enhancing creativity

identifying creativity

involves generation of new ideas, or new associations between existing ideas

creativity can be difficult to measure

subjective and judgements can change over time

role of the audience

creativity is shaped by those who evaluate it

• domain (what’s being worked on)

• creator (the individual)

• field (collaborators, audience, etc)

people differ in how how they are to new ideas

people who are more open think creativity is good, less open think creativity is bad

people generally hate uncertainty

ellsberg paradox; choose “certain” option

stereotypes we hold of creative people are not positive

seen as inefficient, chaotic, messy, poor leader

however, turns out “creative people are inefficient” is

false; being open to new ideas and efficiency can positively correlate

many people don’t believe they can be creative

self-doubt

many cultures don’t support creativity

dismiss new ideas, don’t use them

we get “stuck” in what currently exists

difficult moving beyond default solutions; new ideas often based on old ones

innovation is actually

incremental

incremental invention

creative changes are usually made incrementally, not sudden and revolutionary

why incremental?

• ideas relate to existing ones

• world must be ready for the idea

• middle road between love/hate

how to get past being stuck on existing things

• block the default

• acknowledge the default and flex its pieces

vanishing options test

what would you do if X wasn’t an option?

principled problem solving

breaking problem down into what we know is true can let us build an innovative solution

“first principles thinking”

• step 1: identify and define your current assumptions

• step 2: break down the problem into its fundamental principles by asking a series of questions about each assumption you “know” about problem

• step 3: create new solutions from scratch

acknowledge + flex

more efficient way to reinterpret how we think about something is to take the time to understand current interpretation

how to acknowledge + flex

• acknowledging what is in your head

• break down into pieces

• flex each aspect of your current understanding

brainstorming

barely does shit as a group, but alone can do stuff

situational factors

people are more creative when in positive mood

design thinking is

a human-centered approach to problem solving

design thinking process

• define the problem (with empathy)

• create and consider many solutions

• refine selected directions

• select ideas, test and learn, repeat

D mindsets

• start with empathy

• show don’t tell

• embrace experimentation - build to learn

• bias towards action