Better results through better thinking ThinkAbout Creativity The Business of Thinking ®

better results through better thinking

ThinkAbout Creativity


The Business of Thinking®

02-10©2010 Herrmann International

WHOLE BRAIN® MODEL

LOGICALANALYTICALFACT-BASED

QUANTITATIVE

ORGANIZEDSEQUENTIAL

PLANNEDDETAILED

HOLISTICINTUITIVEINTEGRATINGSYNTHESIZING

INTERPERSONALFEELING-BASEDKINESTHETICEMOTIONAL

DUPPERRIGHT

AUPPERLEFT

LOWERLEFT

B

LOWERRIGHT

C


Why is creative thinking so important? What does creative thinking actually

involve? What kind of people tend to be most

creative? What are the biggest obstacles to thinking creatively at work? What is your biggest challenge in being creative?


At the end of this module you will be able to:

Use the Whole Brain® Creator to generate lots of new and different ideas – some of which will have value for the business.

Outcomes:


D

B C

A

Think About CreativityHow do the 4 quadrants think creatively?


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B

D

C

Working soloAnalyzing dataAccomplishing

Applying formulasPutting things together

Making things workSolving tough problems

Making the numbersBeing challenged

Analyzing & diagnosing

Taking risksProviding visionsInventing solutionsHaving varietyBringing about changePlaying aroundSelling ideasDeveloping new thingsDesigningOpportunity to experiment

Having an ordered environmentPreserving the status quo

Being in controlPaperwork tasks

Establishing orderPlanning things outGetting things doneAttending to detail

Building thingsStabilizing

Getting groups to work well togetherBeing part of a teamCommunication aspectsBuilding relationshipsListening and talkingWorking with peoplePersuading peopleTeaching/TrainingExpressing ideas

ThinkAbout Creative Thinking


What do you like doing? What parts are you good at?

What sorts of things do you do?

What sort of things don’t you do?

“ThinkAbout” your everyday creativity. How creative are you? What can you do to be more creative?


Creative thinking is a Whole Brain® Process

It requires thinking from all 4 quadrants

There are 4 distinct stages in the process

Each stage requires thinking from a particular quadrant

The process is on-going — meaning that the implementation of an idea often requires as much creative thinking as did coming up with it in the first place

The process can take less than a minute and go on for a long time

In many cases, all stages are being done at the same time

Groups with diverse thinking preferences are often the most creative


Introducing:

Creative thinking is a Whole Brain® Process

Less than 3% of people are naturally whole brained

The Whole Brain® Creator helps individuals access Whole Brain® Thinking


A

A

A

A

A

B

B

B

B

B

D

D

D

D

D

C

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I MP

LEMENTING

SELF

IDEA

FINDIN

G

SE

LF

IDEA

SENS

ING

S

ELF

P RO

B LE

M

FI

NDINGSE LF

Stage 1 – Think About 'It

Stage 2 – Dream About 'It

Stage 3 – Play About 'It

Stage 4 – Act On 'It

The Creative Thinking Process


An Organization A Geographic A PerspectiveLadder Ladder Ladder

Industry World Concept

Organization Hemisphere Issue

Division Continent Similar Occurrence

Team Country Specific Situation

Individual State

Here

The Ladder

Are you dealing with the issue at the right level? Climb up and down The Ladder to change your perspective.


WHO DO WHAT

I increase sales

The Generator

Use The Generator to: re-define your ‘It’ think about ‘It’ in new and different ways start getting ideas

Step 1 — State your ‘It’ as a ‘who’ ‘do’ ‘what’ statement


Some people take their dogs for a walk. Try taking your ideas for a walk instead. What ever is on your mind, take it with you. Stride out, breath well and see what you come up with. And don’t forget to take a note pad with you just in case.

The Walk


Sometimes our subconscious knows more than we do. To get in touch with your subconscious do the following exercise.

Relax, take a few deep breaths, close your eyes and ask yourself

What does ‘It’ look like?

What does ‘It’ feel like?

What does ‘It’ taste like?

What does ‘It’ smell like?

Write down any thoughts you have

Now draw a picture of ‘It’. When you have finished, describe ‘It’ to someone else.

The Picture


The Sleep

Finally, if you can wait until tomorrow, take ‘It’ to bed with you and sleep on it.

Just before you go to sleep, get it clearly in your mind, focus on ‘It’ and say to yourself “I am going to dream about ‘It’.” Then go to sleep.

When you wake up, don’t leap out of bed straight away. Lie there for 5 minutes and slowly think about ‘It’ and any insights you might have had. Have a bit of paper handy to make notes.


The List

Instead of just looking at all the ideas you have,come up with — play with them. Use ‘CREATES’ to get your mind goingAsk yourself, what ideas can I ...

C ombine, blend, mix, resort, add togetherR everse, make them go backwards, upside downE xtend, exaggerate, make bigger, longer, smallerA dapt, change alter, eliminate, disguiseT ransform, remake, turn into something else, eliminateE rase, do away with something completely, remove,

eradicateS ubstitute, replace, alter


Use the Yellow Pages to find out what other people think. Turn to any page, and pick the profession at the top of the page.Ask yourself “What ideas would that person come up with?”For example, what ideas would a physiotherapist come up with?What about a policeman, an entertainer or an accountant?

Write down any ideas you come up with.

The Yellow Pages


The Selector

Small

Big

1

Medium

42 3

TIME IN WEEKS

IMPACT

How long is it going to take you to implement your idea?What’s the payback? Is it really going to make a difference?Use the Selector to see if your ideas are worth pursuing

IMPORTANCE

HighLowLow

High

FREQUENCY

X

X

XX


The Improver

Most ideas need a bit of help along the way. Even if you have come up with a great idea, it probably has a few things working against it, slowing it down and stopping it from being a certain winner. Use The Improver to turn great ideas into winning ones.

Everything going against it:

Everything going for it:

Your idea: _____________________

What can you do to decrease?

What can you do to increase?


Write down everything you know about ‘It’

Write down everything you don’t know about ‘It’

Write down all the old answers and ignore them

Write ‘It’ down as an open question

Write ‘It’ down as simply as possible

Write ‘It’ down 3 more ways — in different words

Select 2 or 3 questions to ‘Dream About’

A

B

D

C

What To Do / Questions To Ask Power ToolsThe Stage

The Ladder

The Generator

Stage 1 – Think About 'It


Relax, take a stretch, have a drink, put some music on and slow down

Now dream that you have solved ‘It’, What happened? What is the result? What does it feel like?

Now go and find someone and listen to them. Ask them what they would do? Ask for their ideas

Now think about something else for a few minutes ... then when you are ready to

‘Play’

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B

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C


The Walk

The Picture

The Sleep

Stage 2 – Dream About 'It


Ask yourself what if ‘It’ got bigger, louder or faster? What if you had unlimited funds? What if you had all the resources you needed? What ideas come to mind?

What can you do to make ‘It’ a whole lot worse?

What would you do if you lived in a zoo? a circus? a garden? a railway?

Select a few ideas that look promising to ‘Act’ on

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B

D

C

Stage 3 – Play About 'It


The List

The YellowPage


Take each idea in turn and:

Write down 6 good reasons why ‘It’ won’t work

Write down 5 things you like about ‘It’

Write down 4 things you could change about ‘It’

Write down the 3 biggest obstacles in your way

Write down the 2 people who’s help you need

Write down the 1 thing you must do to start the ball rolling

Repeat this with each idea

If you get stuck, take your idea and think about ‘It’ all over again

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B

D

C


The Selector

The Improver

Stage 4 – Act On 'It’

IMPORTANCE

HighLowLow

High

FREQUENCY

X

X

XX



THINK ABOUT 'IT’

ACT ON 'IT’

PLAY WITH 'IT’

DREAM ABOUT 'IT’


Come in all shapes and sizes. Are easily forgotten unless we capture them. Are sometimes hard to find

unless we know where and how to look.

Have little value unless we do something with them.

Better results through better thinking ThinkAbout Creativity The Business of Thinking ®

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