The act of turning creative ideas into reality…
Creativity enables creative thinking (discovering new ideas) and problem solving (applying the ideas you come up with to make things better); Both of which are very interesting skills for your career. So it’s no surprise that the World Economic Forum has listed creativity as one of the ten essential skills needed to thrive in the fourth industrial revolution. In case you’re wondering, creativity comes in third place, just behind problem solving and critical thinking.
More importantly, I’m not just talking about creativity in terms of fine arts, music, performing arts, architecture, and the like. I’m talking about a more modest definition of creativity: It is the act of turning creative ideas into reality. Therefore, you do not have to produce a museum piece to be considered creative; Creating a solution to a problem by imagining different scenarios is actually creativity. Thinking of creativity this way may suggest that creativity is something that only specially “gifted” people have (and are born with). The truth is that we all have the ability to create. And if the World Economic Forum is right, this is a skill we all need to develop for our future success.
Here are 12 simple ways to improve your creativity:
- Ask lots of questions . Creative people are curious people, so hone your critical thinking skills and ask questions that challenge how things are now so you can imagine what they could be like.
- Expand your circle . Hanging out with people who have different life experiences and knowledge is a great way to expose yourself to new ideas. Meet new people, have many interesting conversations and observe how your creative horizons expand.
- Discover new places. Travel is another excellent way to expand your mind. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go on a big, expensive trip overseas. Something as simple as checking out a different coffee shop or going for a new walk can boost your observation skills.
- Look for patterns . The ABCs of Richard Branson’s success mantra are always connecting the dots; so try to make connections between different questions, ideas and problems. This can reveal interesting solutions.
- Keep a diary . I keep an idea journal and always jot things down; for example, an interesting theory from an article I read, a new statement I haven’t heard before, a new book idea, interesting observations, anything. In doing so, I found myself making surprising connections between unexpected topics.
- Listen to audiobooks . I know it can be hard to find time to read in today’s busy world, so I like to listen to audiobooks while I run. This often sparks new ideas.
- Remove the plug and create a gap . I just said that I like to listen to audiobooks while running, but I also make sure to run or walk regularly without listening to anything! Being alone with your thoughts creates space for new ideas to surface, and some of my best ideas have emerged in my mind during these periods of silence.
- Dream . It’s important to give yourself time to dream big dreams, like dreaming of a brand new career, or small dreams, like dreaming of the perfect anniversary dinner. This may be difficult in our age of information overload, but you can increase your daydreaming abilities in your down moments instead of glued to your phone.
- Maintain a positive mindset . Research shows that a good mood increases the brain’s ability to generate innovative, creative thoughts, while a bad mood leads to more analytical, direct thinking. So why not try mood-boosting techniques like mindfulness, gratitude and positive affirmations?
- Exercise . It’s no secret that exercise is great for boosting your mood because it reduces stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol while flooding the body with feel-good hormones like endorphins and serotonin.
- Maintain a healthy sleep routine . Improving your sleep is another solid way to maintain a more positive mindset and, in turn, improve your creativity. Sleep not only increases your physical energy, but also gives the brain a crucial rest period to dream up interesting ideas and connections. To establish good sleep habits, try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, make sure your bedroom is dark and at a comfortable temperature, and avoid screens an hour or two before bed.
As you can see, there are different styles for creativity, for bringing out creativity. Today we asked you 10 questions to help you find your own style. If you sincerely seek the answers to these questions and make an inner discovery, you can see where and how you can reveal your creativity more. Or you can actually look at alternatives to change your style. For this, you first need to discover your own style.
Creativity isn’t just important for “creative” work. In a study by IBM, nearly 60 percent of CEOs ranked creativity as the most important leadership quality, compared to 52 percent for integrity and 35 percent for global thinking. So why? The answer is simple; Because creativity allows people to solve problems, respond to challenges and generate innovative ideas.
If you wanna boost your creativity well, I have a good news. It’s is not something that comes naturally and we are born with. With some practice and feeding your creativity with different subjects, it is possible to train yourself to become a more creative person. People often lack a sense of creativity because they are deprive themselves of doing the same things over and over again to improve themselves. If you wanna boost your creativity, it’s necessary to mix things up. Trying something new keeps you away from getting bored and urges you to grow.
So expand your horizons. How Does? If I had to say it purely as an example; Read a nonfiction book about the intelligence of birds or take a class on organic farming. The more you move away from your comfort zone and suffer, the more you learn. Even though the subjects you learn may seem unrelated to your career, the knowledge you gain from them will not only be useful in other areas, but can significantly increase your creativity.
One of the world’s leading experts on creativity, Dr. Robert Epstein demonstrates exactly this with his creativity game called “Experts” . This game teaches the value of expanding your knowledge. In the game, several people in a group who are experts on a very obscure topic are asked to give five-minute lectures about their unique knowledge. Other members of the group are then asked to come up with new product ideas based on the vague information they have just learned. Learning about a wide range of variety of topics, trying the new activities, or changing your schedule o work or workspace will allow your creativity to blossom.
Have you ever heard the phrase “get your head out of the clouds” ? Many people discourage daydreaming because they consider it as a less productive, less useful and less focused activity. However, dreaming is important if you want to unlock your inner creativity. And too much! When you are free to dream, you can come up with all kinds of new ideas. In fact, in some experiments, people are given a task and asked to dream about it.
It was observed that when daydreaming was stopped after a while, the answers of the people participating in the experiment were more creative. So, spend more time dreaming. When you’re get bored and think yourself reaching for your phone for entertainment, stop yourself and let your mind wander without distraction and think it as comfort zone. When you get focused on dreaming, you can discover a whole new world of creative ideas and solutions with variety of new tastes.
To expose your creative side, you need to get your thoughts from inside your mind onto paper. Start writing down all your ideas and opinions on paper, no matter how stupid, flop or impossible they seem. Even though you may have hundreds of bad ideas on the page, there are probably a few good ideas on there too. Plus, just the practice of writing down your ideas will help you improve your creative thinking skills. The process of writing down your ideas trains your brain to keep generating new ideas. Many people agree that writing increases creativity.
So wherever you are going, whatever you do during the day time, take out your diary and start training your brain and nerves to be more creative. It is also said that creativity is contagious. So, if you want to unlock and expose your inner creativity, you need to be surrounded by with creative people. By meeting creative people regularly, their thoughts, ideas and actions can inspire you and boost your own creativity. While you probably have a number of creative colleagues who can inspire you, it’s not always easy to find time to collaborate with them during work hours or meet up after work.
Therefore, pay attention to creative communities that you can join in your free time. For this, you can attend many socializing days or meetings over the internet. Be sure to research different groups for creative writing, photography, arts and crafts, technology and much more. Thanks to the tips I tried to talk about in this article and the internet, your creativity can begin to improve. And when you finally unlock your inner creativity, you can uncover skills and talents you didn’t even know you had. Subsequent developments will lead to how little you know yourself. That’s why you should try to start exploring yourself from different perspectives starting from today!
How Are Innovation and Creativity Related?
If you’re creative, you can probably make all kinds of things using your mind. You can write poems, draw beautiful pictures or create interesting designs of paper art. Everything you do will be unique. However, this does not mean that you are an innovator, but Nikola Tesla was an innovator. So what do innovation and creativity mean?
Innovation means coming up with something completely new; something no one has done before. It means inventing a new artistic technique, a new genre in literature, or a completely new approach to doing work.
There is a difference between innovation and creativity. But these two processes are also interconnected, so as a hiring manager, you want to see both on your team.
A company that nurtures creative thinking and innovation processes undoubtedly has a bright future. These processes depend on the work of a hiring manager because they are the ones who choose the people who will be part of the team. Therefore, we need to understand the difference and connection between “creativity and innovation” in order to lead your organizations towards progress.
Difference Between Innovation and Creativity
Let’s explain the difference in the simplest way possible. Creativity is defined as the use of imagination or original ideas to create something. Innovation is a new method, idea, product, etc. It means. When you look at it from this perspective, creativity is very important for writers, painters, musicians and other artists. It is also necessary for journalists and marketing professionals.
However, it is not possible to think of innovation separately from these professions. Innovation and creativity are inseparable for such professions. Especially in business, a company needs innovation to make progress. For example; If you own an app development company and you notice a gap in the market for a particular type of app, you develop it. For this, you need a creative team that can put an innovative idea into action. However, you also need innovative people on your team. They will analyze the market, notice gaps and suggest creative solutions.
The Relationship Between Innovation and Creativity
Creativity can exist without innovation. When a professor asks a student to write custom essays, they have to get creative. They need a unique thesis statement. Although the arguments will be research-based, they should reveal the student’s own perspective. But the student is not inventing a new academic paper format, writing style, or anything else that doesn’t already exist. They are just being creative unless they reveal an idea that will literally change the world.
But innovation cannot exist without creativity. Creativity is its starting point. Before Nikola Tesla became an inventor, he was a creative thinker. He had a wide range of knowledge and was able to combine it with imagination. Thus, he reached a conclusion unprecedented in the world. As a result, for an inventor like Nicola Tesla, innovation and creativity were not separate things.
3 Levels of Creativity
1. Creativity and Discovery
This is the moment when the creative person comes to a discovery. A real idea that can arise unexpectedly. However, it may also be the result of a long thought process. For example; You have an idea to create a product that will fill a gap in the market. The need for creativity will not stop at this point. This is a moment of discovery by the creative person and ties the entire process together.
2. Invention
Invention is creativity brought to a higher level. For example, Mark Zuckerberg came up with the creative idea of Facebook. But this is something that will often happen anyway, even if you don’t. If Zuckerberg hadn’t created Facebook, someone else would have created something similar. If you don’t fill this market gap, eventually someone else will.
3. Creation
This is the highest form of creativity. Mozart created music that no one else could create. When you associate creation with business, it is something only your organization can do. Even if the company doesn’t get to this point, it can still be successful. However, for a business to thrive, innovation and creativity must go together.
How to Advance the Creativity and Innovation Among Employees?
Usually when people think about innovation, they imagine really smart people inventing valuable products or coming up with brilliant ideas that make them famous, rich, or both.
Having an innovative team also increases success by enabling you and your organization to quickly adapt to new challenges and thrive in unpredictable scenarios.
Innovating very regularly, even on a small scale, sets people and businesses apart from their competitors. Employees who have the opportunity to innovate tend to be more engaged employees and committed to their company’s mission
According to research, highly engaged employees are 2.9 times more likely to report working in an innovative organization than actively disengaged employees. Unfortunately, it can be difficult for employers to identify the combination of innovation and creativity in the hiring process. When evaluating job applications, you tend to look at resumes that give you information about previous work experience and education. Interviews can get you a little closer, but many interview structures can be far from the type of thinking and working an employee would normally do.
None of the information obtained in an interview gives you much insight into someone’s ability to think innovatively. To make matters even more complicated, even the most innovative people are unlikely to be innovative in an environment that does not sufficiently encourage innovation. At the same time, claiming to be committed to innovation is not enough to actually encourage innovation. Fortunately, there are things you can do to ensure you make the most of your team members’ talents by encouraging them to innovate and be creative. By creating the right habits in yourself and those you manage, you can significantly increase the chances of innovation occurring.
1. Encourage. Inspire Your Employees to Learn and get
Provide them with training whenever possible and ensure that all employees know what they are supposed to do and what management expects from them. Once you train your employees, explain how their ideas, skills, and overall intelligence represent real value to the company. When employees feel valued, they feel more committed to the company and are more willing to work for the company.
They need to know everything about the industry before they can consider something that doesn’t exist in the industry. Truly creative people don’t wait for bursts of creativity to come to them suddenly. They learn and observe the world around them with all their senses. That’s why you should inspire your employees to constantly expand their knowledge. Your organization should organize training sessions and pay for innovation and creativity-based courses on an individual basis.
2. Focus on Hiring Creative Individuals
Diversity contributes to an atmosphere of creative thinking. Having employees from different fields, different schools and different backgrounds is good for the development of a team. Employees who are too similar in education and experience can often come up with ideas that seem repetitive after a while. To increase diversity in your workplace, instead of selecting new staff because they are similar to the employees you already have, start looking at resumes for differences that can drive innovation and creativity.
“What have you invented so far?” It would not be a good question to ask during an interview. Maybe someone still hasn’t invented anything special but may still have the creative basis to do so. Instead, you should evaluate their creativity. Follow this with “What would you change if you were the boss of this company?” You can do this by asking questions like: Ask a few critical and thoughtful questions. So you can see how this person’s mind works under pressure.
3. Bring the Team Together
Put a few creative minds in a room and see what happens. Just give them something trigger, like a problem you want to solve. Let them be flexible enough to express all ideas and inspire each other to develop their ideas.
Another benefit of teamwork is that people with different skills and knowledge can find ways to combine their assets to solve problems through innovation and creativity.
Some of your team members may be better at identifying the problem. Others may be skilled at determining what tools to use to solve a problem, and still others may be best at communicating changes and getting buy-in for new solutions.
