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The creativity and the ability to create tools and
weapons is the master sign of man. Without this ability,
manhood would not have been at the present stage of
development, for good and bad. It is a common rule to
develop your strengths more than your weaknesses. Therefore,
getting more creative should be the aim of any woman and
man, regardless of age.
Rule 41:
Be
curious
This is the basic rule for being creative. Nobody can
survive over time as a creative being without asking and
wondering.
Rule 42:
Practice
brainstorming
One of the very first "modern" books on creativity was
published in 1953. Alex F. Osborn gave us Applied
Imagination. He has also written a more recently
published book Your
Creative Power. As far as we know, Osborn introduced the
term and the concept of brainstorming, the kind of
mental free-wheeling which has been practiced worldwide for
almost 50 years. A senior will need this kind of working
more than anybody.
The basic rules for brainstorming session are:
- Criticism is ruled out.
Adverse judgment of ideas must be withheld until
later.
- "Free-wheeling" is
welcomed. The wilder the idea the better; it is
easier to tame down than to think up.
- Quantity is wanted. The
greater the number of ideas, the more the likelihood of
winners.
- Combinations and improvements
are sought. In addition to contributing ideas of
their own, participants should suggest how ideas of
others can be turned into better ideas or how two or more
ideas can be joined into still another idea.
If you try to get hot and cold water out of the same
faucet at the same time, you will get only tepid water. And
if you try to criticize and create at the same time, you
can´t turn on either cold enough criticism or hot
enough ideas. So stick solely to ideas&emdash;cut out all
criticism during this session. This will also apply, when
you are practicing brainstorming alone.
Osborns idea spurring questions:
- Put to other uses? New
ways to use as is? Other uses if modified?
- Adapt? What else is like
this? What other idea does this suggest? Does past offer
parallel? What could I copy? Whom could I emulate?
- Modify? New twist?
Change meaning, color, motion, sound, odor, form, shape?
Other changes?
- Magnify? What to add?
More time? Greater frequency? Stronger? Higher? Longer?
Thicker? Extra value? Plus ingredient? Duplicate?
Multiply? Exaggerate?
- Minify? What to
subtract? Smaller? Condensed? Miniature? Lower? Shorter?
Lighter? Omit? Streamline? Split up? Understate?
- Substitute? Who else
instead? What else instead? Other ingredient? Other
material? Other process? Other power? Other place? Other
approach? Other tone of voice?
- Rearrange? Interchange
components? Other pattern? Other layout? Other sequence?
Transpose cause and effect? Change pace? Change
schedule?
- Reverse? Transpose
positive and negative? How about opposites? Turn it
backward? Turn it upside down? Reverse roles? Change
shoes? Turn tables? Turn other cheek?
- Combine? How about a
blend, an alloy, an assortment, an ensemble? Combine
units? Combine purposes? Combine appeals? Combine
ideas?
A fresh book on this topic is Barry Hawkins: How
to Generate Great Ideas; Brainstorming and Creativity for
Business Success. We have not had the possibility to
review it yet. Please wait.
Rule 43:
Practice
morphology
Created as a creative technique by the Swiss scientist
Fritz Zwicky, morphology has been utilized in several
sciences to map the nature. Even children can practice
morphology. We will explain more detailed.
Rule 44:
Practice
"bisociation"
We will bring you more details. Origin: The Hungarian
thinker and writer Arthur Koestler, particularly in his book
The
Act of Creation
Rule 45: Coming!
Rule 46: Coming!
Rule 47: Coming!
Rule 48: Coming!
Rule 49: Coming!
Rule 50:
Develop idea
selling skills
Any idea will increase considerably in value when it is
accepted by another person or group. The ultimate result of
creativity is gaining advantages from others, e.g.
convincing the board of an organization and having money
reward from selling ideas. You may start by studying Eugene
Raudsepp: How to sell new
ideas. This book is out of print. We will therefore
revert with some advices from Mr. Raudsepp. You may also
find appropriate selling conduct in a vast array of
How-to-sell-litterature.
In case your imagination land at a new product idea, a
valuable source will be Harvey Reese: How
to License Your Million Dollar Idea : Everything You Need to
Know to Make Money from Your New Product
Idea We regret we are not
inventors.
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