The process of creative thinking is often, mistakenly,
intertwined with critical thinking. There is a tendency to write and edit
simultaneously, couple hypothesis generation and evaluation, combine problem
identification with solution.
Second, critical thinking is exercised to achieve applied creativity. This is
reductive, logical, focused, conservative, practical and feasible. During this
stage, the idea pool is reduced to achievable, appropriate ideas.
Now onto the Idea Pool itself:
Maximizing the size and richness of the idea pool is a
conscious process that has a lot in common with a) lateral thinking and
b) the elicitation of tacit knowledge. It is the
pre-critical thinking phase and some elements include:
c) Coming up with ideas for the sake of generating ideas.
d) Using a variety of stimuli and frameworks to open up
as many pathways as possible.
e) Not having a conscious direction.
f) Not stopping when a goal seems
fulfilled.
g) Consciously stimulating change in direction.
In
short, the key principle is to produce first and scrutinize second –writing and
rewriting are two separate processes. This applies across the board, from
business problem solving to arts such as screenwriting. The more people try to
understand meaning, the less they produce.
To increase effectiveness, one should first apply
creative thought, which is meant to be daring, uninhibited, free-spirited,
imaginative, unpredictable, and revolutionary. The trick is to ignore content
and maximize the size and richness of the idea pool.
Creativity
and Time Pressure
There is a pervasive belief that time pressure stimulates
creativity. This is both true and false. There are a number of forces at work:
a) Time pressure increases creative output. By forcing idea
production, setting goals and incremental deadlines, a greater number of ideas
are produced than if a “do your best” approach is taken. If a leader asks
participants in an idea generating session to address a problem and think of at
least 5 ideas every half an hour, then 80 ideas are produced by one individual
and 1600 are produced by 20 individuals at the end of an average working day.
This level of output is conscious and would not be produced normally.
b) Time pressure encourages prolific production and
therefore the probability of generating good ideas increases. It can be said
with great confidence that quality of output is closely related to quantity.
The best single creative product tends to appear at that point in the career
when the creator is being most prolific.
c) Forcing output pushes individuals along the experience
curve, refines their methodology, builds competencies and knowledge and
improves performance. Screenwriters know that they are likely to produce more,
better quality work faster if they set themselves a schedule of a certain
number of pages per day.
d) Short term time pressure may be bad in that it does not
allow the mind to engage in the endeavor at various cognitive levels. It does
not allow rich ideas to formulate through the process of incubation.
Intrinsically motivated individuals will benefit from short term time pressure
and goals (sets cognitive forces in motion) and will generate richer ideas
through incubation over the longer term.
e)
Motivation is
critical to creativity. If a person is intrinsically motivated, time pressure
may be a synergistic extrinsic motivator. If the person is not intrinsically
motivated then it may turn out to be a non-synergistic extrinsic motivator,
which reduces the level of engagement in the endeavor.
