Posted by Nathalia Lopes on 30 Junho, 2021
Creativity is not an innate talent, but a skill that can be developed throughout life and that has become increasingly important to professionals in any area.
The ability to generate ideas and solve problems creatively is strongly influenced by mindset. That is, by our way of thinking and by our attitudes towards each situation.
A creative mindset has at least 10 characteristics, among them: openness to the new, embracing ambiguity, flexibility, fluency, originality, playfulness, presence, vision, gap awareness and incubation.
There are tips and techniques that can help extend our creative potential and transform our mindset. Following are some tips, practices and recommendations to develop the attitudes and characteristics that make up a creative mindset.
TIPS, PRACTICES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A CREATIVE MINDSET
Openness to the new
When was the last time you experienced something new or did something for the first time? Try new routines, a new way to go to work, go to a place you’ve never been! This broadens our vision and our ability to deal with the new.
When you hear a new idea, think first of the positive aspects: What is good about this idea? What are its benefits? How can it be improved? Avoid discarding a new idea immediately, even if it seems strange.
Beware of the phrases that kill the new ideas: "This will not work", "no way", "we have tried this in the past", "here we cannot work like this", etc. These phrases do not always express the truth and can prevent the emergence of good ideas.
Embrace ambiguity
To embrace ambiguity, when necessary, one must have the courage and willingness to say "I do not know the answer, but I am willing to seek/try...".
Be aware of yourself and the situation. Think about how you can avoid uncertainty and how you can feel more comfortable in uncertain and ambiguous situations. Imagine the best and worst case scenario and think about how you can act and influence each case.
Make mistakes and failures opportunities to learn. Ask yourself: What worked? What should I have done differently? What do I intend to do next?
Flexibility, fluency and originality
Think about your problem or challenge from the perspective of another person: a child, a competitor, the customer, a movie character, a famous businessman. What would they do in that case?
Break the vicious cycle! When faced with a recurring problem, consider doing the exact opposite of what you have done so far or looking for solutions not considered or tested before.
Expand your options! When you think you’ve listed all the possible ideas, make an extra effort and look for TWO more ideas.
Use "yes AND" instead of "yes, BUT". Take the existing ideas and try to perfect them.
Control your judgment and don’t discard ideas, even if they seem impractical. List the ideas received and only then evaluate.
Remember that judgment does not happen only with words, but with gestures, body expressions, tone of voice, etc. A disapproving face before a suggestion can inhibit people from participating.
Don’t stop at the first good or right idea! There may be other (even better) solutions to the problem or challenge.
Playfulness
Good humor, art, fun and leisure help us recharge our batteries. Find activities that give you pleasure and optimism: a sport, an artistic activity, a tasty meal, a hobby or something that involves good humor and fun.
What if we...? What if we...? When thinking of new ideas, use and abuse these words to come up with new solutions.
Exercise new languages: build prototypes to test your idea and try to explain your challenges without using words (just drawings, for example).
Rescue the childish look and look at your problem as if you were 6 years old: what has changed in this perspective and how would you deal with the problem? Repeat the exercise with other perspectives (an alien, a superhero, a client, etc.).
Presence
Focus your attention and try to perceive details of a situation or object. If you were to describe them to someone who is not present, what would you say? What aspects had you not noticed before?
Make choices: if you can’t be 100% present, simplify, prioritize, postpone, delegate, or eliminate activities.
Understand the situation and prioritize: Which aspects will have the most impact? What can I influence?
If your head is full and you can’t pay attention to what the other person is saying, be frank and kind and, if possible, look for a better time to talk.
Avoid jumping quickly to the "how": make sure before you understand what, who, when, and why.
Understand your feelings and how they affect the quality of your presence. How do you feel: excited, stressed, overwhelmed, frustrated, anxious?
Pay attention to the signs of your body and your health, seeking activities that give you pleasure and well-being.
Vision
Think about how you want to be seen in the future:
If in 10 years, you were doing an interview for an important TV show, what would you be talking about? Why would people be interested in listening to you?
On your 80th birthday, what achievements will you be celebrating? What will your family and friends be talking about you? Who will be there? In your speech after congratulations, what are you going to talk about?
Make a list of plans, dreams, and wishes and personally commit to performing at least one item from that list from time to time (each week, month, or year).
Do not let current limitations restrict your aspirations and vision of the future. There will be other opportunities to think about obstacles and difficulties. Do an exercise in imagination: what would you like to do if money wasn’t an issue, if you had the time and resources you needed, and if you had a 100% guarantee of success?
Gap awareness
Sometimes the hardest part is figuring out what the real problem or challenge is. Take the time to make sure you’re treating the cause and not the symptom.
Convert your problems and challenges into questions starting with: how can I...? how can we...? how can we...?
Think about your goals or desired future and answer the question "what keeps you from achieving it?". List all the answers you consider relevant.
Incubation
Learn to leave ideas on fire: do not compromise with the first idea that appears, look for new solutions and perspectives and, whenever possible, give yourself some time to digest the idea.
You don’t always have to answer everything at once. In some situations, try saying: "I will think a little and, as soon as I have an idea, we will talk again".
Source: http://beehavior.com.br/como-desenvolver-mindset-criativo/