselves into learning how to dance, they might learn something they can apply to their role as a developer. An open and honest desire to explore new experiences in and outside of your working life is a vital ingredient in the creative thinking process.

Try saying yes to doing new things wherever you can find them — being alive to possibility and engaging in the world is a great way of supercharging your creativity! Creativity is even better when shared. Try bringing a group together to explore thinking creatively together or run a workshop on developing creative thinking skills in the workplace.

Not only will it help your participants with their own creative discovery, but it will also help you develop your own creative skills. At its heart, creative thinking is an empathic, generative act, and by bringing those concepts to the fore, we believe everyone can see better outcomes when solving problems, generating ideas or communicating with others.

That said, this list is by no means exhaustive and there are many more ways you might try thinking creatively. Think of this post as a jumping-off point for further exploration and creative development! Did you find any of the creative thinking methods above particularly helpful?

Very nice information. Thanks for posting such an informative blog. Creative thinking is an unconventional thinking that looks at an issue from different perspectives. Your email address will not be published.

Facilitation skills can be applied in a variety of contexts, such as meetings, events, or in the classroom. Arguably, the setting in which facilitation skills shine the most is the design and running of workshops.

Workshops are dedicated spaces for interaction and learning. They are generally very hands-on, including activities such as simulations or games designed to practice specific skills. Additional Resources. Web page: Benjamin Bloom, influential education researcher Slide show: Creative Thinking.

Brainstorming Visualization. Remembering Remembering is recalling information. Metaphorical thinking Conceptual blending Using forced connections Perspective shifting. Understanding Understanding is knowing what the information means. Square-pegging Modeling Role-playing Using manipulative verbs.

It helps one think about what would be appropriate if the problem were of a different order of magnitude. How: After defining a problem to be addressed or idea to develop, list all the component parts of the idea or if a problem, its objectives and constraints. Choosing one component, develop ways of exaggerating it and note them on a separate sheet.

The fishbone technique uses a visual organizer to identify the possible causes of a problem. This technique discourages partial or premature solutions and demonstrates the relative importance of, and interactions between, different parts of a problem.

How: On a broad sheet of paper, draw a long arrow horizontally across the middle of the page pointing to the right. Label the arrowhead with the title of the issue to be explained. Sub-spurs can represent subsidiary causes. Ideally, the fishbone is redrawn so that position along the backbone reflects the relative importance of the different parts of the problem, with the most important at the head.

This method simply asks the Who? and How? when problem-solving or decision-making. Laddering techniques involve the creation, reviewing and modification of hierarchical knowledge.

In a ladder containing abstract ideas or concepts, the items lower down are details or sub-sets of the ones higher up, so one moves between the abstract and concrete. Laddering can help students understand how an expert categorizes concepts into classes, and can help clarify concepts and their relationships.

Why questions are ladders up; so-what questions are ladders down. Negative brainstorming involves analyzing a short list of existing ideas, rather than the initial massing of ideas as in conventional brainstorming. Examining potential failures is relevant when an idea is new or complex or when there is little margin for error.

Evaluating these negative ideas can lead to possible positive solutions. In most role-playing exercises, each student takes the role of a person affected by an issue and studies an issue or events from the perspective of that person. How: Role plays should give the students an opportunity to practice what they have learned and should interest the students.

Provide concrete information and clear role descriptions so that students can play their roles with confidence. Once the role play is finished, spend some time on debriefing.

The method uses action verbs to stimulate ideas and creative thinking. How: By providing a list of active verbs that may be associated with your problem and hence will create ideas.

The verbs are about doing to get students to think about the action. Post-up can gather ideas from large groups, numbering from the dozens to the hundreds.

Participants are given slips of paper or Post-it notes and asked to write down ideas which are discussed or evaluated. How: Each student is given a stack or note-pad of at least 25 small slips of paper or Post-it note pad. The pads can contain idea-jogging graphics or be designed so that ideas can be sorted and separated easily.

A question or problem is read to the group e. Students write down one idea per sheet, in any order. Once the writing begins to slow down students can post their ideas on a wall or flip-chart paper. Then, the students work as a group to discover and explore themes.

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