Doris Lim, the owner of "CreativeThinkingForWomen.com", has only one thing in mind when she started this niche site, and that is to create awareness to the general public that you don't have to be a "rocket scientist" to have "creative thinking". She believes that no one should be thought of as being smarter or more creative just because one possesses a higher education. Of course, that helps a little. But, she believes that anyone can be taught to "think creatively". All one has to do is tap into that brain one has been born with and bring out the creative side. With so much knowledge and information available on the internet nowadays, it will take alot of effort, energy and time to select the best authors/writers, articles, tips and "how-to's" to come together in a creative process in this niche site and make it the "1-Stop Centre for Creative Thinking". And because Doris is a woman, this website will be dedicated to all "women", thus the name "CreativeThinkingForWomen.com" (Softly whispering... "men" are also welcome to visit).
A little bit of history about Doris. Having both an Asian and European background (Chinese and Portuguese), her thoughts are equally governed by both the East as well as the West. That accounts for her love of the English Language (she's being accused of having a British accent when she converses with Americans) and her obsession with Korean television serials (obviously, she has to make do with English subtitles). But, enough chit-chat.
Her credentials stem from her extensive years of experience working with "great minds" who "think creatively" and "act creatively". She has prepared speeches for politicians, consumer activists, assisted authors and researchers in the production of books and newsletters and also dabbled in the advertising and public relations sector.
Thus her quest now - to boldly go where no mind has gone before (no, we're not watching "Star Trek") and seek the BEST stuff out there in the "Cyber World" in order to share with her readers/subscribers, the various aspects of "Creative Thinking".
Two weeks ago, we learned that in order to resolve the complex challenges of our fast-paced business environment of the early 21st century, we need to become integrated whole-brain thinkers who balance analytical and creative thinking. Unfortunately, most businesspeople lack this cognitive balance, being excellent analytical and poor creative thinkers.
What can you do to boost your creative thinking abilities and turn your brain into a powerful, integrated thinking organism? Today, I will share with you six tips on how you can develop and build-up the right hemisphere of your neo-cortex to turn your brain into a powerful, integrated thinking machine.
1. Sign up for creativity training. Consider registering for creativity training. Ideally, your organisation should offer it in its training programme. If you work for a firm that doesn't invest in HR development or regards creativity training as useless, consider paying for a course by yourself (and looking for a new job with a more future-ready employer). A high-quality business creativity training of two or three days will equip you with the right creative mindset, a good mix of basic analytical and creative thinking tools, and valuable in-class exercises to build up your confidence; it will provide you with a solid foundation to then further expand your creative potential by using the other right brain-directed thinking activities that follow below.
2. Try yourself on creative puzzles. You may more or less regularly engage in physical exercise such as running, swimming, or going to a gym or yoga studio to flex your muscles. But when was the last time you made an effort to flex your mental muscles? Magazines and newspapers and a number of websites feature creative puzzles that help you do so. Here is one for you to try on yourself now: Below, you see a series of letters. Cross out 11 letters, so that the remaining letters, without altering their sequence, will spell a familiar word.
B E A L N E G V E K O N K L E P O T T S T E R S
3. Take a daydreaming break. Daydreaming is another superb right-brain workout programme that you can easily practise while taking a short creative break from work. Sit down at a quiet place, then close your eyes and do nothing for five to 10 minutes. Breathe deeply and slowly, completely relax, and then let your mind wander freely to any place, any world, any reality it may take you. Passively pay attention to your mind, and take note of any details of your experience. Once your mind has slowed down and you feel relaxed, it will usually take you on a wondrous journey to other places or countries, engage in normal or unusual activities, make you encounter familiar faces (including long-lost friends and deceased loved ones), new people and even animals that may behave in unusual ways. Every short daydream break takes you into an imaginary fantasy world, thereby firing up the neurons in the right hemisphere of your brain.
4. Practise imagination experiments. A close relative to the last exercise, imagination experiments invite you to consciously choose certain topics or journeys that you explore in your imagination, which may be to solve a concrete problem or be just for practice purposes or for fun. For example, in your memory, imagine you go back in time to visit the house of your grandparents. As you take an imaginary journey, do it with all your senses, thus recalling special scents, food dishes, objects, and so on. Alternatively, imagine how it would be working in your dream-job, or travelling to your dream destination, or flying to work instead of being stuck in traffic jams. These imagination trips are highly enjoyable and fire up the brain cells on the right side of your brain. And for anyone doubting the value of the exercise: Einstein highlighted the importance of engaging in imagination experiments on his quest to solve the riddle of relativity.
5. Do visual thinking. Young children enjoy making drawings and doodle and sketch all the time. Go to a kindergarten and ask the kids who is an artist, and all children tend to raise their hand. Ask the same question after five years in school, and only very few hands go up, because the pupils were told by their teachers that they cannot draw. No wonder that as grown-up adults, most people doubt their ability to draw and sketch. Silence your inner critic, and recall that as a child, all of us were artists. Go back to your childhood days and restart doodling, drawing, sketching or mapping out thoughts and ideas. And think about taking courses on learning how to draw or do concept mapping.
6. Ideate with an idea quota. Whenever you need ideas for a problem you're facing, challenge yourself to come up with a minimum number of ideas. Let's say that you have a tough corporate client who does not understand the benefits of the tailor-made solution that you designed for him. Then, commit to list down at least 25 ideas on how to make the benefits of your solution more tangible and assessable for your counterparts to close your sale. If you go into a brainstorming session with a group of colleagues to generate ideas for a new promotion campaign, set an ambitious idea quota of at lest 200 ideas in one hour. Whether you ideate alone or in a group, pushing yourself beyond the normal few obvious ideas not only will lead you to more original ideas - it will also train your creative thinking abilities as a welcome side-effect. As the saying goes: "Practice makes perfect."
P.S.: If you've tried to solve the creative puzzle above, here are the two solutions: ELEVEN LETTERS or BANGKOK POST.
Dr Detlef Reis is the Founding Director of Thinkergy Limited (http://www.Thinkergy.com), the Idea Company in Asia. He is also a university lecturer for Business Creativity and Innovation Leadership at the College of Management, Mahidol University. He can be reached at dr.d@Thinkergy.com