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Why Employers Value Creative Thinking
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Creative Thinking Defined
Creativity is not just reserved for artistic tasks such as writing, painting or composing music.
Creative thinking is the ability to consider something – a conflict between employees, a data set, a group project – in a new way. It involves lateral thinking - the ability to perceive patterns that are not obvious.
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Top Creative Thinking Skills
- Analytical. Before thinking creatively about something, you first have to be able to understand it.
- Open-Minded. Setting aside any assumptions or biases you may have, and look at things in a completely new way.
- Problem Solving. Using your creativity to solve important issues.
- Organization. Being able to structure a plan of action with clear goals and deadlines is vital.
- Communication. Strong written and oral communication skills to communicate your solutions effectively.
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Examples of Creative Thinking
- Artistic Creativity. You don't have to be an artist for your work to have an artistic element. For example: Composing a new fundraising script for volunteers or devising a lesson plan that will engage students.
- Creative Problem-Solving. For example: Coming up with new procedures to improve quality or suggesting a way to improve customer service.
- Creativity in STEM. For example: Constructing a research model to test a hypothesis or devising a computer program to automate a billing process.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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Understand your limitations
Burnout occurs when job demands consistently outweigh the resources available. The first thing you need to do is to set proper limits.
When you limit your time spent on specific tasks,...
Learn to say no
... especially to projects and clients that suck the creativity out of you.
When your mental resources are limited, you need to make sure they’re going to the right tasks. Burnout decimates your motivation, making working on projects you’re uninterested in an agonizing process.
Finding a creative outlet
Find a completely unrelated creative outlet: look for a creative task with lower stakes to help ease you back into things and re-ignite your creativity and motivation.
What are the things in your own life that you enjoy but aren’t necessarily “productive”?
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Restrict yourself
Research suggests placing self-imposed limitations can boost creativity.
It forces your brain to come up with creative solutions to finish a project around the parameters you’ve ...
Re-conceptualize the problem
Instead of thinking of a cut-and-dry end goal to certain situations, creative people sit back and examine the problem in different ways before beginning to work.
If you find yourself stagnating by focusing on generic problems, try to re-conceptualize the problem by focusing on a more meaningful angle.
For example: Instead of thinking “What would be something cool to paint?” rather ask, “What sort of painting evokes the feeling of loneliness that we all encounter after a break-up?”
Create psychological distance
Creating “psychological” distance may be useful for breaking through a creative block.
Try to imagine your creative task as being disconnected and distant from your current position/location - this may make the problem more accessible and can encourage higher level thinking.
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Creative Thinking is a habit
Creative people are creative, not as a result of any particular inborn trait, rather, but rather through an attitude toward life. They habitually respond to problems in fresh and novel ways...
3 basic factors
- opportunities to engage in it,
- encouragement to go after such opportunities,
- and rewards for doing so.
Creativity is no different from any other habit, good or bad.
Creative people do this habitually
- Look for ways to see problems that other people don’t.
- Take risks that other people are afraid to take.
- Have the courage to defy the crowd and to stand up for their own beliefs.
- Seek to overcome obstacles and challenges to their views that other people give in to.