CENTRE FOR CCRREEAATTIIVVEE THINKING WHERE LEFT BRAIN MEETS RIGHT ™

CENTRE FOR CREATIVE THINKING 5 Capri St. Thorold ON Canada L2V 4Y3 T: 905 227-5432 F: 905 227-6846 info@ccthink.com www.ccthink.com

In today’s business world, creative thinking and Innovation are more important than

ever. More and more success is determined by our ability to come up with new ideas,

innovative and creative solutions to opportunities. It’s all about thinking

differently and more often than not we just need a bit of prodding to do just that.

YOU NEEDYOU NEED

...to succeed or to maintain a level of success. To create, to change, to grow and to excel. You need ideas to improve

operational efficiency and save money, ideas for new products and services that give more value to your clients. Ideas for marketing to sell your products more effectively. You need

ideas to stand apart from the competition.

If you don’t If you don’t execute your execute your

ideas... ideas...

they’ll diethey’ll die

Our lives are the Our lives are the result of our result of our

choices. We can choices. We can choose either to choose either to

live our lives or to live our lives or to let others live them let others live them

for us.for us.

E+R = OE+R = O Event + Response = Outcome

We have very little control over some of the events that We have very little control over some of the events that happen in our life, but we do have control over our happen in our life, but we do have control over our response to the event. If we respond negatively, then our response to the event. If we respond negatively, then our outcome will be a negative one. If we respond in a positive outcome will be a negative one. If we respond in a positive way, our outcome will be positive.way, our outcome will be positive.

Use your creative Use your creative imagination to explore new imagination to explore new applications. New ways of applications. New ways of doing things that have the doing things that have the principal based power to principal based power to

translate dreaming... translate dreaming... to doing.to doing.

Words of WisdomWords of WisdomPay yourself first Hire upBecome less reactive and more responsiveWork on the premise of knowing instead of believingSurround yourself with expertsBe willing to changeLeave an impressionWait for inspirationLaugh at your mistakes

Ask for what you wantLet go of fearful thoughtsThink Big!Change what you can, accept the things you can’t changeDon’t panic!Create from the inside outBe willing to take adviceBanish your doubtsHave a plan

WhatWhat IsIs Creativity? Creativity?An abilityAn ability…to imagine and/or create something new. to imagine and/or create something new. Thinking and behaving with both subjectivity and Thinking and behaving with both subjectivity and objectivity. It’s a combination of feeling and knowing.objectivity. It’s a combination of feeling and knowing.

An attitudeAn attitude… the ability to accept change. A … the ability to accept change. A willingness to play with ideas & possibilities. A flexibility willingness to play with ideas & possibilities. A flexibility of outlook. Enjoying the good, while looking for ways to of outlook. Enjoying the good, while looking for ways to improve it.improve it.

A processA process… creative people work to improve ideas … creative people work to improve ideas and solutions, by making gradual alterations and and solutions, by making gradual alterations and refinements. They look at a problem from a number of refinements. They look at a problem from a number of perspectives.perspectives.

• EVOLUTIONEVOLUTION

• SYNTHESISSYNTHESIS

• REVOLUTIONREVOLUTION

• REAPPLICATIONREAPPLICATION

• CHANGING DIRECTIONCHANGING DIRECTION

• REVERSALREVERSAL

• WHAT- IFFINGWHAT- IFFING

• FUNCTIONAL FIXATIONFUNCTIONAL FIXATION

Design is a combination of utilityutility and significancesignificance.

For business, it’s no longer enough to create a product/service that’s reasonably priced and adequately

functional. It must also be beautiful, unique, and meaningful. It has to reach out and trigger some emotion.

The best way to boost your creativity is to boost the communication flow between your two brain hemispheres: During the creative process, our left

and right brains are focused on the problem, exchanging information back and forth in a form of

a “partnership.”

• Analytical

• Convergent

• Vertical

• Probability

• Judgement

• Focused

• Objective

• Answer

• Left brain

• Verbal

• Yes but

Critical Thinking Creative Thinking(Left Brain) (Right Brain)

• Generative

• Divergent

• Lateral

• Possibility

• Suspend judgement

• Diffuse

• Subjective

• An answer

• Right brain

• Visual

• Yes and

18th Century…Agricultural Age (farmers)

19th Century…Industrial Age (factory workers)

20th Century…Information Age (knowledge workers)

2121stst Century…Conceptual Century…Conceptual Age (creators, inventors, Age (creators, inventors, visionaries, designers, story-visionaries, designers, story-tellers and empathizerstellers and empathizers))

Follow your visionFollow your vision!!

Vision is the best manifestation of creative imagination and the primary motivation of our action. It’s the ability to see

beyond our present reality to create or invent that what does not yet exist.

More then any other factor, vision affects the More then any other factor, vision affects the choices we make and the way we use our time.choices we make and the way we use our time.

The key is not in spending time… The key is not in spending time… but investing in it!but investing in it!

““If you give a man a fish, you feed If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day.him for a day.

If you teach a man to fish, you If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for life”feed him for life”

““The greatest achievement was at first and for a time The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits

in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of

realities.”realities.”James AllenJames Allen

Rules of Life

It is difficult to see the picture when you’re inside the frame. One meets his destiny often in the road he takes to avoid it. One of these days is none of these days. We hear and apprehend only what we already know. The dog that trots about finds a bone

Rules of thumb

If you hit every time the target is too near. Never state a problem to yourself in the same terms as it was

brought to you. The second assault on the same problem should come from a

totally different direction. If you don’t understand a problem, then explain it to an

audience and listen to yourself. Don’t mind approaches that transform one problem into another.

That’s a new chance. If it’s surprising, it’s useful. Studying the inverse problem always helps.

Success Originates in the Success Originates in the MindMind

YOUR ECONOMIC YOUR ECONOMIC SECURITY does not lie in SECURITY does not lie in your job; it lies in your own your job; it lies in your own power to produce, to think, power to produce, to think, to learn, to create, to adapt. to learn, to create, to adapt.

That’s financial That’s financial independence.independence.

The best way to see the future… is to The best way to see the future… is to CREATECREATE it! it!

““When you put a limit on what you will do...When you put a limit on what you will do...

you have put a limit on what you can do”you have put a limit on what you can do”Bobby Layne

The problem is not that people aim to high in life and miss. The problem is not that people aim to high in life and miss. It’s that they aim to low and hit!It’s that they aim to low and hit!

Develop your imagination. You can use it to create in your mind Develop your imagination. You can use it to create in your mind what you hope to create in your life.what you hope to create in your life.

A journey of a 1000 miles begins with one A journey of a 1000 miles begins with one step… start walking!step… start walking!

Thank you for taking the time to view this power point presentation. For more information on “Creating Ideas To Creating Ideas To Creating WealthCreating Wealth” empowerment program, please call 905 227-5432, or e-mail info@ccthink.com

Thank you

According to a survey by training and consulting firm Genesis Training Solutions of the US, 92 percent of professionals say that creativity will be critical to sales success in the 21st century. Further studies by Sales and Marketing Management showed that 95 percent of the workers want to be more creative on the job. Why are most workers not creative then? The reasons are that they do not know how to apply their creativity and that they work in very structured environments where creativity is not encouraged. The studies concluded that if your organization wants great performance, then you have to find ways to feed the creativity of your workers.

In Japan, the Nomura Institute's proposition is that "Creativity will be the next economic activity, replacing the current focus on information. Historically, agriculture, industrial production and information were the dominant spheres of human economic activity. This prediction places creativity in the category of historically significant paradigms that have shaped human economic history from the beginning of time. Thus, just as the industrial revolution replaced agriculture as the dominant economic activity, creativity will replace the "information age" as the next dominant global economic focus."

The sophisticated use of information will create intellectual assets that will drive the development of products and services offering new value, greatly altering the shape of the economy and society. And in the process, companies and society will be challenged to develop new structures and new ways of doing things." (Nomura Research Institute, Ltd.)

Not everyone sees the same thing. Do you see the old lady or the young lady?

Most successful Most successful companies companies

communicate their communicate their message to their message to their

employees…employees… not their not their customerscustomers

““Imagination is more important Imagination is more important than knowledge”than knowledge”

Albert Einstein

Because it drives growth, generates new ideas, creates breakthroughs and brings to the world something that didn't exist before.

An innovative work environment instills energy in people, allowing them to be creative and, in turn, inspiring others. It's a cycle of success!

Why is creativity and innovation so Why is creativity and innovation so important to important to you and/oryou and/or business? business?

BY SHIFTING THE CONTEXTS IN BY SHIFTING THE CONTEXTS IN WHICH YOU THINK ABOUT IT, WHICH YOU THINK ABOUT IT,

YOU'LL DISCOVER NEW...YOU'LL DISCOVER NEW...

Good management, without creative effective Good management, without creative effective leadership…is like straightening the deck chairs on leadership…is like straightening the deck chairs on

the Titanicthe Titanic

12 Reasons Why Creativity Is So Important12 Reasons Why Creativity Is So Important

1. Develop Your Potential Beyond the Boundaries of Intelligence. Expand on your abilities. Develop all of your potential

2. Rapid Growth of Competition in Business and Industry. In a world of increasing complexity, change and competition, generating new ideas and bringing them to market is now seen as the central task of corporate management. Successful businesses are the ones that instill creativity throughout the organization.

3. Effective Use of Human Resources. Creativity is a human resource which exists in all organizations. To survive in today’s economy, it is imperative for an organization to nurture the creative potential of its human resources.

4. Discover New and Better Ways to Solve Problems. More and more, the problems you face are complex and open-ended. Knowledge alone isn’t enough to reach innovative solutions. Creative thinking skills are required.

5. Development of Society. Creativity is a central factor in our ability to continue to adapt to the changing environment. If a nation actively seeks to nurture creativity, it will play a part in making history.

6. Builds on the Nature of Knowledge. Creativity skills can assist an individual in enhancing his or her knowledge base. Without creative thinking, an individual is condemned to stay within the knowledge base as it is given.

7. Natural Human Phenomenon. Creativity is very democratic! Everyone has some, but to varying levels and degrees. Furthermore, we know this ability can be enhanced.

8. Important Aspect of Mental Health. Individuals who are capable of incorporating creativity into their lives can enjoy the experience of discovering, developing, and utilizing their many talents. Skills relevant to creativity are also useful in coping with life’s challenges. There is no doubt, creative thinking is a critical life skill.

9. Growing Body of Interest. There is a growing body of literature that represents impressive progress in understanding the nature of creativity. Moreover, there have been a large number of national and international conferences on creativity for over 50 years.

10. Builds on All Disciplines. Creativity is in all fields-from chemistry to engineering, manufacturing, education to computer science, sociology to business.

11. Contributes to Effective Leadership. It is the application of creativity skills that distinguishes a manager who maintains the status quo from a leader who supplies a new direction or vision. By internalizing the spirit of creativity and the principles of creative problem solving, an individual can be transformed into a changed leader.

12. Enhance the Process of Learning. The nature of learning requires the use of skills associated with creativity. Educators adopt a creative approach to teaching are more likely to deliver content and create a learning environment that develops higher ordering thinking skills.

1. A variety of participants with different backgrounds and areas of specialization.

2. The right kind of leader.

Creative teams are potentially great. They allow a group of people to capitalize on the combined creativity of the entire team. Members build on each others' ideas and push everyone to stretch their ideas. However, in order to work, creative teams need two things:

Leadership

1. Directed toward the future

2.Usable today

3. Firmly grounded in the past

4. Stable yet flexible to changing environments

5. Easily understood

6. Well promoted

To Achieve A Shared Vision To Achieve A Shared Vision

itit needs to be...needs to be...

This is the method of incremental This is the method of incremental improvement. New ideas derive from improvement. New ideas derive from

other ideas, new solutions from other ideas, new solutions from previous ones, the new ones slightly previous ones, the new ones slightly

improved over the old onesimproved over the old ones.

Two or more existing ideas are combined into a third new idea

Sometimes the Sometimes the best new idea is best new idea is

a completely a completely different onedifferent one

ReapplicationReapplication•Look at something old in a new way

•Go beyond labels

•Remove prejudices, expectations and assumptions

•Discover how something can be reapplied

•See beyond the previous or stated applications for some idea/solution, and see what other application is possible

When attention is shifted from one

angle of a problem to another...

This is called Creative insight

Changing DirectionChanging Direction

Brainstorming is an idea generating technique. It’s main

goals are...

1. To break us out of our habit-bound thinking

2. To produce a set of ideas from which we can choose

Four Basic Guidelines Four Basic Guidelines for Brainstormingfor Brainstorming

• Tag onTag on

• Quantity of ideasQuantity of ideas

• Suspend judgementSuspend judgement

• Think freelyThink freely

1. Choose a recorder

2. Organize the panel

3. Keep the session relaxed

and fun

4. Limit the session

5. Make copies

6. Add and evaluate

Practical MethodologyPractical Methodology

Idea Generating QuestionsIdea Generating Questions1. WHO?

2. WHAT?

3. WHEN?

4.WHERE?

5. WHY?

6. HOW?

Who is involved? What are the people aspects of the problem? Who did it, will do it? Who uses it? Who wants it? Who will benefit, will be injured, will be included, who will be excluded?

What should happen? What is it? What was done, ought to be done, was not done? What will be done if X happens? What went or could go wrong? What resulted in success?

When will, did, should this occur or be performed? Can it be hurried or delayed? Is a sooner or later time be preferable? When should the time be if X happens?

Where did, will, should this occur or be performed? Where else is a possibility? Where else did the same thing happen, should the same thing happen? Are other places affected, endangered, protected, aided by this location?

Why was or is this done, avoided, permitted? Why should it be done,

avoided, permitted? How was it, could it be, should it be done, prevented, destroyed, made, improved, altered? How can it be described, understood? How did beginning lead to conclusion?

Historical ExaminationHistorical ExaminationThese questions are very useful for generating These questions are very useful for generating

ideas for improving somethingideas for improving something

Essence...Essence...Origin...Origin...

Purpose...Purpose...Import...Import...

Reputation..Reputation....

ImprovementsImprovements“Improvements to” is the counterpart of “uses for”

“Uses for” concentrates on using a given item, often unchanged, for multiple purposes different from the item’s original purpose.

“Improvements to” focuses on altering an item to enhance its original, given purpose.

Attribute AnalysisAttribute Analysis

The process of breaking down a problem, idea, or thing into attribute or component parts and then thinking about the attributes rather than the thing itself

Discovering attributes can be aided by the use of checklists

• Physical: color, weight, material, speed, odor, size, structure, taste

• Psychological: appearance, symbolism, emotive ("happy smell of detergent")

• Functional: intended uses, applications, how it does what it does

• People: who's involved

• Miscellaneous: cost, reputation, origin, class it belongs to, definition

Morphological AnalysisMorphological Analysis

Morphological Analysis builds upon attribute analysis by generating alternatives for each attribute, thereby producing new possibilities

One of the major blocks to creativity is the minds One of the major blocks to creativity is the minds firm grasp on reality. It keeps us from thinking firm grasp on reality. It keeps us from thinking

beyond what we know to be true. “beyond what we know to be true. “What if”What if” is a is a tool for activating the right brain and freeing us tool for activating the right brain and freeing us

from being blocked by reality.from being blocked by reality.

What What if?if?

The reversal method for examining a problem or generating new ideas takes a situation as it is and turns it

around, inside out, backwards, upside down, etc.

A trigger concept is an idea creating technique operated by bringing an unrelated idea into

the problem and forcing connections or similarities

between the two

Sources of BlockingSources of Blocking

Functional Fixation arises when someone is unable to see beyond the historical or

accepted use for an item, often identified by its name or label.

BLOCK BUSTING TECHNIQUES

Uses for...

Think of an object or an item, something fairly common like a

hammer, pencil, toothpick etc and think of all the possible uses for that object other than what it is normally

used for.

Create Your Success with...

The Five SensesThe Five Senses1.Touch1.Touch:

2.Taste2.Taste

3.3. Smell:Smell:

4. Sound:

5. Sight:5. Sight:

Feeling, texture, pressure, temperature, vibration

Flavour, sweet, bitter, salty

Aroma, odor

Hearing, speech, noise, music

Vision, brightness, colour, movement, symbol

Human NeedsHuman NeedsI. Physical Comfort:

2. Emotional Comfort:

3. Social Comfort:

4. Psychological Comfort:

5. Spiritual Comfort:

Food, clothing, shelter, warmth, health

Safety, security, freedom from fear, love

Fellowship, friendship, group activity

Self-esteem, praise, recognition, power, self-determination, life control

Belief structure, cosmic organizing principal

Shape

Colour

Texture

Material

Weight

Hardness/Softness

Flexibility

Stability

Usefulness

State

Ways To Improve SomethingWays To Improve Something• Simplify (remove complexity)

• Apply to new use

• Automate

• Reduce cost

• Make easier to use/understand

• Reduce fear to own/use

• Make safer

• Give more performance/capacity

•Make portable

• Make faster, less waiting

• Provide more durability and reliability

• Give better appearance

• Add features, functions

• Integrate functions

• Make more versatile

• Make lighter/heavier weight

• Make smaller/larger

•Make quieter