Slide 1: Four Steps to a More Creative You:
Innovate, Illuminate, Evaluate, Activate!
with humble gratitude to many folks, but especially to Roger von Oech and his books
Slide 2:
Presented by
Linda L. Oestreich
STC Director Sponsor Region 5 713-918-3356 linda_oestreich@bmc.com Houston Chapter
Slide 3: The Whats
What What What What What
is it? stops it? helps it? are the steps? helped me learn it?
Slide 4: What is Creativity?
Generating an idea and manifesting it!
Slide 5: What Stops Creativity?
Looking for the right answer Following the rules Avoiding ambiguity Keeping serious Being practical Avoiding frivolity ?????
Slide 6: What Helps Creativity?
Be Be Be Be
an explorer -- innovate an artist -- illuminate a judge -- evaluate a warrior -- activate
Von Oech’s plan
Slide 7: What are the Steps?
Explorer/innovator: looks for materials for new ideas Artist/illuminator: imaginative, playful-transforms material into original new ideas Judge/evaluator: examines idea and decides what to do with it Warrior/activator: doer--takes worthy idea and implements it
Slide 8: Be an Explorer--Innovate
Look for new ideas! (brainstorm) Throw out old habits (embrace change) Open your mind (mindmap) Look for associations (clustering) Write it down (free writing) Find answers without always following logic or old thinking (lateral thinking)
Slide 9: Mind Mapping
Mind Mapping® is a popular technique, invented (and trademarked) by Tony Buzan in the UK. His description: "a mind map consists of a central word or concept, around the central word you draw the 5 to 10 main ideas that relate to that word. You then take each of those child words and again draw the 5 to 10 main ideas that relate to each of those words."
Slide 10: Mindmap® Example
Slide 11: Lateral Thinking
Lateral thinking is to move sideways when working on a problem to try different perceptions, concepts, and points of entry. The term covers a variety of methods to get us out of the usual line of thought.
www.ozemail.com.au/~caveman/Creative/ Techniques/lateral
Slide 12: Lateral Thinking Puzzle
A man walks into a bar and asks the barman for a glass of water. The barman pulls out a gun and points it at the man. The man says 'Thank you' and walks out.
http://einstein.et.tudelft.nl/~arlet/puzzles/lateral.html
Slide 13: Solution
The man had hiccups. The barman recognized this from his speech and drew the gun to give him a shock. It worked and cured the hiccups so the man no longer needed the water.
This puzzle has claims to be the best of the genre. It is simple in its statement, absolutely baffling, and yet with a completely satisfying solution.
Slide 14: Be an Artist--Illuminate
Do something to it Adapt it to new contexts Ask “What if?” Look at it from all angles Compare it to other things Find the “aha!” See through the chaff Deal with the risk and dead ends
Slide 15: Be a Judge--Evaluate
Will it work? What can it do? What if it’s not right? What are my assumptions? What are my constraints? What are my cultural biases?
Slide 16: Be a Warrior--Activate
Try? There is no try. There is only do or not do.
--Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back
Slide 17: After you Ask--Do!
Find an audience Design it Believe in it Sell it
Slide 18: Warrior’s Battle Plan
Make a plan Put a fire in your belly Put a tiger in your tank Recruit your army Strengthen your shield Sell, sell, sell Follow through
Slide 19: Once you know what you want to achieve, -Relax
-Focus -Visualize
Slide 20: Visualize means to
Picture it Feel it Sense it
Slide 21: And always remember:
Slide 22:
Whether you believe you can, or whether you believe you can’t, you’re absolutely right! -Henry Ford
Slide 23: What Helped Me Learn It
A Kick in the Seat of the Pants and A Whack on the Side of the Head, Roger von Oech Writing the Natural Way, Gabriele Lusser Rico Lateral Thinking, Edward de Bono The Mind Map Book, Tony Buzan Mindmapping: Your Personal Guide to Exploring Creativity and Problem-Solving, Joyce Wycoff Free "Brain Wake-up" Service: www.thinksmart.com Creativity Website: www.ozemail.com.au/~caveman/Creative/
