Creativity is hard to define, but we know it when we meet it. It generates within us an AHA response. A spark of brilliance, a smile.
It is all pervasive and plays a significant role in all fields of our life. Let’s explore some creative thinking examples in real life.
What is Creative thinking?
Creative thinking is the ability to come up with original, unusual, and useful ideas and solutions. It is often referred to as ‘out of the box thinking.’
The ‘box’ is the bunch of assumptions prevalent in our thought processes, habitual responses to happenings around us, obvious solutions to problems. The routine thinking methods.
Creativity involves looking at the things with a new point of view. To find out new meanings in things and situations in our surroundings. And to connect seemingly unrelated ideas.
I am saying seemingly, because all things or ideas are connected. What we actually do is discover or unearth that hidden connection.
It’s like, when everyone around you is travelling on an established road, you choose to take a turn into a green field. Now you come across new trees, new sceneries and water ponds! You haven’t created them; they were there.
You just discovered them. Creativity is the art of finding hidden meanings, ideas and concepts all around us.
And we do so by making unconventional choices and actions. When we show the courage and the ability to tread an off the beaten path. And ask new questions.
The adjectives and synonyms often used to describe creativity are: Unconventional, original, unexpected, and novel.
Let's look at some creative thinking examples in real life!
A bicycle seat is a routine thing. But when the great artist Picasso saw one, he found a bull’s head. He joined the bicycle handle to the seat, like horns. Now we too see the bull, isn’t it?
Picasso Bull's head sculpure
Now, a creative thinking example from the world of science and engineering--
Swiss engineer George de Mestral was walking through the jungle and saw burdock plant seed hooking on to his clothes, and the dog’s fur. He took the seeds with him. A close study under the microscope showed him the reason: the seed had thorny hooks at the end. These hooks stick to anything with loops. Like, clothes and the fur.
Burdock seeds triggered the invention of Velcro
Mestral imitated this pattern with fabric strips. After years of research and development, he got success by creating Velcro. It is an invention used almost everywhere, from shoes and clothing to spaceships.
And it all started with a curious search by a Swiss engineer!
And now, see how creativity can make profits for an entrepreneur—
I am sure by now you can appreciate the creative thinking advantages in real life. But arts and science are obvious fields for creativity. Can it help an entreprenur make profits?
The answer is a definite, yes!
The legend goes, Strauss Levi was a travelling business person who went to the San Francisco to sell his wares to gold-diggers during California gold-rush.
There weren’t many takers for his tent cloth, he heard the miners' cribbing, ‘next time come with pant cloth, in these rough terrains pants get torn so often.’
Strauss Levi looked to it from a new point of view, what if the tent-cloth becomes pant-cloth? He offered the thick tent-cloths to miners as a long lasting, strong pant-cloth for the rough environment. It was an instant hit.
Later, with refinements, our modern jeans came to life.
That's one of the best example of creative thinking in business!
A little creative thinking turned a miner’s crib into a fashion icon, a successful company.
That’s what creativity does. It makes life more interesting, useful and creates new wealth.
Let’s be creative. Look at things around us with fresh eyes. And create new solutions.
Do share with me creative thinking examples from your own life.
