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Creative Thinking: Exercises to help develop creativity. How to develop creativity: tips, tricks, and books

How many different uses for a paperclip can you think of in three minutes? If your results are consistent with those of the majority, then the answer will be somewhere between 10 and 20.

This famous test was invented in 1967 by J.P. Guilford, an American psychologist and professor at a number of leading universities. The test was used to assess divergent thinking.

These tests, also known as "alternative use tests", are very popular in the modern world - you have probably come across them at least once in training or interviews.

In the image above, you saw two strange shapes - this is part of another interesting test, in which it is proposed to complete the picture in each window. This is another test for divergent thinking - the more creative the subjects are, the more interesting the images are.

Creative thinking is often taken for granted - either it is, or alas. But recently, this position is losing its strength: according to the results of a study at Harvard, success in creativity is 85% determined by skill skills. This means that each of us can develop creative thinking.

The question is how to do this?

What is creativity?

Creative thinking is an intangible subject for discussion. You can't put creativity on the dining table and look at it under a magnifying glass. Most of the time, when meeting real art and creative people, you just feel it. Maria Popova, creative genius at BrainPickings.org, says that creativity is the art of connecting the incompatible, transforming existing knowledge into a completely new way of seeing the world.

This definition seems to accurately describe all areas of the creative process - but we'll look even deeper.

Associations

This practice allows you to draw lines between seemingly completely alien things and ideas. Sir Richard Branson believes his entire Virgin Group is built on this method.

Questions

Curiosity is a common quality in people of creative professions. Many innovators are constantly interested in everything that happens - they are not satisfied with the current state of affairs in the world.

Leonardo da Vinci was convinced of the strong influence of curiosity on the creative process. One of his sketches preserved the inscription: “ I wandered around the neighborhood hoping to find answers to things I could not understand».

Observation

Maria Konnikova in her book How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes emphasizes the importance of constant and deep observation of the environment. To illustrate this thesis, Maria cites an excerpt from the book: Sherlock asks Watson how many steps on the stairs in Holmes' house, along which each of the heroes walked hundreds of times. Watson was unable to answer, to which Sherlock said:

“You are not observant. Every day you climbed the stairs, and probably subconsciously counted your steps, but do not remember it. I know that there are 17 steps on the stairs, because I saw and observed. "

Networking

This isn't just about growing your LinkedIn list. Networking is all about increasing your social connections and attracting ideas from all walks of life. Truly creative people don't sit in the shell of their social circle - they are constantly trying something new.

Experiments

To see fresh paths and opportunities, you must step out of your comfort zone and experiment with new ideas and working methods. Google was the first to introduce the 80/20 principle into the workflow, which allowed corporate employees to actively work only 20% of standard working hours.

Since then, the concept has caught on on Apple and LinkedIn. These companies understand that creativity is not a joke or fun, but hard work. The desire to be creative is not enough for success - you have to put in the effort.

Creative thinking plan

Now we have figured out the components of creative work, but how do you develop creativity? There are five simple methods that can stimulate thinking outside of your comfort zone and can give you more ideas than you think.

Warm up your creative muscles

"Ideas are like rabbits - at first you have several, but once you start tinkering with them, you will not even notice how you get a whole brood."... John Steinbeck

Just like building muscle in the gym, developing creativity takes time and energy - daily effort is required to be successful. Make a commitment to exercise your mind regularly.

For example, James Altucher developed a habit that helps him create 3,650 unique ideas a year. It's very simple: every night James sits down and comes up with 10 ideas, from business plans to book concepts.

The regular process of generating fresh ideas trains the brain to constantly look for new ways to solve problems. This approach not only creates a breeding ground for creativity, but also strengthens your mind.

When we do something new, a signal is generated in the nervous system that we are learning, and this triggers the release of a dose of dopamine, a neurotransmitter responsible for well-being and is a key component of the learning process. It is an enjoyable reward for mental effort that can motivate you to exploit previously unimaginable creative reserves.

Interrupt more often

All people are different, and everyone has their own way of generating ideas. Someone has fresh thoughts at dinner: a glass of wine, a calm atmosphere, you no longer need to think about work - here the brain switches over and can give out something interesting.

Someone uses for similar purposes jogging in the morning, shopping, morning coffee - anything, up to the daily hour in a traffic jam at home. Everyone can remember a situation in which good thoughts most often come, which is no coincidence.

When we are a little distracted from daily problems, our consciousness is slightly unloaded, which can serve as a reason for a fresh look at things. Shelley H. Carson argues, "Distraction can give the brain the break it needs to get distracted from ineffective problem solving."

Paying too much attention to problems tends to use up all of your cognitive resources. Take a step back, do your household chores, go for a walk - in short, stop for a minute and give your brain a break by clearing it of daily waste. This will free up space for creativity.

Change the environment

You have probably never been to a fine restaurant kitchen. Likewise, you are unlikely to see a sewer diagram that runs from your office several kilometers away. But when you watched the cartoons "Ratatouille" and "Finding Nemo" the scenes in such places seemed quite authentic to you. Do you know how these works appeared?

To create a realistic effect, Pixar directors themselves immersed themselves in the environment they wanted to build. When filming Ratatouille, the filmmakers went on a two-week business trip to France, where they explored the local cuisine. In Nemo's case, the group spent some time in the San Francisco city sewer system to study the city's drainage system.

Nobody is forcing you to go to France tomorrow, let alone go down the drain. But getting out of the familiar circle is sometimes just necessary to give impetus to creative thinking.

For example, a number of studies among emigrants have shown that people living in a foreign country for themselves often find unobvious connections faster and show high success in creativity. Adaptation to life in a society with a new language, culture and way of life forces us to transform old ideas and change habitual patterns of behavior.

Again, don't emigrate just because you need to develop creative thinking. Just go on a trip - so you free your brain from routine, work tasks and at the same time give it fresh impressions of new countries and cultures. A good trip, like nothing else, changes the idea of ​​the world and internal attitudes, while enriching the horizons.

Change your schedule

According to recent research, we could be more efficient by introducing some novelties into our daily routine. We are talking about the following - in periods when activity decreases, our ability to concentrate decreases accordingly. Loss of attention makes it possible to cover a wider range of information. In a state of low activity, our brain generates more alternatives and different interpretations that contribute to all kinds of innovative ideas and insights. During periods of decreased activity, your mind is a little less organized. Instead of linear thinking, thoughts seem to scatter in different directions, one clings to the other, immediately giving way to a third, etc. In such a state, you can subconsciously find non-obvious connections between ideas.

Of course, the "owl" should not forcibly turn into a "lark" and vice versa. It’s just that sometimes it’s helpful to disrupt the normal course of things.

Beginner's Consciousness

The brain of a person who first encounters a topic is capable of suggesting many solutions. The expert, on the other hand, knows only one road, on which he has been walking for many, many years in a row, without even realizing that it is possible to turn off.

In Zen Buddhism, this is called “Shoshin,” or beginner's feeling. The key is to feel like a newbie again, with no boundaries or frustrations - or all the answers. There are two advantages to this. First, beginners are more open to new ideas and alternative solutions to the problem. Secondly, the desire to explore new things is very important for creative thinking. Research has shown that people with a wealth of adventure experiences tend to have less conventional thinking than others.

Creativity is a combination of creative qualities that allows a person to create innovative ideas in almost any field. It is believed that creativity is inherent from birth. However, in order for them to fully manifest themselves, it is necessary to ensure the development of creativity in younger students. At this age, children are the most relaxed and not subject to standard thinking, therefore, they are able to create freely, not recognizing authorities.

What is needed to develop creativity

Unfortunately, improper upbringing and the imposition of generally accepted standards can completely drown out the creative "vein". Nevertheless, it is on the ability to maximize creative abilities that a person's success in adult life often depends. In order not to be lagging behind and to achieve career growth, to become an interesting person, it is necessary to develop creative thinking.

This quality is directly related to several factors. First of all, these include the level of knowledge, accumulated life experience and lifestyle. Lack of knowledge in the professional field leads to limitations. However, it is much worse if all of a person's skills are concentrated in only one area. In this case, it is quite difficult for him to go beyond the framework and think freely. Therefore, it is necessary to develop harmoniously in several directions.

It is believed that the development of creativity is associated with several qualities:

  • self-confidence;
  • defending their independence;
  • confronting imposed standards;
  • willingness to take risks;
  • curiosity;
  • observation;
  • the ability to convince an opponent;
  • sense of humor.

In most cases, the only quality that distinguishes a creative person is the ability to believe in their creativity. All other factors are complementary to promote your own ideas.

Since creativity is based on the presence of imagination, it is necessary to develop it. It's great if a person has high intuition. In this case, already on a subconscious level, he is able to grasp an interesting idea and in the future devote time to its development.

Your own creative thoughts may not be enough to be successful. Therefore, it is worth looking for like-minded people, people with experience in innovation. These are not necessarily representatives of art, creativity is necessary in any profession. You should be more decisive and not be afraid of experiments, looking ridiculous in the eyes of society.

You should not postpone the beginning of the experiment for a more appropriate time, wait for the idea to mature. It is important to start implementing it. If you do not have your own ideas, you can try to promote someone else's, understanding what remains unfinished in it.


As a rule, the process of generating a new idea begins not with “insight”, but with a methodical search for an area of ​​application of their skills. Then comes the "brainstorming" - active reflection on the problem. And only after the birth of a specific idea is it carefully polished, carefully worked out.

To achieve a positive result, it is necessary to concentrate as much as possible on the selected area.

Also, learn to think outside the box. To do this, you will have to be somewhat like children who find an original approach to solving any problem, without relying on the opinion of authorities, which they do not yet have.

However, techniques for the development of creativity have long been created, which allow a person to change his thinking as much as possible.

Creative techniques to take note of

Do not think that the technology for developing creativity is available only to an incredibly gifted person.

In fact, anyone can enhance their creativity using simple techniques:




Psychologists say that most often, solving the most difficult problems becomes much easier if a person experiences a positive attitude.

Exercises aimed at developing lateral thinking can greatly help develop creativity.

For example, a person has a box of matches, a box of pushpins, and a candle.

How can you attach a candle to the surface of a wooden door to maximize illumination? The solution to the problem should not take more than a quarter of an hour.

Creativity Is an important factor contributing to success in many areas of life. Therefore, the desire to learn as much as possible about the development of creativity looks logical and natural.

The development of creativity is directly related to life experience, the level of knowledge, the way of life of a person, with his interpersonal relationships. By broadening your horizons - by becoming more reading, traveling, communicating with interesting people - you are taking a big step towards developing your creativity in thinking. After all, a creative solution is, in fact, the result of the interweaving of various knowledge.

If you have a small stock of knowledge or it is very superficial, or even worse - if all your knowledge base is concentrated in only one area, then the chances of generating creative thoughts and making creative decisions, due to the insignificant amount of source material, are very small. So collect knowledge, emotions and impressions.

Creativity is not a single ability - it is a combination of personality traits and features of her intellect. Therefore, in order to develop creative thinking, you need to:

Perceive yourself as a creative and versatile person;

Be an independent person and be able to resist external demands;

Be able to challenge other people's assumptions, as well as have the willingness and desire to act in a "What if ?!"

Be inquisitive, receptive, open-minded, ready for something new;

Be an energetic person, easy-going;

Have discernment and observation;

Be able to combine the incompatible;

To be able to present your ideas and thoughts, to convince a person;

Have a sense of humor and playfulness ...

From this list, the first "must" should be highlighted. There is an interesting opinion - The only thing that distinguishes a “creative” person from a “non-creative” one is that the “creative” is convinced that he is. Therefore, everything that he does, he does with this very thought. Think about it!

A few words about independence. It is easier for an independent person to develop creativity and become creative, because his opinions and decisions rarely succumb to someone else's influence and destructive criticism. Consequently, there are fewer restrictions and more space and freedom for action.

Methods for developing creativity

Psychology understands creativity as special creative abilities, and creativity in all its manifestations is based on imagination. Hence, an important part of developing creativity is developing imagination.

Psychologists who analyzed the components of creativity came to the conclusion that intuition (intuitive understanding) is also an important component for the development of creative thinking. Read - "How to develop intuition."

Communicate with creative and creative people who have achieved some success, try to spend as much time with them as possible, if possible, be sure to watch how they work. They don't have to be people of art, because a creative person can be found in any profession.

Feel free to experiment. Our strict rules, the framework in which we set ourselves (how to behave and think), lead us to reject good ideas that could contribute to the development of creativity. Fearing becoming a target of ridicule, we monitor our behavior for correctness and acceptability. Experiment and don't be afraid to sound funny!

An important point that will move the development of creativity thinking off the ground is a call to action. Do not wait for the right moment to try to create something original, interesting and amazing, do not think that you are not ready. Start creating and already in the process of work you will understand that you have missed it for many years.

Developing creativity, for the sake of training, set yourself tasks, the solution of which will give you nothing.

The process of developing creativity can start by borrowing someone else's idea from people working in your field. Don't mistake this for plagiarism. It is about development, about learning something new, new trends and tendencies, and passing them through the prism of your own perception.

How creativity is born

A creative thought sometimes comes suddenly through insight, but basically it is born by the method of orienting the mind to the search for ideas. That is, to begin with, we determine what ideas we need (area of ​​application), then we focus on them and begin to develop (arrange a brainstorming session), then, after one or several worthy ideas come to mind, their fixation and comprehensive development follows ( grinding). Ask and where is the advice on the development of creative thinking? A significant increase in creativity just gives the ability to develop, catch and fix suddenly flashed thoughts and ideas.

In order to develop creativity and make this process easier and more understandable, you need to follow the rules:

When taking on an assignment or starting to develop an idea, be extremely focused (at the initial stages of the development of creativity, this is especially necessary), without being distracted by anything else, concentrate your attention on any one idea or subject.

Whether you need to create a new original product or a creative approach is needed to solve a problem, your mind must be plastic and flexible. Learn to think outside the box, switch from one train of thought to another. Build unexpected combinations, play all sorts of options, mix ideas, consider the situation from all sides. To explore more and more new possibilities, make the most unthinkable assumptions.

5 exercises to develop creative thinking

So, 5 exercises:

2 random words

Take any book or dictionary. Choose 2 words at random: open any page and poke your finger without looking. Now try to find something in common between these two words, contrast them, compare, analyze, look for relationships. You can come up with an incredible, even crazy story that would connect these two concepts. Exercise and train your brain.

The Architect's Frenzy

How do you feel about trying on the role of an architect and designing a house? Do not know how to draw or remember with horror the school drawing lessons and materials at the university? It's okay, the ability to draw and draw is the tenth thing here. The main thing is the process. Well, do you agree? Great, let's go then.

First, write down 10 nouns on a sheet, any. Mandarin, glass, meadow, water, tomato - whatever comes to mind. These 10 words are 10 prerequisites for the customer you are designing the house for. For example, "tangerine" - make the walls of the house orange, "water" - let there be a fountain or a pond in front of the house, "tomato" - run red fish into the pond or hang red curtains in the house, etc. Let your imagination run wild. Draw and imagine how it would look in real life.

Associations (5 + 5)

Take a look at the room you are currently in. What object caught your eye? Mine - for a chocolate bar that is on the table. Now take a piece of paper with a pen and write 5 adjectives that best suit the subject of your choice. For example, dark chocolate, delicious chocolate, Belgian chocolate, natural chocolate, loose chocolate (imported, domestic, favorite, white, milk, hot, slab chocolate and many other options come to mind).

Have you written? And now the fun part - write 5 more adjectives that are absolutely inappropriate. It is much more difficult to do this: glass chocolate, plush chocolate, summer chocolate, mysterious chocolate, fried chocolate. o_O This is what came into my head. Dig into your feelings and perceptions and find the definitions you need. Put in a little more effort, and everything will work out, the main thing is not to leave the task unfulfilled. Sit and meditate.

Hour of "silence"

Do not be alarmed, you will not have to put water in your mouth and be silent. As you understand from the name of the exercise, this task will take you one hour, but you should not be distracted from your activities and your daily routine. At this hour, answer people only to general questions, using "yes" and "no". Behave as naturally as possible so that no one suspects anything strange. People around you should not get the impression that you are not yourself, that you are sick or that you got up on the wrong side in the morning. Try it and believe me, you will get a taste.

Creativity test

The main thing here is to believe in yourself, and throw all doubts away. We take a sheet of paper and draw crosses: 6 in height and 9 in length:

Now we tune in to the creative wave, take a deep breath and exhale slowly. We take a pen and start turning crosses into pictures and small sketches

Are you finished? Now look at what happened and choose the most successful ones, there will certainly be some.

The first stage of all creativity is self-forgetfulness.

M. Prishvin

The essence of creativity

Understanding the essence of creativity and the underlying abilities is a question on which there are many contradictory psychological, pedagogical and philosophical theories, opinions and concepts. Without pretending to be complete, we will discuss some psychological aspects that are most important for understanding the essence of the proposed program for the development of creativity (from the English. create -"Create, create").

Creativity in a broad sense is considered as an activity in a situation of uncertainty, aimed at obtaining results that have objective or subjective novelty. In this regard, it is not necessarily associated with such activities traditionally referred to as "creative", such as drawing, composing music or poetry, playing on stage, etc. It manifests itself when you have to act in situations of uncertainty, lack of clear algorithms, uncertainty the essence and methods of solving the problems facing a person, unpredictably changing conditions.

Creativity as a system of creative abilities is considered in psychology from several angles. It is understood as:

♦ characteristics of the intellectual sphere (Eysenck, 2004);

♦ independent quality of thinking, not reducible to intellect in its traditional understanding (Gilford, 1967; Ponomarev, 1988);

♦ the system of personal qualities (Olah, 1968).

In addition, some researchers take the position that creative abilities as such do not exist, and behavioral manifestations considered as creative activity (behavior that is not predetermined by external stimulation, but represents an intrinsic value for the individual) is predetermined by other factors: values, motivation ( Maslow, 1999). Despite the differences in the authors' views on what exactly serves as the main psychological component of creativity, in all approaches this phenomenon is associated with the creation of something new for the individual or for society. It is a potential propensity for all-round thinking, feeling and acting, allowing to build productive behavior in situations of novelty and uncertainty.

There are various definitions of creativity, in which the emphasis may be on:

♦ products created thanks to her: creativity as the ability to generate something new, unusual, original;

♦ processes: creativity as a special kind of creative thinking, highly developed imagination, aesthetic perception of the world, etc .;

♦ personal quality: creativity as openness to new life experience, independence, flexibility, dynamism, originality, individual identity;


♦ external conditions: creativity as the ability to act productively in situations with a high degree of uncertainty, where there are no previously known algorithms that are guaranteed to lead to success.

One way or another, creativity is understood as a kind of opposition to routine, standard, conformity (compliance with external influence).

Abilities, from a psychological point of view, are prerequisites for the successful mastering of any activity, making it possible to master it with the maximum "yield" in terms of labor costs, that is, a kind of analogue of the physical concept of "efficiency" in relation to the development of a person's activity ... Under creativity we will understand the characteristics that allow us to productively master activities aimed at obtaining results that have novelty.

There are a number of intellectual characteristics that serve as prerequisites for the fact that a person, finding himself in suitable conditions for this, will easily master the activity that allows him to create something new. But this does not mean that he will systematically use these opportunities in situations of professional and domestic difficulties. And, moreover, it will make creativity its own lifestyle. This requires at least two more components:

♦ A combination of personal qualities, in which a person is comfortable in situations of change, uncertainty.

♦ A person's own choice, according to which he finds situations of change, uncertainty, acceptable for himself, does not seek to make his life completely predictable.

In addition, manifestations of creativity are closely related to emotional factors, characteristics of interpersonal interaction and a motivational atmosphere that encourages the manifestation of creative abilities.

Thus, creativity includes:

1. Intellectual prerequisites for creative activity, allowing to create something new, previously unknown (creativity in the narrow sense of this concept), as well as a preliminary set of knowledge and skills necessary to create this new thing.

2. Personal qualities that allow you to act productively in situations of uncertainty, go beyond the predictable, and show spontaneity.

3. "Meta-creativity" - a person's position in life, implying a rejection of stereotyped, stereotyped judgments and actions; the desire to perceive and create something new, to change yourself and change the world around you; the high value of freedom, activity and development.

“So, creativity appears as an ensemble of characteristics that every human being has, characteristics that can develop and enable their owner to think independently, flexibly, with imagination. Whatever the differences that can be established, creativity is inherent in all individuals ... ”(Dosnon, 1997, p. 65). In general, creativity can be defined as a complex of intellectual and personal characteristics that allow a person to act productively in situations of novelty, uncertainty, incomplete initial data and the absence of a clear problem-solving algorithm.

Intellectual premises of creativity

When an apple fell on Newton's head and inspired him to develop the general theory of gravitation, it hit the object; filled with information.

R. Solso. Cognitive psychology

According to the concept of J. Guilford and E. Torrance, creativity is considered as a distinctive type of thinking - the so-called divergent (“divergent, going in different directions”) thinking, which allows varying ways of solving a problem, leads to unexpected conclusions and results. Such thinking is contrasted with convergent (“converging”) thinking, aimed at finding the only correct solution based on the analysis of many preconditions (Druzhinin, 1999, pp. 183–188). Divergent thinking is focused not on a known or suitable solution to a problem, but manifests itself in the case when the problem has not yet been solved and the way to solve it is unknown.

J. Guilford singled out, in particular, the following components of creativity:

1. Ability to detect and pose problems.

2. Fluency - the ability to generate a large number of ideas.

3. Flexibility - the ability to produce a variety of ideas related to different semantic categories.

4. Originality - the ability to come up with non-standard, rare ideas.

5. Ability to improve objects or ideas by adding details.

6. Ability to solve problems based on the analysis and synthesis of information.

Creativity, according to E. Torrens, is associated with a heightened perception of shortcomings, gaps in knowledge, disharmony, etc. (cited from Tunick, 2004). The point of view is also close to this concept.

E. De Bono (1997), who, when considering the problems of creativity, spoke about lateral ("lateral") thinking, aimed at finding ways to solve the problem "on the periphery of cognition" by maximizing the vision of the problem field and finding non-obvious options for action.

Let us give a generalized comparative characteristic of the varieties of thinking corresponding to traditional, academic intelligence, or oriented towards creative search.

Rice. eight. Convergent ("traditional") thinking

Rice. nine. Divergent ("creative") thinking

There is no reason to believe that creative intelligence is generally better than traditional research. They are just effective in a variety of conditions. The most significant advantage of "traditional" intellectual search over creative search is that it is guaranteed to lead to an acceptable result. But this is possible only with a few assumptions:

♦ the problem or task, in principle, has the only correct solution or a clearly limited range of correct solutions;

♦ the algorithm for solving this problem is known;

♦ there is complete and correct initial data for its solution.

Obviously, not all real life and professional tasks and problems that a person faces correspond to these assumptions. Rather, they are clearly represented by their minority, especially if they have to act in rapidly changing situations. This is especially true of judgments about the completeness and correctness of the initial data: when faced with any life problems, we are almost always forced to act in situations where the information we know is deliberately incomplete, and the reliability of the information that is available to us cannot be complete. confident. And if this is so, “traditional” intelligence does not at all guarantee that the problem will be solved adequately, even if we know exactly how to solve it.

Meanwhile, the majority educational the tasks that a person trains to solve at school, and then at university, are structured in such a way that they fully correspond to the indicated assumptions and are solved in accordance with the convergent strategy of intellectual search. Perhaps this is one of the explanations for the fact that many excellent students who perfectly cope with educational tasks turn out to be helpless when trying to solve real ones that lie in wait for them both at work and in other life circumstances. After all, this involves different strategies for intelligent search.

Traditional thinking requires loyalty, the correctness of every step in solving a problem. If a mistake is made somewhere, then the final result will be wrong. As an example, we can cite the solution of mathematical and physical problems: it is obvious that if at some stage we make a mistake and do not notice it, then when performing subsequent actions, the error will not disappear anywhere, but most likely on the contrary, it will only intensify. The end result will naturally also turn out to be wrong.

In creative thinking, the fallacy of a particular step does not necessarily lead to the incorrectness of the overall result. This is because this thinking proceeds in several directions at once, it is a kind of "network search" for a solution to the problem, so even if some of its directions turn out to be dead-end, this does not mean failure in general. Moreover, there is reason to assert that the desire to be right all the time, the fear of mistakes are serious barriers that impede creative search. “It is preferable to have a lot of ideas, let some of them be false, than to constantly feel right in the absence of bright thoughts” (De Bono, 1997, p. 115). When thinking creatively, it is not important for us how correct certain elements of information are, but how much useful a certain combination of them, whether it will allow you to see the problem in a new, unusual perspective, to see possible ways to solve it. Ideas are assessed rather not from the standpoint of fidelity / unfaithfulness, but from the standpoint of functionality, applicability in specific conditions.

“The task of thinking is to come not so much to the correct as to the effective solution. Efficiency ultimately implies its correctness, but there is one important difference between the two concepts. To be right in everything means not allowing yourself to be wrong even once. To be effective means to be finally right only at the very last stage ”(De Bono, 1997, p. 114).

A feature of thinking proceeding in accordance with a creative strategy is the "expansion of the volume of ignorance" at the initial stages of work on a problem. In traditional thinking, the further a person progresses in work on a task or problem, the more definite it becomes for him. With a creative person, starting to work on a problem, he sees more options for its solution - it turns out that the degree of uncertainty for him increases.

Let us give an example: a teenager, who for the first time seriously thought about his future professional career, knows about the existence of 20–30 professions. Approaching the solution of this life task from the standpoint of traditional thinking would mean starting to critically assess these famous professions, reject those of them that are somehow unsuitable, and dwell on the most suitable one. Many young people do just that. This path is simple, but not very effective - after all, there are actually thousands of professions, and the choice is actually made from a much smaller number, the teenager simply does not see most of the possible career options.

To approach the problem of choosing a profession creatively means first familiarizing yourself with the maximum number of professions, then deciding on the criteria by which the choice will be made, and only after that proceed to a critical assessment of the options. This path is more effective, however, and much more difficult, because the choice ultimately has to be made not from several tens, but from hundreds and thousands of options. A similar situation arises when trying to creatively solve other life tasks.

Naturally, there is no reason to assert that people always resort to the same thinking strategy, although the preference for one of them can be expressed quite clearly. This is due not only to the learning experience, but also to deeper, psychophysiological differences (in particular, “right hemisphere” people are more prone to creative thinking, in which the activity of the right hemisphere of the brain is higher). One and the same person can think in some situations traditionally, and in some others - creatively. It is this option, when a person is able to flexibly change the solution strategy depending on the characteristics of the task before him, that is the most adaptive. “There are people who are equally good at both ways of thinking. The peculiarities of a person's thinking at the moment are determined by the requirements of the task, therefore one can observe how one and the same person switches from a convergent method to a divergent one ”(Eysenck, 2004, p. 344).

The objective of the proposed training is not to teach a person to think creatively always and everywhere, but to teach to see situations where such thinking is necessary, and to use it as needed.

The creative process includes a number of stages at which various intellectual characteristics are in demand. One of the first, back in 1926, G. Wallace identified four stages of the creative process, which have since become considered classic and in one form or another can be seen in all more modern classifications. They are as follows:

1) preparation: awareness of the problem, initial attempts to find a solution. Here, logical thinking is more in demand, which makes it possible to detect gaps in existing knowledge;

2) incubation: temporary postponement of the problem, when a person is engaged in other matters and does not make direct attempts to solve the problem, but at an unconscious level continues to seek its solution;

3) insight: the solution to the problem arises suddenly, as if from nowhere, and most often in those moments when the person does not even think about the given problem. At this stage, as at the previous stage, imagination is more important;

4) verification of the solution that has arisen. It, like preparation, is carried out mainly based on traditional, logical thinking.

Let us cite as examples two more classifications of the stages of the creative process that are in many respects similar.

The stages of the creative process (Donson, 1997, pp. 66–67) are as follows:

♦ Statement of the problem. This stage presupposes preliminary knowledge in the area in which the problem is posed, a general "orientation" in it, that is, an appeal to already known information, search for "gaps" in knowledge.

♦ Data analysis.

♦ Mobilization of information: formulating on its basis a new vision of the problem. This stage can end with an intuitive "insight" - insight.

♦ Assessment.

E. Torrens (cited in: E. E. Tunik, 2004) identified the following stages in the creative process:

♦ Perception of the problem.

♦ Finding a solution.

♦ The emergence and formulation of hypotheses.

♦ Testing hypotheses and, if necessary, modifying them.

♦ Getting the result.

Creative problem solving usually comes from the phenomenon insight - sudden intuitive "insight", understanding the essence of the situation in a new perspective. Perhaps the most famous historical example of this kind is the situation when Archimedes, basking in the bath, suddenly realized that the amount of water he displaced from it was equal to his own weight, which prompted him to publish the famous cry "Eureka!" In modern psychology, there are several mechanisms by which insight can occur (Sternberg & Davidson, 1982; cited from Eysenck, 2004):

♦ Selective coding: understanding which of the many available information is key.

♦ Selective combining: understanding how to connect pieces of information to get a new, unexpected solution to a problem.

♦ Selective comparison: comprehension of the relationship of the current problem with something already known, solution by analogy. “Selective coding was done by Alexander Fleming. He noticed that bacteria near the moldy drug were shutting down, and thanks to this he discovered penicillin. Selective combining was done by Charles Darwin. Some facts about natural selection were known to him long before he created his theory of the origin of species. Selective comparison helped Kekula. He dreamed of a snake biting its own tail, and when he woke up, he realized that the snake symbolized the molecular structure of benzene ”(Eysenck, 2004: 346–347).

Let us note two more aspects that are important for understanding creativity as a kind of thought process and adequate use of psychological technologies for its development.

In the creative process, the stages of generating ideas and their critical assessment are separated in time. At the first and second stages of divergent thinking, the main task is to maximize the field of vision of the problem situation and possible ways out of it by collecting missing information and generating ideas. Traditional thinking, on the other hand, performs the opposite task - evaluating the options available in the field of vision and excluding those from them that are contradictory, unrealizable, or do not meet any accepted evaluation criteria. In this regard, criticism leading to the narrowing and concretization of the vision of the problem field is directly opposite to the essence of the initial stage of the creative process. That is why in almost all technologies for the development of creativity at the stages of preliminary collection of information and especially the generation of ideas, not only critical, but in general any value judgments are excluded.

Creativity is based on the process of recombination - presentation in new, unusual combinations of already known elements of knowledge, images, etc. Even in the most innovative products of creative labor, there are usually very few truly original elements that cannot be found analogous to what is known or done earlier. The originality of these products is manifested not in the fact that there are no analogues to their constituent parts, but in the fact that the parts are in new combinations, presented in an unusual context. Therefore, one should not underestimate the importance of previously acquired knowledge, skills, life and professional experience as a necessary (but not sufficient) prerequisite for creativity. First, this knowledge, skills and elements of experience are the basis for recombination. Secondly, the basic skills brought to automatism allow freeing consciousness for solving problems of the creative plan itself. In addition, in a number of cases, without the necessary skills and abilities, creative ideas simply cannot be translated into reality (it is difficult to imagine a talented picture created by an artist who does not know how to mix paints on a palette to obtain the shades he needs). However, preliminary knowledge should relate specifically to the individual elements of the created product of activity, but not to what combinations these elements will be in and how the finished product should look. Then imagination is involved - a cognitive process that allows you to create new images that were not in the past life experience, based on constellations - building new relationships between elements.

Experts in the psychology of creativity note that it is based on the synthesis of logical thinking and imagination (Luk, 1978). These processes are not mutually exclusive, but complementary, but their role is not the same at different stages of the creative process. "The most significant difference between imagination and other forms of human mental activity is the following: imagination does not repeat in the same combinations and in the same forms individual impressions that were accumulated before, but builds some new series of previously accumulated impressions" (Vygotsky, 2000 , p. 807).

Creativity and personality traits

If I have seen a little longer than others, it is only because I stood on the shoulders of giants.

I. Newton

Personality traits that greatly contribute to effective creativity are openness to new experience. It is included in the so-called big five (big five) personality traits, the validity of the selection of which has been repeatedly confirmed in studies carried out in various socio-cultural conditions. This quality is expressed in the readiness to perceive and master the new that appears in the environment of a person, and when contradictions arise between reality and the system of ideas about it, change the system of ideas without distorting the perception of reality. In addition, people who are open to new experience are characterized by curiosity, even some playfulness. When studying the biographies of people who have achieved significant success in artistic or scientific creativity, it is often noticed that others characterize them as big children. This is one of the external manifestations of a high degree of openness to new experience. This state is poorly compatible with skepticism, excessive pragmatism and seriousness. That is why psychological and pedagogical technologies for the development of creativity usually have a playful character, imply a pretend action, “as if”.

In addition to giving up the usual mental images, flexibility, the ability to look for unusual associations, creativity requires tolerance for uncertainty(King, 2005, with. 4). Creative people feel comfortable in situations where there is no comprehensive information, no precise rules of action, and the prospects for further developments are not entirely clear. Those whose creativity is weak, experience strong discomfort and anxiety in such situations, try to avoid them.

As already mentioned, there is often an outward resemblance of creative people with big children, their playfulness, the impression that they never become adults, “are not inclined to take what is happening too seriously and retain their natural spontaneity” (King, 2005, p. 9 ).

Let's note some more personality traits inherent in creative people (Olakh, 1968):

♦ Independence - personal standards for them are higher than the standards of the group, assessments and judgments are inconsistent.

♦ "Openness of mind" - willingness to believe their own and other people's fantasies, receptivity to the new and the unusual.

♦ High tolerance to uncertain and unsolvable situations, constructive activity in these situations.

♦ Developed aesthetic sense, the pursuit of beauty.

Another personal quality that is important for a person's creative potential to be realized is assertiveness(from lat. assertorius -"Affirmative") (Capponi, Novak, 1995). It characterizes a person's willingness to do everything in his own way, even if it goes against the opinion and example of others, self-confidence, intractability to manipulation, a tendency to free self-expression.

When examining gifted children, the following characteristics were found ("Gifted children ...", pp. 265-266):

♦ ability to take risks;

♦ divergent thinking;

♦ flexibility in thinking and in action;

♦ quick thinking;

♦ ability to come up with original ideas;

♦ rich imagination;

♦ ability to perceive ambiguous things;

♦ aesthetic values;

♦ developed intuition.

Based on the generalization of a large number of features that characterize the creative personality, 12 groups of them were identified (Davis, 1995, p. 426, revised):

♦ Mindfulness - the perception of oneself as a creative person, capable of creating something new.

♦ Originality - flexibility in ideas and thoughts, resourcefulness, willingness to challenge assumptions, to act on the basis of the principle "What if?"

♦ Independence - self-confidence, management of one's behavior based on internal values ​​and criteria, the ability to resist external demands.

♦ Risk appetite - willingness to try something new, even if it may lead to adverse consequences, resistance to failure, optimism.

♦ Energy - preoccupation with actions, entrepreneurial spirit, enthusiasm, spontaneity, "ease to rise."

♦ Artistic - expressiveness, aesthetic interests.

♦ Interest - breadth of interests, curiosity, a tendency to experiment and ask questions.

♦ Sense of humor - playfulness.

♦ The craving for complexity - interest in the incomprehensible and mysterious tolerance for ambiguity, disorder, combination of incompatible.

♦ Open-mindedness - receptivity to new things, to other points of view, liberalism.

♦ The need for loneliness introspection, reflexivity (the tendency to self-awareness), the ability to work alone, the presence of internal needs that are usually not revealed to others.

♦ Intuitiveness - insight, the ability to see implicit connections and relationships, observation.

It should be noted that not all creativity, even in combination with personal qualities that contribute to its manifestation, leads to the fact that a person creates creative products of activity that have consumer qualities. A variant is possible when creativity remains a “thing in itself”, which manifests itself only in the field of dreams that have nothing to do with reality. In this regard, psychologists speak of “naive” and “cultural” creativity (Yurkevich, 1996). In the first case, it is a kind of "raw" ability to create something new, which is available in most children, but most often weakening as they grow up. In the second, the ability for productive creativity, based on both experience and intellectual ability.

Most people are more comfortable in familiar and controllable situations where they know exactly how to proceed in order to get a particular result. When such people find themselves in a new, unusual situation, they experience discomfort and anxiety. They have a need to get out of the situation or structure it, turn it into an understandable and predictable one. In fact, such structuring in most cases is reduced not to the fact that the situation itself is changing (which in many cases is in principle impossible), but to the fact that its perception is changing. It is "superimposed" on it, often without sufficient logical grounds, some past life experience, a person's stereotype, etc. As a result, it begins to be perceived as more structured and predictable than it really is. On the one hand, on the basis of a stereotype or analogy with some other situation, a person assumes what consequences it will lead to (and such assumptions are not always justified). On the other hand, such a perception creates a kind of "blindness" for him, prevents him from seeing his own possibilities to influence this situation, options for its outcomes, etc.

This corresponds to a stereotyped, uncreative worldview. Situations of novelty and uncertainty are uncomfortable for its bearer, and behavior in them, in most cases, is not entirely adequate.

K. Rogers (1994) formulated two main psychological conditions conducive to creative creativity.

1. Psychological safety achieved through:

♦ recognition of the unconditional value of the individual;

♦ lack of external evaluation of the results of his work.

2. Psychological freedom, achieved through the full expression of thoughts, feelings and states.

For a non-creative person, the most acceptable is the situation of homeostasis, the balance of the internal state and conditions of the external environment. Being in such a "balance", a person, on his own initiative, seeks not to disturb it. And when life circumstances begin to change, a person's activity is aimed at restoring this "balance" not so much by actively changing the situation as by adapting to it. Such people are guided by the following principle: "We solve problems as they come."

Creative people are characterized by the fact that they do not strive to be in a state of harmony with the external environment - on the contrary, they tend to actively disturb the "balance" between themselves and what surrounds them. They tend to actively transform their environment rather than passively adapt to it. It can be argued that creativity in this regard is the opposite of adaptation: it is not so much an adaptation to external conditions as their active change.

In general, it should be noted that the psychological prerequisites underlying creativity are complex, systemic in nature and include both the characteristics of thinking and a set of personal qualities that create the conditions for their behavioral manifestation.

In this regard, the reduction of creative abilities to any one intellectual or personal characteristic does not seem to be entirely adequate.

In conclusion, let us note some prerequisites for expanding human creative potential (Hayes, 1978; cited from Solso, 1995, p. 480):

♦ Development of a knowledge base and skills, accumulation and systematization of the stock of information, on the basis of which something new can be created, as well as the improvement of the skills necessary for the corresponding type of activity.

♦ Creation of an atmosphere conducive to creativity. The key characteristic of this atmosphere is the avoidance of criticism at the stage of generating ideas, which allows you to overcome the internal limitations that prevent you from seeing the problem from a new angle.

♦ Search for analogies. The chances of a creative solution to a problem increase if it is possible to discern analogies between it and some other problem situations.

Principles of creativity training

I hear and I forget.

I see and I remember.

I do and I understand.

Confucius

The proposed creativity training is based on several principles.

1. Modeling situations of novelty and uncertainty. The external similarity of the techniques used in this training, with real life and professional problems, is minimized. This is done on purpose to avoid activation. different kinds participants' stereotypes, to give them the opportunity to perceive tasks as fundamentally new, requiring the search for an original solution. Parallels between the psychological mechanisms of performing the tasks offered in the training and the methods of solving real life problems are carried out only after the completion of the exercises, at the discussion stage. In addition, the instructions for performing the proposed exercises in most cases contain only the designation of the goals and conditions of work, but do not contain specific instructions, algorithms for its implementation. This creates conditions for uncertainty, a plurality of "degrees of freedom", which serves as an important prerequisite for enhancing creativity. “In order to move from reproductive to creative learning, the activity ... must be organized in such a way that it leads to the pupil receiving qualitatively new results, both in learning and in its development” (Khutorskoy, 2003, p. 142).

2. The game nature of the interaction. In a broad sense, play is defined in psychology as a form of activity that is not aimed at obtaining some kind of utilitarian benefit, the motivation of which lies in the very process of its implementation. Most of the techniques included in the training, in terms of their external content, seem to be emphatically “meaningless”, not aimed at solving any pragmatic tasks or actual life problems. The participants, in fact, are required to distract themselves from these problems for the duration of their implementation, becoming like playing children, to show spontaneity, simply to get carried away by the activity, not thinking about what benefits it will bring. Of course, the techniques are selected in such a way that each of them should benefit the participants, contribute to the development of those psychological mechanisms that are applicable in real conditions, and not only in game situations simulated in the training. But the clarification of what exactly this benefit consists in is carried out "retroactively", at the stage of discussion. It is better to perform these techniques spontaneously, without thinking about what it is for; just allow yourself to play like little kids.

3. Positive feedback, refusal to criticize the content of the work. Compliance with this principle is important for two reasons. First, positive feedback (acceptance, praise, approval) creates a positive emotional state in the participants that is conducive to work. Secondly, critical judgments in most cases evoke a defensive reaction from the addressees and, as a result, block the manifestations of creativity. The latter is especially pronounced at the stage of generating ideas. Therefore, in the context of creativity training, critical judgments from both the facilitator and the participants should be avoided. We usually insist that the participants avoid critical judgments in the context of classes not only in relation to each other, but also in relation to the content of the training and the actions of the facilitator: “Training is a game with its own rules. And one of them is to take everything that happens here as a given, without criticism. Nothing kills creativity like skepticism. " If someone has a persistent need to criticize the training (usually, by the way, this is the so-called "anti-leader" - a participant who explicitly or implicitly competes with the leader for group attention), it is advisable to listen to him individually.

4. Balance between intuition and critical thinking. In a general sense, it is a balance between the right and left hemispheric activity of the brain. The training is aimed not at making the participants completely spontaneous and not prone to criticism, but at teaching them to distinguish and "conflict-free" to distinguish between those moments when it is more appropriate to rely on spontaneity and intuition, and those when it is advisable to critically reflect on the situation ...

♦ Problem statement - critical thinking.

♦ Generation of ideas on how to solve it - creative thinking, imagination, intuition.

♦ Assessing options, thinking over strategies for their implementation - critical thinking.

5. Retrospective building of parallels between the content of the lessons and the life experiences of the participants. The main task of discussing each procedure is to make the participants understand what psychological mechanisms were involved, what skills were developed and personal qualities were activated, and how all this is related to the life of the participants outside the training. On the one hand, these mechanisms, knowledge and skills themselves must be voiced. It is advisable to first invite the participants to express their opinions, and then, if necessary, to generalize and supplement their statements. If the participants have difficulties, then a short story-monologue of the moderator is allowed. On the other hand, participants should compare their experiences with events in their own lives, both past and future. Therefore, at the discussion stage, it is allowed to deviate from the classic requirement for psychological trainings to be in a situation “here and now”; participants can give examples of life events that lie outside the training.

6. Widespread use of means of visual and plastic expression. These are drawings, dramatic performances, etc. Such means contribute both to the development of the qualities of creative thinking and imagination, and to "push" the participants personally, contribute to the rejection of stereotypes and stereotypes.

Not only a psychologist, but also a representative of related specialties: a teacher, a social worker can act as a leader in creativity training. But in any case, a professional presenter must be able to combine a number of functions (Churkova, Zhadko, 2005, p. 10):

♦ Administrator (collect, prepare, agree, take into account all organizational issues in the work).

♦ Lecturer (interesting to tell).

♦ Methodist (prepare a program, assignments, teaching materials).

♦ Expert (understand the subject area of ​​the training).

♦ Negotiator (to achieve compliance with the rules and procedures, to be able to “promote” your ideas).

♦ Teacher (be able to teach).

♦ Leader (lead and be responsible for the result).

♦ And even ... an athlete (to be able to "give all the best at a distance" of training).

The training implements an approach that can be conventionally called "From game to life". First, the skills necessary for the creative solution of life and professional problems are worked out on purely game material, and then, during the discussion and in subsequent exercises, the same skills are actualized on the material related to the real life problems of the participants.

Creativity and creativity are needed for every person to be successful. But, there are times when it seems to us that our creative potential has dried up, and all the actions performed are brought to automatism. Of course, a modern person is surrounded by many different things that do not contribute to the development of creativity, but if you wish, anything is possible. In this article, you will find 15 creative tips to help you.

  1. Fight the routine every day - don't let yourself become robots that do most of the work automatically. To do this, diversify your life and activities, even in small things. Drink from a different cup each time, put on different clothes every day, fold clothes, books, dishes in different ways. Experiment - change the order of actions. Every day, when you figure out how to diversify your work and life, the part of the brain responsible for creativity and creativity will strain, thereby training it.
  2. Change once a week. Our surroundings have a huge impact on the way we think and live. Therefore, do not let your interior get bored with you - even if you do not want to carry furniture from corner to corner, try to buy or make some new decorative element with your own hands, change curtains - the goal is to constantly update the interior.
  3. There is a good way to develop creativity - this is meeting and chatting with new people. Just set a goal for yourself to meet three people every week. Communicating with them, you come into contact with a completely different world, views, expand the boundaries of your thinking and naturally - train creativity.
  4. Try a simple exercise every day - take a piece of paper and a pen, write down 7 random letters that come to your mind. Now, come up with words that will start with these letters and make a sentence out of them. This is a very effective exercise that not only boosts your creativity, but also stimulates your brain.
  5. To develop creativity, you need to visit new places more often. Fall in love with travel, and today make yourself a plan for the near future, based on your financial and time capabilities. Try to visit another city, which you have never been to, at least once a month.
  6. If you do not have the opportunity to travel outside your hometown so often, you can visit new places without leaving anywhere. Look on the Internet for information about your settlement or city, and you will surely learn a lot of new and interesting things, as well as find for yourself a number of places that you want to visit.
  7. There is another very good exercise for training creativity. You need to take a blank sheet of paper and a pen again, and write 20 nouns. Now for these nouns, start coming up with adjectives that are not typical for them. For example, rough tea, loyal bread, and so on. At first it may seem to you that this is just some kind of stupidity, but in fact this method is very effective and helps to learn how to find non-standard solutions to problems. On top of that, you will get a boost of good mood, which will also have a beneficial effect on the brain.
  8. At night, when you go to bed, allow yourself to plunge into another world - where you have unlimited possibilities. Draw in your imagination your life, imagine everything in detail. Try to see a detailed color picture in your head. Dream about whatever comes into your head - don't be shy about it.
  9. Try to speak words and sentences from the end. It is very easy for us to read a word backwards, but it is much more difficult to reproduce it in this way without seeing it before our eyes. But, on the other hand, such a simple exercise promotes the development of imagination and creativity.
  10. Draw, even if you are absolutely sure that you are failing, it contributes to the development of creativity. The important thing in this exercise is precisely the process of creating a picture, and not redrawing it from what we see around.
  11. Everything you do every day can be used to develop creativity. Whenever you are doing housework or doing some chores, try writing short quatrains about your activity.
  12. The state of happiness and joy promotes the disclosure of creativity and activates the brain. Therefore, try to fill your life with positive emotions, avoid negative experiences if possible, or at least learn to control them.
  13. Reading fiction will also help develop creativity. Therefore, try to devote at least a little time every day to read a short chapter from a book, or at least a story from a magazine. Read thoughtfully, introducing yourself to every detail, event, and character.
  14. Be sure to provide your brain with the substances it needs to function properly. For maximum brain function, you need unsaturated fatty acids, glucose, magnesium, B vitamins. Also, water is a very important component. Remember to get good, regular sleep.
  15. Fall in love - don't be afraid of this feeling. Since the state of love reveals the creative potential, nothing and no one can reveal it. Therefore, open up your feelings in order to love your partner and the whole world. Love should be the normal state of a creative person!