“Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.” – Edward de Bono
Creativity is going beyond traditional ideas, rules, patterns and relationships to create new ideas. So, creativity is not something that can be used up; instead, the more you use it the more you have it. Creativity is about losing fear of being wrong – I’m stating so because being ‘wrong’ is part of the existing tradition. It’s this tradition which creates expectation for us to operate as robots or puppets.
Creativity is a mental muscle that we are all born with – and needs to be developed like all other muscles. I personally ask myself two questions daily to exercise my muscle; and have seen it grow in an unbelievable way. The two questions are: How else? And what else?
Think of a person who is selling bananas at a street corner and is making one hundred rand a day. The question is ‘How else can I continue to sell bananas, but make double the amount?’ This question challenges the current thinking; write down all the answers. The second question ‘What else?’ comes when you have exhausted ‘How else?’. What else can I do to generate double the amount? Add a line of apples for an example. This will without doubt stretch your mind every day – and eventually become the way of thinking for you.
These questions work the same way for everything, including your career or job. Don’t get stuck in other people’s limitations – you have a mind of your own, use it and be free. Creativity is for free and available to all of us. ‘How else’ and ‘What else’ will keep your creativity muscle growing and open you up to life’s possibilities. Shine!
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