1. Think Like A Child. as adults we tend to think in a conditioned way aimed at showing how clever we are. Yet, as children, we were simply spontaneous and far more creative in our thinking. To re-capture your childhood curiosity, allow yourself to just wonder at things, to be completely present in the here and now, and to detach yourself from what you thought was real.
2. Make New Connections. to be innovative doesn’t require a university degree; it simply requires making a connection between existing ideas. It’s when you take two seemingly unrelated items and use the spark of creativity that genius happens.
3. Be A Little Illogical. it is a peculiarly Western trait to want to tie things up in neat bundles. We prefer solutions to problems, and answers to questions. To be creative, you need to be comfortable with things that don’t fit. The Eastern tradition is more in tune with incongruence. As in this Zen Koan, or problem: what is the sound of one hand clapping?
4. Laugh More. humor is one of the greatest creative devices. It jolts us out of our normal patterns and puts ideas together that shouldn’t go together.
5. Think Outside Your Limits. many of the products we take for granted today are the result of people thinking outside their limits. Netflix, the IPhone, Amazon Alexa, Tesla, etc. What about the things that are the topic of wishful thinking today???
6. Adopt and Adapt. to be creative doesn’t require blue-sky thinking. You can still be creative by adapting what works elsewhere. An American airline that wanted quicker turnarounds on their flights adopted the techniques of Formula One pit crews. Another source of ideas is nature. Nature is an excellent teacher.
7. Remember Your Dreams. dreaming and day-dreaming can create a rich seam of ideas, because that’s when we relax and let the subconscious mind work by itself.
Make an attempt to apply these 7 creative thinking techniques and make them part of your daily thinking and new solutions to your problems will open up to you with ease and speed.