Thinking creative consciously is a culture. It is an orientation. It’s methodical hardwork.

Creative thinking is an effort that the creatively inclined ‘right brain’ population of the world likes inherently. However, it does not mean that the left brain thinkers cant ‘creativise’… We can all be creative if we wish to, if it is encouraged, if it is facilitated, if it is taught and preached and if it is recognised.

After 10 years in the creative side of things (communications) and my personal fancy in being labelled as a creative guy, these are my take on the process of creativity and the creative leap.

Creative thinking aims at being disruptive, out of the box and out of common imagination to give out exponential push to the intended output. If we see the definition of ‘disruptive innovation’, which I consider very close to creative innovation, it states, “Disruptive innovation is a term used in business and technology literature to describe innovations that improve a product or service in ways that the market does not expect.”

This post is not to advertise the exponential power of creative thinking, but to enumerate some of the ways to nurture creativity… Since the end needs to be clear to appreciate the means, let me state that creative thinking can create or improve a product or service to a level that can revolutionise expectations (of the market, of bosses, of clients, of shareholders.. etc).

Being Creative

There are umpteen number of theories regarding the creative thinking process. I could bring them onto you in this forum, which I would perhaps do in the future. But this post is intended to bring to you some of the day-to-day observations to nurture creativity.

1. There should be a desire to be creative or to seek creativity. This desire will disrupt anything that is normal, expected or cliche. If you have the desire, you will be creative in some degree for sure.
2. There should be a pause to think of a better way. A pause to consciously go blank from all the other pressing problems at a particular point in time, and only think of that one thing, which needs to be more creative. It can be an ad, a decision, a process note, a design… absolutely anything.
3. We should keep unwavering focus on the end objective while taking that potent pause. If its an ad, we need to focus on the consumer need, relevant consumer behaviour, consumer media where the ad will get published, consumer sociology/psychology (whatever one knows)… We generally get busy dissecting the means and forgetting the ultimate end. It is easy to get diverted but the art lies in pulling oneself back into the end objective.
4. We should change our course of thinking continuously, and not continually. Think on a line for sometime, forget about it and start thinking on a completely different line. Thats the power to get variety in thinking and to keep an active mind onto the same problem.
5. This is one thing that I normally practice. One cant think creative all the time. It takes time and will delay the decision making process. We should clearly know when to think and apply creative thinking. There are quite a few decisions or creative product where I do not spend too much time and try to simply maintain a hygiene standard of quality.
6. Similarly, it is not necessary that you will crack a great idea everytime you pause to think creatively. It is important to let go into conventional thought process after necessary delegation on the creative thought process. Life will not give you all the time for all the problems.
7. Knowledge is the most crucial element to being creative. Knowledge of any kind and variety. Read voraciously whatever interests you, Surf the net, Watch Television, Listen to and observe people when on public transport or anywhere. Having an inquisitive mind to soak in experiences will further sharpen creative thought.