Do you believe that creativity is a born talent? Or are you one of those who think creativity can be developed and improved just like any other skill?
Well, whatever belief you have, both are correct, as both types of people exist – people who are born creative and those who have improved their creative ability by trying different techniques.
As they say, “practice makes people perfect,” one needs to tame their creative side by training imagination, practicing powers of dreaming, observation, and experimentation.
But can do it all? Are there any techniques through which you can develop and improve your creative thinking ability? Let’s see.
- Brainstorming
Think of the time when you and your colleague sat down to list some ideas for the next sales pitches or marketing campaigns for your clients. Or the meetings with your team where you all brainstormed different solutions of how you can fix the software bug.
No matter the field or niche you work in, brainstorming is one of the most popular techniques of creative thinking. The beauty of this technique is you can try it alone or with a group.
You simply have to think about the problem or situation you need to solve. Then take inspiration from images, articles, videos, or experiences, whatever works for you to generate some ideas. Write down every idea that comes to your mind, even if it’s odd, less effective, or difficult to pull off.
From the list of ideas, you will be able to find some most creative and effective ideas to develop and work on further. This can be a great personal development exercise, especially when you are stuck in a critical situation, personal or professional.
- Storyboard
Did we take you to the world of cinema or animation just by saying “storyboard”? Well, your imagination went in the right direction. That’s because storyboards are intended to keep track of scenes and character development, and progress in a manner that can be easily shared with the other team members.
Today, however, storyboards are also used in different fields of the entertainment industry. Even you must have used storyboards to generate ideas about the marketing campaigns, client presentations, or business proposals.
- Random words
Random words are another technique that boosts your creative thinking, and the simplest one at that. All you have to do is write down all the random words that come to your mind when you think about the problem at hand.
Next, choose any random word from the list and start thinking about the associations with the word. Try to apply each of the associations to the problem at hand and see how it works.
- Mind mapping
Mind mapping is a great technique to generate ideas collaboratively with your team. You can also use this technique during your brainstorming session. How? Start in the center of the board and invite your team to generate ideas in all directions.
Choose the ideas or solutions that are most relevant to create an organized structure.
- Brain shifter
Want to find ideas that are out-of-the-box? Try the brain shifter technique for which you need to get into a different mindset and think like another person.
How? Think that you are an engineer, doctor, lawyer, a kid, or why not your favorite superhero? Think about how these people would solve the problem.
If you are using this technique in a group, ask your team members to choose one character and generate ideas. At the end of the session, ask everyone to vote for the best idea.
Try these techniques with your team members to generate the best ideas so you can further develop the best idea into an effective solution to solve your problem.