home < articles < creativity and problem solving < creativity and the thinking process home < neurocare home < general education < creativity and problem solving < creativity and the thinking process Creativity and the Thinking Process Adapted and Excerpted from writing by Roger von Oech, Rudolph Flesch, and Edward DeBono Ten Blocks to Creativity 1. Having the need to get the right answer; 2. The perception that your thinking is not logical and therefore not useful in the situation; 3. Following the rules without necessarily knowing if this will help or hinder your thinking situation; 4. Being afraid to launch out into unorthodox thinking because it doesn't seem practical; 5. Having a notion that there is a distinct difference between the value work and play regarding problem solving and feeling that play is frivolous; 6. Thinking something isn't your area; 7. Failure to put forth an idea because of the fear of being thought of as foolish; 8. Being uncomfortable with an unsettled situation and thus pushing to clarify things through analytical thought rather than staying with the ambiguity; 9. Fear of making a mistake or be in error; 10. The false notion that others are creative but you're not. Two Thinking Modes Generally speaking, there are two type of thinking modes: hard and soft. Hard Thinking is associated with: logic reason pessimism consistency work exact reality direct focused analysis specific adult Soft Thinking is associated with: metaphor dream humor ambiguity play approximate fantasy paradox diffuse hunch generalization child Two Phases of Developing New Ideas 1. Imaginative: in which we're thinking something different 2. Practical: in which we are getting something done. Ideas, Concepts, and Direction We define an idea as a practical way of doing something. To decide whether to take the time to work on an idea: 1. The idea must be specific; 2. There must be specific concrete ways of putting it directly into practice A concept means that one is describing a general method of doing something. A direction is defined as a very broad concepts or approach to something. The broadest concept you can think of regarding a subject becomes that line of thinking's "direction." Purpose is defined as the object (point) of what you're doing. Here's what we mean: If you are driving north then this is the direction. There are many roads, all of which are heading north. These roads are the ways of proceeding north and they become the concepts. In other words you can say that you are going to travel along a certain road. That particular road is the concept. But you have to do something specific to travel on that road: walk, ride a bicyle, drive a car, catch a bus. The specific mode of travel is the idea, the "way of doing something." All these lead to an object, the point of what you're doing. Moving Forward Check out your attitude. Ask the questions: Where does this lead to? What does this suggest? Where does this take me? What is of interest here? What is interesting about this? Extract a principle: Can we find some principle and then make use of it? Can we extract a key feature or a specific aspect? How is this different from what we normally do? What are the points of difference? Search for value: Is there any value at all in this idea? Are there any directly positive aspects? Are there any special circumstances under which the idea would have a direct value? A Defense Against False Logic Learn to ask yourself these questions about any point that another makes: 1. So what? This means that though they made a point, it doesn't much impact what you are talking about. It doesn't relate to the subject or has no relevance to it so you can dismiss it. 2. Specifiy how? Consider how the person's point relates to their premise by asking them to be specific of "specify how.". An example is, "Could you be specific about how what you've said makes a difference? You ask them to specify the missing points. 3. Is there bias? Consider the source of any statement that is used as part of an argument. If it comes from an interested source, then you have a right to suspect it of being fallacious. The Progaganda Power of Repetition All propaganda shares the principle of repetition. Propaganda is meant to appeal to emotion, not logic. Repetition has been shown to be effective regardless of whether it's used with logical fallacies or outright lies. In fact, some have found that the bigger the lie is, the more powerful the effect of repetition. Copyright 2000, Robert I. Winer, M.D.