Sometimes it is difficult for the muses to bring us the dose of inspiration that we need, but With the right strategies we can help our mind receive the influence of creativity
And it would be ironic if creativity, which is the ability to connect ideas with each other in an original and novel way according to what we experience at each moment, cannot be enhanced through the experiences to which we undergo.
Below you can see a selection of creative exercises to make your way of thinking more flexible and spontaneous. You can choose the ones you like the most depending on what your goals are.
1. Eraser technique
This technique is widely used by writers and advertising creatives, as it helps us deconstruct an idea until it reveals its most basic components and build again from there.
To carry it out, we will write down on a sheet of paper all the ideas that we believe make up the topic to be discussed, we will weigh the “gaps” of knowledge that appear among this mass of information, document more about what is necessary and, from hence looking for connections between those ideas that we have been writing down separately.
2. Good bad interesting
This method It was devised by the psychologist Edward de Bono famous for being the first to theorize about the concept of lateral thinking
It consists of selecting the idea we want to work on and thinking something good, something bad and something interesting about that element. Reviewing the number of ideas that we collect in each of these three columns will help us know if we are experiencing a bias when analyzing that idea.
3. Group sketching
This exercise serves to see the same idea from different angles thanks to group action.
To do this, we must meet with a group and each one begin to draw the beginning of an idea on a piece of paper. Then, all the pages change hands and each person continues the drawing started by their partner This is developed through between 4 and 9 steps like this.
4. SCAMPER
SCAMPER is an acronym created to make our texts or ideas go through a series of filters that will help us make our ideas more flexible About what we have in hand:
Substitute: What elements can I substitute with others that are not present in the original concept?
Combine: How can I combine ideas? What happens if we put this together with this other thing?
Adapt: What can I modify to make it fit better with the set?
Magnify: What elements deserve the most attention?
Put to other uses: What elements can be used most efficiently?
Eliminate: What elements could disappear without affecting the whole?
Reverse: What elements can be rearranged without causing serious problems?
5. Forced connections
Firstly, we write down in two different columns a series of concepts with no apparent relationship to each other, numbered. Then, we choose one element from each column at random (for example, with the help of numbers and dice) and We play to make them related to each other through an idea that we will have to create, no matter how crazy it may be. It is one of the most fun creative exercises.
This problem was created by psychologist Karl Duncker to observe people’s ability to use conventional objects in novel ways. Some people find the test so difficult that it can cause some anxiety.
To perform the test, a wax candle, a matchbox (with matches) and a box of thumbtacks (also filled) are used. The objective is make the candle fixed to a wall and can be kept lit without the wax dripping down to the ground. If you want to know the solution, click here.
7. The six hats
This technique was also developed by Edward Bono, and consists of analyzing a problem from six different perspectives: logic, optimism, devil’s advocate, emotion, creativity and general direction. Thus, we must put ourselves in the shoes of these six “flat characters” just as an actor would do.
8. Questioning everything
This exercise is very simple: it consists of writing down all the ideas that make up a concept and beginning to ask yourself how each of them could be called into question. In this way unfounded beliefs are identified or you come up with fun and crazy ideas about the way in which thought has to be contorted to deny very basic and obvious ideas. It can be especially useful in the field of advertising where lateral thinking is very important.
