5 Powerful Creative Thinking Techniques

There are all sorts of situations where creative thinking comes into play.

Generally, we might associate creative thinking with art: writing a story, creating a painting, or composing music, for example.  In reality, creative thinking is something that even the lay person uses on a daily basis, especially when it comes to problem solving.

When you find yourself in a quandary about how to solve a dilemma or create your next masterpiece, here are some powerful creative thinking techniques that can get the ideas flowing.

The Random Element

One problem we often face when trying to solve a problem is that we tend to think in a straight line. 

The Random Element Technique allows us to take our mind in different directions to hit on solutions that may have never occurred to us using a more conventional approach.

To use this technique, start by defining your problem.

For example, let’s say that you are having trouble getting along with a coworker.  Look around you and find something completely unrelated to your situation, say a jar of jellybeans on your desk.  What kind of inspiration can you get from applying that jar of jellybeans to your problem?

Some possibilities include:

• Jellybeans are sweet.  Maybe I need to be sweet to this person and “kill him with kindness.”

• All colors of jellybeans are mixed together.  Maybe I need to recognize that it takes all types of personalities to make the world work and accept our differences.

• There are a whole lot of jellybeans in a jar.  Maybe this person and I spend too much time in close proximity to one another.  Would moving to a different desk or cubicle make a difference?

It’s amazing when you discover just what kinds of connections your mind can make, and it gives you a whole new list of possible solutions to try.

Reverse Brainstorming

Most of us know the basics of brainstorming.  You define your problem and then make a list of all the possible solutions you can imagine before going back to evaluate the list for the gems.  The Reverse Brainstorming Technique works in a similar fashion, although instead of coming up with solutions, you brainstorm ways to make the problem worse.

Let’s continue with the example of the coworker conflict.

What ways could you come up with to make the situation worse?

• I could stop working on projects with this person so we miss deadlines.
• I could antagonize him or her, maybe even going so far as to start a fistfight.
• I could ignore the problem altogether and let it grow into something even more unmanageable.

From each of these anti-solutions, you may be able to draw a parallel solution by doing the opposite.  For example, you could work extra hard on your projects and improve your coworker’s opinion of you, you could try being extra nice to create camaraderie instead of irritation, or you could sit down with the person to work through the issue so it doesn’t get worse.

Morphological Analysis

This technique goes under many names, but the overall concept is the same.  Instead of getting overwhelmed by the need to solve an entire problem, try looking at its component parts and discern what kind of changes you can make to them.  You then take it one step further by mixing and matching these changes to come up with a variety of new ideas.

A great example for this technique is product improvement.  Let’s say you need to develop the next great thing in eyewear.

Start by listing the component parts of eyewear, such as:

• Frames
• Lenses
• Hinges
• Nosegrips

Other important aspects of eyewear include:

• Comfort
• Fashion
• Ease of use

For each component, consider how you can change it through the use of different materials, shapes, alternate uses, etc. Then try rearranging your lists to see what you come up with. You may just invent the most comfortable nosegrips or most fashionable new shapes for lenses.

What If?

Most of the things that we take for granted today would never have come into existence if someone, somewhere along the line hadn’t said “What if?”

“What if you could turn the cooking fire on only when you need it?” (Stove.)

“What if I could talk to my family on the other side of the country?”  (Phone.)

“What if I didn’t  have to tend livestock in order to have transportation?”  (Car.)

We face a problem when it comes to creative thinking, because we often get to a point where we just decide something isn’t possible, so why spend any time thinking about it?  This creative thinking technique encourages us to do just that.

Let’s say your problem is that you are planning to have a baby and want to take time off of work to stay home.  Our logical minds will often think, “I have to have money for the bills, so it’s impossible for me to stay home with my kids.”  Instead of ending your internal monologue there, however, ask “What if I didn’t have to go to work everyday?”

Some of the things you might think about include:

• I feel like I could be a better parent.
• I could do things I enjoy instead of punching a time clock.
• I would have more time for personal development.
• My house would go into foreclosure because I didn’t pay the mortgage.
• I’d get bored after a while.

It’s not all about just following a positive train of thought, as you can see.  But what you might realize from putting this list together is that while you do need to earn money to pay the bills, you might also want to find ways to do so that you enjoy and that allow you to be home more often.

You may even realize that you have a particular passion you’ve always wanted to pursue, and maybe this is just the time to do it so you can be the parent you want to be without becoming bored or losing your house.

The Lotus Blossom

Yasuo Matsumura of Clover Management Research in Japan is credited with developing this powerful creative thinking technique.  It reminds me of mind mapping, although there is a bit more structure to the overall process, which can be very helpful for right-brained people who are trying to tap into their creativity.

Start by writing your main problem or idea on a small piece of paper, say a sticky note.  Surround this note with eight others.

These make up the center and the petals of your lotus flower.  Use each of these eight “petals” to record potential solutions to your problem or improvements to your idea.  Now, take each of the petals, and make it the center of a whole new lotus flower.  Surround it by eight more petals, and continue on in the same way.

In this case, let’s say that you are looking for ways to stretch the family budget.  The center of your first lotus flower would read, “Don’t have as much money as we would like to meet monthly expenses.”

The solutions to this problem could be:

• Make more money
• Decrease unnecessary spending
• Decrease necessary spending
• Sell car/get rid of car payment
• Etc.

Take each of these solutions, and make it the center of a new lotus flower.

For the first one, “make more money,” you might create petals that say:

• Ask for a raise
• Get a different job
• Get a second job
• Sell items on Craigslist
• Etc.

For the suggestion to “decrease necessary spending,” some of your petals might read:

• Shop the sales
• Use coupons
• Buy generic brands
• Shop at thrift stores
• Etc.

At this point, you can make each of these ideas into a new lotus flower to continue on with your brainstorming, or you can stop, if you’ve found a solution (or two, or ten) that will work for your problem.

The problem with, well problems, is that we often get so wrapped up in what we can’t do, that we completely overlook what is truly possible.

By using these five powerful creative thinking techniques, you can encourage yourself to think in new directions, whether for solving the daily dilemmas that plague us all or for creating the newest invention or most innovative work of art.

“To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.” Joseph Chilton Pearce

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