We can (no, should!) enhance creativity in our kids and employees. Because our genetic composition only provides about 1/3 of our creative capabilities (eugenics). The rest of our creative juices are developed as a result of the environment in which we grow and live (euthenics).
That means it’s our job as parents, spouses, or leaders of enterprises- to enhance the creative capabilities of our family. Don’t ask questions that can be answered a,b,c (How was your day, honey?). Instead, choose queries that demand introspection and analysis (What did you learn today that you didn’t know yesterday? Did anything happen today to make you smile?) Try doing something new, visiting a place you’ve never been. (Traveling to foreign lands makes one aware of one’s own prejudices and behaviors!).
Networking with others is another way to enhance creativity. Because we meet other people who have different ideas. It’s why children also need multiple play groups, to learn how to react in different dynamics.
You have to be ready for the tough questions- the ones that don’t really have answers, force you to reconsider what you’ve been doing. (It’s not just you that get to ask them!) Actually, you don’t have to be ready- you have to foster that sort of environment, to insure those questions arise. Without reacting negatively, feeling that you’ve been challenged (even if you are).
Our current knowledge stipulates that there are five elements or so to creative thinking. Experimenting is one of them. It’s why I am so alarmed that we no longer teach the scientific method in schools. Everything first starts with a question- why does this occur? Or How can this occur? (Observations need explanations- just like a three year old incessantly asks- Why. mommy? Why, daddy?) Then, a hypothesis– a best guess- is developed to try to answer that question. Then, we try to predict what will happen if we do certain things. That prediction requires us to discern among alternative explanations. Which we then subject to testing. We test to determine if our observations follow the predictions we made from our hypothesis. (But, we must understand that agreement can be correlation and not causation.) And, then, comes the really hard part- analysis. What are the next actions, what can we do with what we learned, what does what we learned mean?
Teaching that to our children or staff is a critical path towards developing their creative instincts. Just like traveling to a foreign country to see how others live and what makes them different from us and the same as us. It’s what companies do when they develop new products, new systems, new marketing campaigns.
The associations, the connections we can discern between ideas or problems from unrelated fields are also critical to creative solutions. It’s why most folks don’t understand how it is I am involved in medical devices, pharmaceuticals, water treatment, finance, and management. It’s the principles that I use in each of these endeavors that are the same- and seeing what works in one area and using that principle in another.
So, association, questioning, observations, experimentation, and networking are all critical components. Be ready to promote these activities in your family, your work, and yourself. You may not have the head-start that one born with tremendous creativity has- but by honing your skills, you can do as much or more as he/she.
Personally, creativity is something I’d like to develop more . (I am still keeping in mind your info on lower light settings being conducive to that.) Since you stressed teaching and education let me add that it saddens me to see how many schools are offering teaching on line. I think it hinders the group discussion, hands-on and just overall fuller development of thinking. I have even seen phys-ed classes offered on line. ???
Keep asking yourself the right questions, Alessa- it’ll work! And, every little bit helps (even the dark!)
You’ve described my life in a nutshell, Roy. I eat, sleep, and breathe ways to expand my creative mind. And if anyone doubts your methods of enhancing it, I can say it works.
Lisa recently posted..Novae Prime by Lisa Brandel
Woo Hoo, thank you, Lisa, for that working approbation.
That said I do work the logic centers of my brain as well and just as hard. Out of balance is not something that works well.
Lisa recently posted..Novae Prime by Lisa Brandel
Great reminders. I always feel guilty that I didn’t do more of this with my kids. Thanks Roy!
Carol recently posted..For Whom the Binoculars Search
Glad you liked it- sorry you didn’t get your kids involved. Now, start with your grandchildren!
Association, questioning, observations, experimentation and networking all teach us to think creatively. I am not sure all of those were ever taught in school. I think those attributes were taught in homes when I was growing up. Now? I am not so sure they are taught anywhere. The business world wants ants not scientists.
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Well, Ann, my schools certainly stressed those things. And, i am not sure our schools are in tune with what we need- only how to get kids to pass these (inane0 tests…
Great advice, Roy, about encouraging creativity when our children are young, by asking thought provoking questions. And that even if you may not be creative “by nature”, you can still hone the skills needed to enhance creativity.
It’s our job to enhance the ability of our children to make a difference in this world, Suerae…
Same with our staff!
In a funny way, I think that moving to England made me dare more and as a result I have had ideas here that I wouldn’t have had in France. Go figure.
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It could be the change in venue- or the freedom that the move offers. You don’t have to measure up to any expectations that existed before- so you actually exceed them!
Thanks for the visit, Muriel.
Hi Roy,
I love creativity that comes from applying the scientific method – so many people view that method as dry and boring, but it can produce amazing flows of creativuty, and I agree that we should promote it and user it whenever we can!
cheers, Gordon
The Great Gordino recently posted..Goal Achievement – Ride, Sally Ride!
I’m with you on that one, Gordon! Any tool that helps us acheive our dreams is one we should use!
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