Creativity and Critical Thinking

WHAT IS CREATIVITY? CAN YOU LEARN CREATIVITY?

"CREATIVITY CRISIS"- Researchers looked at a common measure of creativity using the Torrance test. 300,000 kids and adults were tested over time and it was found that, unlike IQ scores, creativity had been declining since 1990. The effect was most evident in elementary-school-age kids. The Torrance test is a test of creativity, involving simple tests of divergent thinking and other problem-solving skills.

Why exactly creativity measures are declining is still anyone’s guess, although evidence and intuition points to the growing emphasis on standardized testing in education as a factor. Students are taught to learn by understanding "the one right answer" they need to find, and what they need to do to find it.

Shifting to a more balanced approach; creativity isn’t about freedom from concrete facts. Rather, fact-finding and deep research are vital stages in the creative process. Creativity requires constant shifting, blender pulses of both divergent thinking and convergent thinking, and to combine new information with old and forgotten ideas. Highly creative people are very good at aligning their brains into bilateral mode, and the more creative they are, the more they dual-activate.

In a recent study, IBM asked over 1,500 business leaders and public sector leaders across 60 nations and 33 industries what they believe will be the most important leadership qualities in managing their companies in today's world over the next five years. Some 60 percent of the respondents chose creativity. The study is the largest known sample of one-on-one CEO interviews.

The left-brain approach, with technical, analytical and linear approaches to problem solving, has traditionally been favored. But there has been a move towards right-brain thinking, which involves searching for more holistic views, strategic thinking, creativity and innovation.

Not everyone is naturally creative, but it is a skill that can be learnt. Develop your creativity by listening to music, asking lots of questions, spending time outdoors and being physically active, playing games and completing puzzles, watching motivating movies, finding alternative uses for everyday items, setting aside time to explore different ways of solving problems and working with others.

STAGES OF CREATIVITY

PREPARATION:
The thinker formulates the problem and collects the facts and materials considered necessary for finding new solutions. You might think creativity starts with an idea, but the truth is that ideas don't arise in an intellectual vacuum. You need to feed your mind with materials to work with. This involves trying to learn lots of things (music, books, movies, walks, the outdoors, conversations, art, food, lectures, traveling etc...).
IDEATING (Outside the box):
Defer judgment and generate a number of ideas that might address the challenge. The more ideas/solutions you generate, the more you have to choose from. At this stage, though, they are still just ideas with potential, not yet solutions. Force the brain to give up old patterns and search for new ones. Put aside your biases.
INCUBATION:
"Let It Go". Thinking about the problem at hand is absent in this stage. But the unconscious thought process involved in creative thinking is at work during this period. You can be busy in other activities like reading, exercising, cooking, cleaning, etc. In spite of these activities the thinking about finding a solution to the problem will be going on in the mind. It's like making soup or marinating food.
DEVELOPING (Inside the box):
Making sure the idea is practical and convincing to others. Take an intriguing idea and enhance it to improve its chances of success. Highlight the good points. Look at potential and also making a list of drawbacks/weak points.
IMPLEMENT:
A good action plan is taking into consideration all the things that need to be done to ensure successful execution: the people and resources that need to be harnessed to move from solution to reality. Getting results, seeing ideas in action, and applying your plans to make that new idea a reality.

To be creative requires divergent thinking (generating many unique ideas)

and then convergent thinking (combining those ideas into the best result).

I creatively borrowed this article...

The benefits of critical thinking for students and how to develop itBefore we proceed to understand the importance and benefits of critical thinking, it is important to understand what critical thinking is. Read the blog now.

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