Creative thinking: features and development techniques

"A creative employee is required." Is this a requirement in your ad not about you? Are you sure you are not capable of creative ideas? Maybe you should try? It is quite possible that it will work out, because creative thinking can be learned.

Creativity is considered a rare, almost innate quality. Few people know that such a human ability, like most others, can be developed... Learning to go beyond convention is the essence of creative thinking.

Have you ever wanted to do something unusual? At least get an unusual present? If you wanted to, then you are all right with creativity, at least some inclinations of it exist, you just need to develop them. It is possible that the desire to think outside the box was ruined in childhood. In Soviet pedagogy, few people took liberties. Step to the right, step to the left, jump in place ...

But in modern psychology, a completely different interpretation. Creative inclinations are encouraged to develop from infancy. After all, such a mindset in the future will not only allow you to make unique decisions at work, and therefore jump up the career ladder, but also solve everyday problems "with a twinkle." Studying, personal life, relationships with their own children - those who approach these milestones in their lives differently from everyone else are often luckier than others.

A talented person is talented in everything. What talent do you have? It cannot be that there is no talent: even a song performed at a corporate party may well turn out to be a sign of real talent. It's all about the stereotypes that life itself imposes on us or people who have surrounded us since childhood.They are the ones who tell us what is “good” and what is “bad”. As a result, we, like staunch tin soldiers, carry out tasks strictly according to the instructions.

Now remember how in childhood you easily got out of any situation. Can't remember yourself, take a close look at how your own child does it. The first thing that distinguishes a child from an adult is the ability to think freely figuratively. Every word for a child is a whole picture, every event is a fairy tale. The kid himself can easily transform into any fairy-tale hero and for this he does not have to wait for a fancy-dress matinee. Outward resemblance to a well-known character does not bother him much, he has a creative (different from the generally accepted) approach to everything.

Over the years, we are losing this road. We will learn the rules that we rarely want to break. This is because it’s easier, more familiar. Such actions do not cause resentment (envy) of colleagues, do not infuriate (misunderstanding) parents / husband / wife / and so on.

Most people agree to play by formulaic rules. And then a person becomes bored with himself, with his family, with friends. Meanwhile, the "crazy" classmate Yulka has already headed a department in a large state corporation, her husband is a famous and fashionable photo artist (by the way, he is also "out of this world"). They are happy, and soon they will have their first and, of course, talented child.

So you have something to strive for. Creativity is just the ability, under normal conditions, with all the known components, to assemble something that will make, if not turn the world upside down, then at least look at things differently. Therefore, creative people are especially appreciated in advertising agencies. They are the ones who make us buy what we didn’t want five minutes ago. It is they who make us swallow saliva at the very appearance of "low-calorie" yogurt on the screen. They know how to direct our standard thoughts in any way they want.

Creativity, like any other, needs to be developed and subsequently trained... Perhaps the most striking example of how this can be done is the Warm-up competition in the popular television game KVN. Teams need to find an unusual answer to a question from their opponents or the leader in a few seconds. Whoever came up with the funnier is the more creative.

By the way, many of the techniques that are used to develop this ability involve group work. But first, you can start individual lessons. The best "engine" of creativity is creativity. Drawing, singing, dancing - any art form will do. Choose what is closer. Creativity is also possible in the kitchen. Add some zest to your favorite dish (I mean not dry grapes) - come up with an unusual serving, decorate with something unconventional.

The first step towards the development of creative abilities, consider, has been taken. But not a single muscle can be trained in one workout, therefore, the "muscle of creativity" is unlikely to tremble after a single call to it. He needs to be educated, constantly improved.

Attention is now paid to the development of creativity in kindergarten. Games with preschool children are aimed at teaching them how to think and develop creativity. Although many of us have received similar lessons, the results are different. We were given a slightly different task. We had to do something in the image and likeness, modern children have more freedom in creativity. And the choice of materials in current office supply stores is much richer.

Otherwise, everything is the same as ours:

• modeling and drawing help develop imagination;
• puzzles and constructors will help you to learn how to create something new;
• puzzles will help you find a way out of difficult situations, they will also prompt non-standard solutions in the future;
• role-playing games (matinees with snowflakes, chanterelles, bunnies, masquerades) help communicate, change their own image.

As soon as yesterday's snowflakes, chanterelles and bunnies arrive at school, they have to change their costume. Most secondary schools now have a compulsory form. Someone thinks that in such conditions, children are being “cut one size fits all” again, while others believe that this does not at all interfere with the development of the personality of modern primary schoolchildren. It is easy to check how it is in the class where your child is studying by finding out exactly how math classes are taught with him in elementary school. This science is literally given to one in the literal sense of the word "one-two", others cannot solve a seemingly simple problem for hours.

What a teacher should do in order not only to instill in the student a love of arithmetic, but also to take care of his creative thinking:

• suggest thinking about alternative ways to solve the problem;
• invite the student to choose for himself which problem he will solve and which method to use to find the answer;
• invite the child to come up with their own problem.

If the teacher cares about the development of the student, and not just requires him to make the right decision in order to get an assessment, then he will find an approach to anyone. If not, then it is worth throwing all the strength of the parents.

Some of the same techniques should be used to develop or awaken creativity in adults. Stop thinking "like everyone else", try to come up with different ways out of this or that situation. Doubt aside. Fear of failure makes it impossible to create. Brilliant ideas are born only from desperate people.

If all of the above is about you, all that remains is to improve your abilities and skills. Here are some simple exercises.

1. Take the book. Write out from it a few words from the pages and lines you predefined. You should get some kind of gibberish. Now combine these words into text. Come up with a story.
2. Figure out how to expand the possibilities of using the most common object. For example, a plastic bag. This is not only a garbage packaging, but also a pool cap, wallet cover, raincoat. Having completed such a task, you will develop your imagination and help environmentalists.
3. Sketch dashes of different lengths and slopes, dots, dashes on a piece of paper. Now try to create an image from them. Perhaps it will not be an object, but an event or natural phenomenon.
4. Use everything that surrounds you to create images. What does that cloud look like, but this puddle under your feet, and a snowdrift under the window?
5. Read backwards. Start with words, then move on to whole sentences and pages from books. Imagine what comes out of the text.

Unfortunately, adults often kill creativity in children in the bud. And uncles and aunts do it very creatively, not knowing what they are doing.

Teachers, coaches, parents and other cultural sector come up with various tournaments and competitions, thinking that this is how boys and girls are developed. But it turns out the opposite. The guys strive to get the main prize using a method proven over the years. Their goal is a reward, not a new discovery.

Adults for the most part are sure that they know everything for sure better than a child and try to protect him from mistakes. As a result, an insurmountable barrier is put in front of him. Of course, they also know the way to solve the problem. They open their own path of knowledge for the child, not suspecting that the child can choose his own, and much more successful. Do not put blinkers over his eyes. Let them stumble, but go through the maze in your own way.

We're making plans and trying to fit kids into that schedule. In the modern world, we give birth to them according to the schedule previously agreed with the spouse. At the same time, we want them to feel free. At least sometimes, instead of gymnastics, take your child to the zoo, and instead of a lesson at a music school, offer roller skating. He still has a lot of time ahead, which he will have to "correctly" distribute. Give him a chance to fool around.

Creativity may well be taught through business games. For example, the well-known "brainstorming" can be used not only to solve a specific business problem, but also as a training session. Putting together a group of several people. By the way, age doesn't matter here. So an evening in the family circle can also be spent in a similar way.

The rules of the game are pretty simple.

• We clearly set the task. For example, how to make dinner using what is in the fridge.
• We determine the time for reflection for each participant in the game.
• We write out all the options on a piece of paper and sound them out.
• We supplement the proposed options with new ideas.
• We bring the chosen dish (if we are talking about dinner) to perfection.
• Let's start cooking.

Most likely, your culinary delight will not be included in the next book by Jamie Oliver (a chef from the UK, a successful restaurateur, a popular TV presenter who promotes healthy eating), but you will have fun with all your heart, not to mention the fact that you will give a boost of positive energy to your creativity. ...

Don't like cooking? Build a house. You don't need helpers for this. First, let's define the building materials. We take a piece of paper and draw up an "estimate". We write out any 10 names of objects, vegetables, fruits, animals. We do this without hesitation. Now we take another sheet and begin to create our own unique palace. What do we have there? Tomatoes - draw the windows in the form of tomatoes. Cucumbers - we arrange benches in the form of them around the entire perimeter of the structure. Dolphin - we create a fountain in the image and likeness of this cute creature.

Do you get the idea? The main thing is that nothing should "disappear" from previously purchased materials. After all, your own fantasy gave them to you.

The video below will tell you what exercises are needed to develop creative thinking.