What do you see?

Let's take a look at this photo:

  

Can you tell what is inside this photo?

Let me share a hint: Our brains are conditioned (through education and upbringing) to focus on the dark part of an image to identify meaning. If we break this condition and start seeing the photo as a whole (see the black blotters AND the white space) we might be able to capture something.

Do you see that this is a photo of a cow?

Some of better-trained people with open-minded brains will see this perhaps at the moment they see the photo. Some will see this after they receive the hint (that they should include the white space as part of the photo). Some with lesser-trained, more-hardened brains will see this after they are told that this is a cow. Some with a severe case of close-minded brains will still unable to see it even after they are told about the cow.

So what's the point? Creativity is the capability of creating something new out of what seems to be impossible - something people never thought about. This requires our brain to be 'open' and see beyond the norms, such as seeing a cow in a seemingly random blotters.

This is taken from Creative Thinkering, by M. Michalko. The book is very entertaining and inspiring. It has a lot of brain exercises and techniques that eventually will train us into a more creative individual.

Problem Solving Series 6 - Improve the Situation

Here we are, almost done.

The next step after getting a good understanding of the source and reason of our problems, we then have to move forward to finding way(s) to improve the situation. I intentionally did not use 'solve the problem' here, because in many cases, a problem can not necessarily be solved immediately, but the situation can always be improved.

Thinkertoys - Great Resource Book

If you would like to sharpen your lateral thinking skill, or simply want to improve your brainstorming and creative problem solving skill, check out Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko.

The book covers individual and group idea generation.

There are two types of individual idea generation - Linear and Intuitive.

Linear Thinkertoys are mechanical approaches to idea generation that focus on the conscious - visible pattern and steps. One obvious example of a Linear Thinkertoys is the SCAMPER approach.

Intuitive Thinkertoys focuses on the unconscious part of the brain, and it is probably suitable for artistic type of personality and issues.

It is not a silver bullet to creative thinking, and especially not a silver bullet for developing a learning organization. It takes years of practices and trials to benefit from the book, but it sure is worth the effort.