The exercises to develop creativity are effective to start thinking innovatively, create and have a more open mind to accept new ideas. Creativity can be increased; the brain is moldable and new neural connections continue to form into old age. Forget the myth that after a certain age you cannot learn or change.
First of all, remember: do not put problems with your creative ideas, at first all innovation is "rare" or not accepted. It already happened with the car, television or the internet.
Avoid thinking in ways like these:
And more like this:
With these exercises you can train your brain and promote your ability to think creatively.
1-SCAMPER
This exercise or technique is one of the best I have ever known. They taught it to me in an entrepreneurship course and if it is used constantly it can give very good results.
It is about asking yourself 7 questions about the object or process about which you want to be creative. Although the technique is focused to innovate on the same object or process, I will give you examples of different things:
S (substitute): What can I substitute? Who else? What else? Another approach? Another process?
C (combine): What will happen if I combine one idea with another? What other items could we combine with this one? In what ways could we agree on a combination? What can be combined to multiply the uses? What other attractions of others can we combine in ours?
If you combine a car with an airplane, this comes up:
A (adapt): What else is like this? What other idea do you suggest? What could be copied? What could it emulate? What idea could we incorporate? What process could be adapted? What idea outside my field could I incorporate?
M (modify or magnify): What could be magnified or magnified? What could be smaller? What can be added? More time? Stronger? Higher? More durable? What can add more value? What can be pleaded? What can be modified?
Q (put other uses): What else could it be used for? Are there other ways to use it as it is? Could it be used for other markets? Other users? Objects? Animals?
E (delete): What if it were smaller? What is left over or is not necessary? Should I split it? Split it? Separate it? Downplay it? Compact it? Subtract? Delete? Delete rules?
If the roof of a car is removed, a convertible emerges.
R (rearrange): What other arrangement or arrangement could you improve? Another drawing? Another provision? Another sequence? Change the order? Investing cause effect? Change the rhythm? Change the schedule?
2-Good-Bad-Interesting
This exercise encourages viewing different ideas from various perspectives and was invented by Edward de Bono.
You have to choose a central theme or idea and think 1) what is good about it, 2) what is bad and 3) what is interesting. Try to get the maximum number of examples from the three options and be equal. It is not about finding the correct answer, but about looking at all possible interpretations of an idea.
Example: Soccer.
-Well: people entertain themselves by watching it on TV and it is healthy to practice it.
-Bad: people forget about really important problems and governments spend a lot of money on it (as in the 2014 World Cup).
-Interesting: Although football was invented by the English, they have only won one World Cup and more than 40 years ago.
(This process should be done with many more topics).
This exercise shows that ideas and topics can be viewed as good, bad, or interesting depending on the perspective from which they are viewed.
3-Combine ideas
When you combine ideas, you can make great strides. We do it all day, yet we hardly realize it.
Select two words from the list below and think about them; what do they represent, what are they for, what is your relationship with them…
Car, chair, table, sofa, pool, dog, cat, building, pencil, paper, glasses, magazine, pants, cap, dvd, Smartphone, stone, camera.
For example: I choose stone and camera.
-I look at the stone: it is hard, round, solid, cold, it can be thrown or used for decoration…
-I look at the camera: I can record videos, take photos, it has a rectangular shape, it has buttons, a screen, lenses, I know how it works, it can be used for tourism, art, parties…
Once you know what each object means to you, you can start combining the ideas. How are or could they be related to each other?
- Can you hit something with a camera?
- Can you make a stone chamber?
- Can you polish a camera on a stone?
- Can you use a decorating camera?
- Can you use cameras to make buildings?
- Can you make a camera as hard as a stone, impossible to break?
Surely many ideas that come to mind have no application or meaning. It may seem absurd to you but it is very important that you do not feel rejection and that you accept all ideas.
Possible idea that comes from the process: make a camera that looks like a stone to take photos of animals that are difficult to see.