Whether
you’re trying to solve a tough problem, start a business, get attention
for that business or write an interesting article, creative thinking is
crucial. The process boils down to changing your perspective and seeing
things differently than you currently do.
People
like to call this “thinking outside of the box,” which is the wrong way
to look at it. Just like Neo needed to understand that “there is no
spoon” in the film The Matrix, you need to realize “there is no box” to step outside of.
You
create your own imaginary boxes simply by living life and accepting
certain things as “real” when they are just as illusory as the beliefs
of a paranoid delusional. The difference is, enough people agree that
certain man-made concepts are “real,” so you’re viewed as “normal.”
This is good for society overall, but it’s that sort of unquestioning
consensus that inhibits your natural creative abilities.
So, rather than looking for ways to inspire creativity,
you should just realize the truth. You’re already capable of creative
thinking at all times, but you have to strip away the imaginary mental
blocks (or boxes) that you’ve picked up along the way to wherever you
are today.
I
like to keep this list of 10 common ways we suppress our natural
creative abilities nearby when I get stuck. It helps me realize that
the barriers to a good idea are truly all in my head.
1. Trying to Find the “Right” Answer
One of the worst aspects of formal education is the focus on the correct answer to
a particular question or problem. While this approach helps us function
in society, it hurts creative thinking because real-life issues are
ambiguous. There’s often more than one “correct” answer, and the second
one you come up with might be better than the first.
Many
of the following mental blocks can be turned around to reveal ways to
find more than one answer to any given problem. Try reframing the issue
in several different ways in order to prompt different answers, and
embrace answering inherently ambiguous questions in several different
ways.
2. Logical Thinking
Not
only is real life ambiguous, it’s often illogical to the point of
madness. While critical thinking skills based on logic are one of our
main strengths in evaluating the feasibility of a creative idea, it’s
often the enemy of truly innovative thoughts in the first place.
One
of the best ways to escape the constraints of your own logical mind is
to think metaphorically. One of the reasons why metaphors work so well
in communications is that we accept them as true without thinking about
it. When you realize that “truth” is often symbolic, you’ll often find
that you are actually free to come up with alternatives.
3. Following Rules
One way to view creative thinking is to look at it as a destructive force.
You’re tearing away the often arbitrary rules that others have set for
you, and asking either “why” or “why not” whenever confronted with the
way “everyone” does things.
This
is easier said than done, since people will often defend the rules they
follow even in the face of evidence that the rule doesn’t work. People
love to celebrate rebels like Richard Branson, but few seem brave
enough to emulate him. Quit worshipping rule breakers and start
breaking some rules.
4. Being Practical
Like
logic, practicality is hugely important when it comes to execution, but
often stifles innovative ideas before they can properly blossom. Don’t
allow the editor into the same room with your inner artist.
Try
not to evaluate the actual feasibility of an approach until you’ve
allowed it to exist on its own for a bit. Spend time asking “what if”
as often as possible, and simply allow your imagination to go where it
wants. You might just find yourself discovering a crazy idea that’s so
insanely practical that no one’s thought of it before.
5. Play is Not Work
Allowing
your mind to be at play is perhaps the most effective way to stimulate
creative thinking, and yet many people disassociate play from work.
These days, the people who can come up with great ideas and solutions
are the most economically rewarded, while worker bees are often
employed for the benefit of the creative thinkers.
You’ve
heard the expression “work hard and play hard.” All you have to realize
is that they’re the same thing to a creative thinker.
6. That’s Not My Job
In
an era of hyper-specialization, it’s those who happily explore
completely unrelated areas of life and knowledge who best see that
everything isrelated. This goes back to what ad man Carl Ally said about creative persons—they want to be know-it-alls.
Sure, you’ve got to know the specialized stuff in your field, but if you view yourself as an explorer rather than a highly-specialized cog in the machine, you’ll run circles around the technical master in the success department.
7. Being a “Serious” Person
Most
of what keeps us civilized boils down to conformity, consistency,
shared values, and yes, thinking about things the same way everyone
else does. There’s nothing wrong with that necessarily, but if you can
mentally accept that it’s actually nothing more than groupthink that
helps a society function, you can then give yourself permission to turn
everything that’s accepted upside down and shake out the illusions.
Leaders from Egyptian pharaohs to Chinese emperors and European royalty have consulted with fools,
or court jesters, when faced with tough problems. The persona of the
fool allowed the truth to be told, without the usual ramifications that
might come with speaking blasphemy or challenging ingrained social
conventions. Give yourself permission to be a fool and see things for
what they really are.
8. Avoiding Ambiguity
We
rationally realize that most every situation is ambiguous to some
degree. And although dividing complex situations into black and white
boxes can lead to disaster, we still do it. It’s an innate
characteristic of human psychology to desire certainty, but it’s the
creative thinker who rejects the false comfort of clarity when it’s not
really appropriate.
Ambiguity
is your friend if you’re looking to innovate. The fact that most people
are uncomfortable exploring uncertainty gives you an advantage, as long
as you can embrace ambiguity rather than run from it.
9. Being Wrong is Bad
We
hate being wrong, and yet mistakes often teach us the most. Thomas
Edison was wrong 1,800 times before getting the light bulb right.
Edison’s greatest strength was that he was not afraid to be wrong.
The
best thing we do is learn from our mistakes, but we have to free
ourselves to make mistakes in the first place. Just try out your ideas
and see what happens, take what you learn, and try something else. Ask
yourself, what’s the worst that can happen if I’m wrong? You’ll often
find the benefits of being wrong greatly outweigh the ramifications.
10. I’m Not Creative
Denying
your own creativity is like denying you're a human being. We’re all
limitlessly creative, but only to the extent that we realize that we
create our own limits with the way we think. If you tell yourself
you’re not creative, it becomes true. Stop that.
In
that sense, awakening your own creativity is similar to the path
reported by those who seek spiritual enlightenment. You’re already
enlightened, just like you’re already creative, but you have to strip
away all of your delusions before you can see it. Acknowledge that
you’re inherently creative, and then start tearing down the other
barriers you’ve allowed to be created in your mind.
