[Assam] Creativity 101

[Chan Mahanta]

Excellent piece. Addresses some of the very 
issues our nay-saying friends won't relent on .

And would  those who were offended by my pointing 
out Indian education's absence from inculcating 
creativity, take a second look?

I doubt it :-).

How about learned helplessness? We will have to 
wait and see how that plays out.







At 1:02 PM -0700 8/25/07, Dilip/Dil Deka wrote:
>In an effort to steer the discussion on 
>creativity in a productive direction, I am 
>posting the following. It is a little long but 
>you get an idea how creativity can be awakened 
>in a person within the first few paragraphs. One 
>cannot say that creativity is dead in India but 
>definitely it is not awake. The teaching process 
>and teacher training have big roles in awakening 
>creativity. If you think back, we all had 
>teachers who challenged us to think creatively 
>but they were few and far between. Like this 
>article says you need both linear and 
>associative thinking to function. However it is 
>the latter that leads to new ideas.
>Dilip
>==================================================
>
>Introduction to Creative Thinking
>
>Robert Harris
>Version Date: July 1, 1998
>
>Much of the thinking done in formal education 
>emphasizes the skills of analysis--teaching 
>students how to understand claims, follow or 
>create a logical argument, figure out the 
>answer, eliminate the incorrect paths and focus 
>on the correct one. However, there is another 
>kind of thinking, one that focuses on exploring 
>ideas, generating possibilities, looking for 
>many right answers rather than just one. Both of 
>these kinds of thinking are vital to a 
>successful working life, yet the latter one 
>tends to be ignored until after college. We 
>might differentiate these two kinds of thinking 
>like this:
>Critical Thinking Creative Thinking analytic 
>generative convergent divergent vertical lateral 
>probability possibility judgment suspended 
>judgment focused diffuse objective subjective 
>answer an answer left brain right brain verbal 
>visual linear associative reasoning richness, 
>novelty yes but yes and
>In an activity like problem solving, both kinds 
>of thinking are important to us. First, we must 
>analyze the problem; then we must generate 
>possible solutions; next we must choose and 
>implement the best solution; and finally, we 
>must evaluate the effectiveness of the solution. 
>As you can see, this process reveals an 
>alternation between the two kinds of thinking, 
>critical and creative. In practice, both kinds 
>of thinking operate together much of the time 
>and are not really independent of each other.
>
>What is Creativity?
>
>An Ability. A simple definition is that 
>creativity is the ability to imagine or invent 
>something new. As we will see below, creativity 
>is not the ability to create out of nothing 
>(only God can do that), but the ability to 
>generate new ideas by combining, changing, or 
>reapplying existing ideas. Some creative ideas 
>are astonishing and brilliant, while others are 
>just simple, good, practical ideas that no one 
>seems to have thought of yet.
>Believe it or not, everyone has substantial 
>creative ability. Just look at how creative 
>children are. In adults, creativity has too 
>often been suppressed through education, but it 
>is still there and can be reawakened. Often all 
>that's needed to be creative is to make a 
>commitment to creativity and to take the time 
>for it.
>An Attitude. Creativity is also an attitude: the 
>ability to accept change and newness, a 
>willingness to play with ideas and 
>possibilities, a flexibility of outlook, the 
>habit of enjoying the good, while looking for 
>ways to improve it. We are socialized into 
>accepting only a small number of permitted or 
>normal things, like chocolate-covered 
>strawberries, for example. The creative person 
>realizes that there are other possibilities, 
>like peanut butter and banana sandwiches, or 
>chocolate-covered prunes.
>A Process. Creative people work hard and 
>continually to improve ideas and solutions, by 
>making gradual alterations and refinements to 
>their works. Contrary to the mythology 
>surrounding creativity, very, very few works of 
>creative excellence are produced with a single 
>stroke of brilliance or in a frenzy of rapid 
>activity. Much closer to the real truth are the 
>stories of companies who had to take the 
>invention away from the inventor in order to 
>market it because the inventor would have kept 
>on tweaking it and fiddling with it, always 
>trying to make it a little better.
>The creative person knows that there is always room for improvement.
>
>Creative Methods
>
>Several methods have been identified for 
>producing creative results. Here are the five 
>classic ones:
>Evolution. This is the method of incremental 
>improvement. New ideas stem from other ideas, 
>new solutions from previous ones, the new ones 
>slightly improved over the old ones. Many of the 
>very sophisticated things we enjoy today 
>developed through a long period of constant 
>incrementation. Making something a little better 
>here, a little better there gradually makes it 
>something a lot better--even entirely different 
>from the original.
>For example, look at the history of the 
>automobile or any product of technological 
>progress. With each new model, improvements are 
>made. Each new model builds upon the collective 
>creativity of previous models, so that over 
>time, improvements in economy, comfort, and 
>durability take place. Here the creativity lies 
>in the refinement, the step-by-step improvement, 
>rather than in something completely new. Another 
>example would be the improvement of the common 
>wood screw by what are now commonly called 
>drywall screws. They have sharper threads which 
>are angled more steeply for faster penetration 
>and better holding. The points are self tapping. 
>The shanks are now threaded all the way up on 
>lengths up to two inches. The screws are so much 
>better that they can often be driven in without 
>pilot holes, using a power drill.
>The evolutionary method of creativity also 
>reminds us of that critical principle: Every 
>problem that has been solved can be solved again 
>in a better way. Creative thinkers do not 
>subscribe to the idea that once a problem has 
>been solved, it can be forgotten, or to the 
>notion that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." A 
>creative thinker's philosophy is that "there is 
>no such thing as an insignificant improvement."
>Synthesis. With this method, two or more 
>existing ideas are combined into a third, new 
>idea. Combining the ideas of a magazine and an 
>audio tape gives the idea of a magazine you can 
>listen to, one useful for blind people or 
>freeway commuters.
>For example, someone noticed that a lot of 
>people on dates went first to dinner and then to 
>the theater. Why not combine these two events 
>into one? Thus, the dinner theater, where people 
>go first to eat and then to see a play or other 
>entertainment.
>Revolution. Sometimes the best new idea is a 
>completely different one, an marked change from 
>the previous ones. While an evolutionary 
>improvement philosophy might cause a professor 
>to ask, "How can I make my lectures better and 
>better?" a revolutionary idea might be, "Why not 
>stop lecturing and have the students teach each 
>other, working as teams or presenting reports?"
>For example, the evolutionary technology in 
>fighting termites eating away at houses has been 
>to develop safer and faster pesticides and 
>gasses to kill them. A somewhat revolutionary 
>change has been to abandon gasses altogether in 
>favor of liquid nitrogen, which freezes them to 
>death or microwaves, which bake them. A truly 
>revolutionary creative idea would be to ask, 
>"How can we prevent them from eating houses in 
>the first place?" A new termite bait that is 
>placed in the ground in a perimeter around a 
>house provides one answer to this question.
>Reapplication. Look at something old in a new 
>way. Go beyond labels. Unfixate, remove 
>prejudices, expectations and assumptions and 
>discover how something can be reapplied. One 
>creative person might go to the junkyard and see 
>art in an old model T transmission. He paints it 
>up and puts it in his living room. Another 
>creative person might see in the same 
>transmission the necessary gears for a 
>multi-speed hot walker for his horse. He hooks 
>it to some poles and a motor and puts it in his 
>corral. The key is to see beyond the previous or 
>stated applications for some idea, solution, or 
>thing and to see what other application is 
>possible.
>For example, a paperclip can be used as a tiny 
>screwdriver if filed down; paint can be used as 
>a kind of glue to prevent screws from loosening 
>in machinery; dishwashing detergents can be used 
>to remove the DNA from bacteria in a lab; 
>general purpose spray cleaners can be used to 
>kill ants.
>Changing Direction. Many creative breakthroughs 
>occur when attention is shifted from one angle 
>of a problem to another. This is sometimes 
>called creative insight.
>A classic example is that of the highway 
>department trying to keep kids from 
>skateboarding in a concrete-lined drainage 
>ditch. The highway department put up a fence to 
>keep the kids out; the kids went around it. The 
>department then put up a longer fence; the kids 
>cut a hole in it. The department then put up a 
>stronger fence; it, too, was cut. The department 
>then put a threatening sign on the fence; it was 
>ignored. Finally, someone decided to change 
>direction, and asked, "What really is the 
>problem here? It's not that the kids keep 
>getting through the barrier, but that they want 
>to skateboard in the ditch. So how can we keep 
>them from skateboarding in the ditch?" The 
>solution was to remove their desire by pouring 
>some concrete in the bottom of the ditch to 
>remove the smooth curve. The sharp angle created 
>by the concrete made skateboarding impossible 
>and the activity stopped. No more skateboarding 
>problems, no more fence problems.
>This example reveals a critical truth in problem 
>solving: the goal is to solve the problem, not 
>to implement a particular solution. When one 
>solution path is not working, shift to another. 
>There is no commitment to a particular path, 
>only to a particular goal. Path fixation can 
>sometimes be a problem for those who do not 
>understand this; they become overcommitted to a 
>path that does not work and only frustration 
>results.
>
>Negative Attitudes That Block Creativity
>
>1. Oh no, a problem! The reaction to a problem 
>is often a bigger problem than the problem 
>itself. Many people avoid or deny problems until 
>it's too late, largely because these people have 
>never learned the appropriate emotional, 
>psychological, and practical responses. A 
>problem is an opportunity. The happiest people 
>welcome and even seek out problems, meeting them 
>as challenges and opportunities to improve 
>things. Definition: a problem is (1) seeing the 
>difference between what you have and what you 
>want or (2) recognizing or believing that there 
>is something better than the current situation 
>or (3) an opportunity for a positive act. 
>Seeking problems aggressively will build 
>confidence, increase happiness, and give you a 
>better sense of control over your life.
>2. It can't be done. This attitude is, in 
>effect, surrendering before the battle. By 
>assuming that something cannot be done or a 
>problem cannot be solved, a person gives the 
>problem a power or strength it didn't have 
>before. And giving up before starting is, of 
>course, self fulfilling. But look at the history 
>of solutions and the accompanying skeptics: man 
>will never fly, diseases will never be 
>conquered, rockets will never leave the 
>atmosphere. Again, the appropriate attitude is 
>summed up by the statement, "The difficult we do 
>immediately; the impossible takes a little 
>longer."
>3. I can't do it. Or There's nothing I can do. 
>Some people think, well maybe the problem can be 
>solved by some expert, but not by me because I'm 
>not (a) smart enough, (b) an engineer, or (c) a 
>blank (whether educated, expert, etc.) Again, 
>though, look at the history of problem solving.
>Who were the Wright brothers that they could 
>invent an airplane? Aviation engineers? No, they 
>were bicycle mechanics. The ball point pen was 
>invented by a printer's proofreader, Ladislao 
>Biro, not a mechanical engineer. Major advances 
>in submarine design were made by English 
>clergyman G. W. Garrett and by Irish 
>schoolmaster John P. Holland. The cotton gin was 
>invented by that well known attorney and tutor, 
>Eli Whitney. The fire extinguisher was invented 
>by a captain of militia, George Manby.
>And so on. In fact, a major point made by recent 
>writers about corporate excellence is that 
>innovations in industry almost always come from 
>individuals (not research groups) outside of the 
>area of the invention. General Motors invented 
>Freon, the refrigeration chemical, and 
>tetraethyl lead, the gasoline additive. 
>Kodachrome was invented by two musicians. The 
>continuous steel casting process was invented by 
>a watchmaker (fooling around with brass 
>casting). Soap making chemists turned down the 
>problem of inventing synthetic detergents: those 
>detergents were invented by dye making chemists.
>In a nutshell, a good mind with a positive 
>attitude and some good problem solving skills 
>will go far in solving any problem. Interest in 
>and commitment to the problem are the keys. 
>Motivation--a willingness to expend the 
>effort--is more important than laboratory 
>apparatus. And remember that you can always do 
>something. Even if you cannot totally eradicate 
>the problem from the face of the earth, you can 
>always do something to make the situation better.
>4. But I'm not creative. Everyone is creative to 
>some extent. Most people are capable of very 
>high levels of creativity; just look at young 
>children when they play and imagine. The problem 
>is that this creativity has been suppressed by 
>education. All you need to do is let it come 
>back to the surface. You will soon discover that 
>you are surprisingly creative.
>5. That's childish. In our effort to appear 
>always mature and sophisticated, we often 
>ridicule the creative, playful attitudes that 
>marked our younger years. But if you solve a 
>problem that saves your marriage or gets you 
>promoted or keeps your friend from suicide, do 
>you care whether other people describe your 
>route to the solution as "childish?" Besides, 
>isn't play a lot of fun? Remember that sometimes 
>people laugh when something is actually funny, 
>but often they laugh when they lack the 
>imagination to understand the situation.
>6. What will people think? There is strong 
>social pressure to conform and to be ordinary 
>and not creative.
>Here are some overheard examples:
>Creative Person: "I like to put water in my orange juice so it's less sweet."
>Ordinary Person: "You're weird, you know?"
>Ordinary Person: "What are you doing?"
>Creative Person: "We're painting our mailbox."
>Ordinary Person: "You're crazy."
>Creative Person: "Why don't we add a little garlic?"
>Ordinary Person: "Because the recipe doesn't call for garlic."
>Ordinary Person: "Why are you going this way? It's longer."
>Creative Person: "Because I like the drive."
>Ordinary Person: "Did anyone ever tell you you're strange?"
>The constant emphasis we see in society is 
>toward the ruthlessly practical and conformist. 
>Even the wild fashions, from those in Vogue to 
>punk rock, are narrowly defined, and to deviate 
>from them is considered wrong or ridiculous. 
>Some peoples' herd instinct is so strong that 
>they make sheep look like radical individualists.
>So, what will people think? Well, they're 
>already talking about you, saying that your nose 
>is too big or your shoes are funny or you date 
>weird people. So, since others are going to talk 
>about you in unflattering ways anyway, you might 
>as well relax and let your creativity and 
>individualism flow.
>Almost every famous contributor to the 
>betterment of civilization was ridiculed and 
>sometimes even jailed. Think about Galileo. And 
>look what happened to Jesus. Quotation: 
>"Progress is made only by those who are strong 
>enough to endure being laughed at." Solutions 
>are often new ideas, and new ideas, being 
>strange, are usually greeted with laughter, 
>contempt, or both. That's just a fact of life, 
>so make up your mind not to let it bother you. 
>Ridicule should be viewed as a badge of real 
>innovative thinking.
>7. I might fail. Thomas Edison, in his search 
>for the perfect filament for the incandescent 
>lamp, tried anything he could think of, 
>including whiskers from a friend's beard. In 
>all, he tried about 1800 things. After about 
>1000 attempts, someone asked him if he was 
>frustrated at his lack of success. He said 
>something like, "I've gained a lot of 
>knowledge--I now know a thousand things that 
>won't work."
>Fear of failure is one of the major obstacles to 
>creativity and problem solving. The cure is to 
>change your attitude about failure. Failures 
>along the way should be expected and accepted; 
>they are simply learning tools that help focus 
>the way toward success. Not only is there 
>nothing wrong with failing, but failing is a 
>sign of action and struggle and attempt--much 
>better than inaction. The go-with-the- flow 
>types may never fail, but they are essentially 
>useless to humanity, nor can they ever enjoy the 
>feeling of accomplishment that comes after a 
>long struggle.
>Suppose you let your fear of failure guide your 
>risk taking and your attempts. You try only 
>three things in a year because you are sure of 
>succeeding. At the end of the year the score is: 
>Successes 3, Failures 0. Now suppose the next 
>year you don't worry about failing, so you try a 
>hundred things. You fail at 70 of them. At the 
>end of the year the score is Successes 30, 
>Failures 70. Which would you rather have--three 
>successes or 30--ten times as many? And imagine 
>what 70 failures will have taught you. Proverb: 
>Mistakes aren't fun, but they sure are 
>educational.
>
>Myths about Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
>
>1. Every problem has only one solution (or one 
>right answer). The goal of problem solving is to 
>solve the problem, and most problems can be 
>solved in any number of ways. If you discover a 
>solution that works, it is a good solution. 
>There may be other solutions thought of by other 
>people, but that doesn't make your solution 
>wrong. What is THE solution to putting words on 
>paper? Fountain pen, ball point, pencil, marker, 
>typewriter, printer, Xerox machine, printing 
>press?
>2. The best answer/solution/method has already 
>been found. Look at the history of any solution 
>set and you'll see that improvements, new 
>solutions, new right answers, are always being 
>found. What is the solution to human 
>transportation? The ox or horse, the cart, the 
>wagon, the train, the car, the airplane, the 
>jet, the SST? Is that the best and last? What 
>about pneumatic tubes, hovercraft, even Star 
>Trek type beams?
>What is the best way to put words on paper? The 
>word processor? Is that the last invention? How 
>about voice recognition, or thought wave input?
>On a more everyday level, many solutions now 
>seen as best or at least entrenched were put in 
>place hastily and without much thought--such as 
>the use of drivers' licenses for ID cards or 
>social security numbers for taxpayer ID numbers. 
>Other solutions are entrenched simply for 
>historical reasons: they've always been done 
>that way. Why do shoe laces still exist, when 
>technology has produced several other, better 
>ways to attach shoes to feet (like velcro, 
>elastic, snap buttons, and so on)?
>3. Creative answers are complex technologically. 
>Only a few problems require complex 
>technological solutions. Most problems you'll 
>meet with require only a thoughtful solution 
>requiring personal action and perhaps a few 
>simple tools. Even many problems that seem to 
>require a technological solution can be 
>addressed in other ways.
>For example, what is the solution to the large 
>percentage of packages ruined by the Post 
>Office? Look at the Post Office package handling 
>method. Packages are tossed in bins when you 
>send them. For the solution, look at United 
>Parcel. When you send a package, it is put on a 
>shelf. The change from bin to shelf is not a 
>complex or technological solution; it's just a 
>good idea, using commonly available materials.
>As another example, when hot dogs were first 
>invented, they were served to customers with 
>gloves to hold them. Unfortunately, the 
>customers kept walking off with the gloves. The 
>solution was not at all complex: serve the hot 
>dog on a roll so that the customer's fingers 
>were still insulated from the heat. The roll 
>could be eaten along with the dog. No more 
>worries about disappearing gloves. (Note by the 
>way what a good example of changing direction 
>this is. Instead of asking, "How can I keep the 
>gloves from being taken?" the hot dog server 
>stopped thinking about gloves altogether.)
>4. Ideas either come or they don't. Nothing will 
>help. There are many successful techniques for 
>stimulating idea generation. We will be 
>discussing and applying them.
>
>Mental Blocks to Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
>
>1. Prejudice. The older we get, the more 
>preconceived ideas we have about things. These 
>preconceptions often prevent us from seeing 
>beyond what we already know or believe to be 
>possible. They inhibit us from accepting change 
>and progress.
>Example problem: How to connect sections of 
>airplanes with more ease and strength than using 
>rivets. A modern solution is to use glue--glue 
>the sections together. We probably wouldn't 
>think of this solution because of our prejudice 
>about the word and idea of glue. But there are 
>many kinds of glue, and the kind used to stick 
>plane parts together makes a bond stronger than 
>the metal of the parts themselves.
>Another problem: How can we make lighter weight 
>bullet proof windows? Thicker glass is too 
>heavy. Answer: Use plastic. Again, we are 
>prejudiced against plastic. But some plastics 
>are not flimsy at all and are used in place of 
>steel and in bullet proof windows.
>Another problem: Make a ship's hull that won't 
>rust or rot like steel or wood. Solution: Use 
>concrete. Our prejudice is that concrete is too 
>heavy. Why not make lightweight concrete? That's 
>what's done.
>Final example: How to divide a piece of cake 
>equally between two kids so they won't complain 
>that one kid is preferred over the other: "You 
>gave him the bigger piece; you like him better! 
>Waaaah!" Solution: Put the kids in charge of 
>dividing the cake. Our prejudice is that 
>immature, selfish kids can't do the job. But the 
>solution, one cuts the cake, the other has first 
>choice of pieces, works very well.
>2. Functional fixation. Sometimes we begin to 
>see an object only in terms of its name rather 
>in terms of what it can do. Thus, we see a mop 
>only as a device for cleaning a floor, and do 
>not think that it might be useful for clearing 
>cobwebs from the ceiling, washing the car, doing 
>aerobic exercise, propping a door open or 
>closed, and so on. (Later on in the semester, we 
>will be doing "uses for" to break out of this 
>fixation.)
>There is also a functional fixation of 
>businesses. In the late nineteenth and early 
>twentieth centuries the railroads saw themselves 
>as railroads. When automobiles and later 
>airplanes began to come in, the railroads didn't 
>adapt. "That's not our business," they said. But 
>if they had seen themselves as in the people 
>transportation business rather than in the 
>railroad business, they could have capitalized 
>on a great opportunity.
>Similarly, when the telephone began its rise, 
>some of the telegraph companies said, "That's 
>not our business; we're telegraph companies." 
>But if they had said, "Hey, we're in the 
>communication business, and here's a new way to 
>communicate," they would have grown rather than 
>died. Compare Western Union to AT&T. And have 
>you heard of those big calculator companies 
>Dietzgen or Pickett? No? Well, they were among 
>the biggest makers of slide rules. But when 
>electronic calculators began to rise, they 
>didn't know what business they were in. They 
>thought they were in the slide rule business, 
>when they were really in the calculator 
>business. They didn't adapt, they didn't accept 
>the challenge of change and opportunity, and 
>they fell.
>And there's a functional fixation of people, 
>too. Think a minute how you react when you see 
>your pastor mowing his lawn, or your auto 
>mechanic on a television show promoting a book. 
>Stereotyping can even be a form of functional 
>fixation--how many people would laugh at a 
>blonde quoting Aristotle? Too often we permit 
>only a narrow range of attitudes and behaviors 
>in other people, based on bias, prejudice, hasty 
>generalization, or limited past experience. 
>Think of those statements like, "I can't believe 
>he said that," or "Imagine her doing that," and 
>so on. But recall the proverb, "The goal of my 
>life is not to live down to your expectations."
>3. Learned helplessness. This is the feeling 
>that you don't have the tools, knowledge, 
>materials, ability, to do anything, so you might 
>as well not try. We are trained to rely on other 
>people for almost everything. We think small and 
>limit ourselves. But the world can be interacted 
>with.
>If you are in need of information, there are 
>libraries, bookstores, friends, professors, and, 
>of course, the Internet. And there are also 
>city, county, and state government agencies with 
>addresses and phone numbers and web sites. There 
>are thousands of government agencies that really 
>exist and that will talk to you. Contact the EPA 
>if you're working on air pollution or 
>pesticides. Get some government publications. 
>Call your state senator or federal congressman 
>for help on bills, information, problems. 
>Contact the manufacturer of a product to find 
>out what you want to know about it.
>If you are technologically poor, you can learn. 
>Learn how to cook, use tools, make clothes, use 
>a computer. You can learn to do anything you 
>really want to do. All you need is the 
>motivation and commitment. You can learn to fly 
>an airplane, drive a truck, scuba dive, fix a 
>car--name it.
>4. Psychological blocks. Some solutions are not 
>considered or are rejected simply because our 
>reaction to them is "Yuck." But icky solutions 
>themselves may be useful or good if they solve a 
>problem well or save your life. Eating lizards 
>and grasshoppers doesn't sound great, but if it 
>keeps you alive in the wilderness, it's a good 
>solution.
>Perhaps more importantly, what at first seem to 
>be icky ideas may lead to better 
>solutions--de-ickified analogues of the 
>original. When doctors noted that some 
>unsophisticated natives were using giant ant 
>heads to suture wounds, they imitated this 
>pincer-closing technique by inventing the 
>surgical staple.
>Psychological blocks prevent you from doing 
>something just because it doesn't sound good or 
>right, which is a pretty ridiculous thing. 
>Overcoming such blocks can be really beneficial. 
>Navy commandos in Vietnam overcame their blocks 
>and put on women's panty hose when they marched 
>through the swamps and jungle. The pantyhose cut 
>down on the friction and rubbing from the plants 
>and aided in removing the dozens of leeches 
>after a mission. Overcoming the block to using 
>your own blood to write a help note could save 
>your life someday if you got kidnapped.
>
>Positive Attitudes for Creativity
>
>1. Curiosity. Creative people want to know 
>things--all kinds of things-- just to know them. 
>Knowledge does not require a reason. The 
>question, "Why do you want to know that?" seems 
>strange to the creative person, who is likely to 
>respond, "Because I don't know the answer." 
>Knowledge is enjoyable and often useful in 
>strange and unexpected ways.
>For example, I was once attempting to repair 
>something, without apparent success, when an 
>onlooker asked testily, "Do you know what you're 
>doing?" I replied calmly, "No, that's why I'm 
>doing it."
>Next, knowledge, and especially wide ranging 
>knowledge, is necessary for creativity to 
>flourish to its fullest. Much creativity arises 
>from variations of a known or combinations of 
>two knowns. The best ideas flow from a well 
>equipped mind. Nothing can come from nothing.
>In addition to knowing, creative people want to 
>know why. What are the reasons behind decisions, 
>problems, solutions, events, facts, and so 
>forth? Why this way and not another? And why not 
>try this or that?
>The curious person's questioning attitude toward 
>life is a positive one, not a destructive one 
>reflecting skepticism or negativism. It often 
>seems threatening because too often there is no 
>good reason behind many of the things that are 
>taken for granted--there is no "why" behind the 
>status quo.
>So ask questions of everyone. Ask the same 
>question of different people just to be able to 
>compare the answers. Look into areas of 
>knowledge you've never before explored, whether 
>cloth dying, weather forecasting, food 
>additives, ship building, the U.S. budget, or 
>the toxicity of laundry detergents.
>2. Challenge. Curious people like to identify 
>and challenge the assumptions behind ideas, 
>proposals, problems, beliefs, and statements. 
>Many assumptions, of course, turn out to be 
>quite necessary and solid, but many others have 
>been assumed unnecessarily, and in breaking out 
>of those assumptions often comes a new idea, a 
>new path, a new solution.
>For example, when we think of a college, we 
>traditionally think of a physical campus with 
>classrooms, a library, and some nice trees. But 
>why must college be a place (with congregated 
>students and faculty) at all? Thus, the 
>electronic college now exists, where students 
>"go" to college right at home, online. 
>Correspondence courses have existed for years, 
>too, beginning with the challenging of the 
>school-as-centralized-place idea.
>When we think of an electric motor, we 
>automatically think of a rotating shaft machine. 
>But why assume that? Why can't an electric motor 
>have a linear output, moving in a straight line 
>rather than a circle? With such a challenged 
>assumption came the linear motor, able to power 
>trains, elevators, slide locks, and so on.
>Problem: We make brandy, and for this special 
>edition of our finest kind, we want a 
>fully-grown pear in one piece inside each 
>bottle. The bottle is narrow necked. How can we 
>do it? As you think, watch for the assumptions 
>you are making. Possible solutions (assuming 
>fully grown pear): close the neck or bottom 
>after insertion, use a plastic bottle like 
>heat-shrink tubing, change to a wide mouth 
>bottle. If we do not assume a fully grown pear: 
>grow the pear from a bud inside the bottle.
>3. Constructive discontent. This is not a 
>whining, griping kind of discontent, but the 
>ability to see a need for improvement and to 
>propose a method of making that improvement. 
>Constructive discontent is a positive, 
>enthusiastic discontent, reflecting the thought, 
>"Hey, I know a way to make that better."
>Constructive discontent is necessary for a 
>creative problem solver, for if you are happy 
>with everything the way it is, you won't want to 
>change anything. Only when you become discontent 
>with something, when you see a problem, will you 
>want to solve the problem and improve the 
>situation.
>One of the hallmarks of the constructively 
>discontented person is that of a problem seeking 
>outlook. The more problems you find, the more 
>solutions and therefore improvements you can 
>make. Even previously solved problems can often 
>be solved again, in a better way. A 
>constructively discontent person might think, 
>"This is an excellent solution, but I wonder if 
>there isn't another solution that works even 
>better (or costs less, etc)."
>Another mark of constructive discontent is the 
>enjoyment of challenge. Creative people are 
>eager to test their own limits and the limits of 
>problems, willing to work hard, to persevere and 
>not give up easily. Sometimes the discontent is 
>almost artificial--they aren't really unhappy 
>with the status quo of some area, but they want 
>to find something better just for the challenge 
>of it and the opportunity to improve their own 
>lives and those of others.
>4. A belief that most problems can be solved. By 
>faith at first and by experience later on, the 
>creative thinker believes that something can 
>always be done to eliminate or help alleviate 
>almost every problem. Problems are solved by a 
>commitment of time and energy, and where this 
>commitment is present, few things are impossible.
>The belief in the solvability of problems is 
>especially useful early on in attacking any 
>problem, because many problems at first seem 
>utterly impossible and scare off the fainter 
>hearted. Those who take on the problem with 
>confidence will be the ones most likely to think 
>through or around the impossibility of the 
>problem.
>5. The ability to suspend judgment and 
>criticism. Many new ideas, because they are new 
>and unfamiliar, seem strange, odd, bizarre, even 
>repulsive. Only later do they become "obviously" 
>great. Other ideas, in their original 
>incarnations, are indeed weird, but they lead to 
>practical, beautiful, elegant things. Thus, it 
>is important for the creative thinker to be able 
>to suspend judgment when new ideas are arriving, 
>to have an optimistic attitude toward ideas in 
>general, and to avoid condemning them with the 
>typical kinds of negative responses like, "That 
>will never work; that's no good; what an idiotic 
>idea; that's impossible," and so forth. Hospital 
>sterilization and antiseptic procedures, 
>television, radio, the Xerox machine, and 
>stainless steel all met with ho-hums and even 
>hostile rejection before their persevering 
>inventors finally sold someone on the ideas.
>Some of our everyday tools that we now love and 
>use daily, were opposed when they were 
>originally presented: Aluminum cookware? No one 
>wants that. Teflon pans? They'll never sell. 
>Erasers on pencils? That would only encourage 
>carelessness. Computers? There's no market for 
>more than a few, so why build them?
>Remember then that (1) an idea may begin to look 
>good only after it becomes a bit more familiar 
>or is seen in a slightly different context or 
>clothing or circumstance and (2) even a very 
>wild idea can serve as a stepping stone to a 
>practical, efficient idea. By too quickly 
>bringing your judgment into play, these fragile 
>early ideas and their source can be destroyed. 
>The first rule of brainstorming is to suspend 
>judgment so that your idea-generating powers 
>will be free to create without the restraint of 
>fear or criticism. You can always go back later 
>and examine--as critically as you want--what you 
>have thought of.
>Proverb: "A crank is a genius whose idea hasn't yet caught on."
>6. Seeing the good in the bad. Creative 
>thinkers, when faced with poor solutions, don't 
>cast them away. Instead, they ask, "What's good 
>about it?" because there may be something useful 
>even in the worst ideas. And however little that 
>good may be, it might be turned to good effect 
>or made greater.
>Example problem: How can we get college students 
>to learn grammar better? Solution: Spank their 
>bottoms with a hickory stick. This isn't a good 
>solution, partly because it's probably illegal. 
>But should we just toss it out? Why not ask 
>what's good about it? (1) it gives individual, 
>attention to the poor performers, (2) it gives 
>them public attention, (3) it motivates other 
>students as well as the student being spanked, 
>(4) it's easy and costs nothing. The next 
>question is, Can we adapt or incorporate some of 
>these good things into a more acceptable 
>solution, whether derivative of the original or 
>not?
>We easily fall into either/or thinking and 
>believe that a bad solution is bad through and 
>through, in every aspect, when in fact, it may 
>have some good parts we can borrow and use on a 
>good solution, or it may do inappropriately 
>something that's worth doing appropriately. And 
>often, the bad solution has just one really 
>glaring bad part, that when remedied, leaves 
>quite a good solution. In the above example, 
>changing the physical spanking to a verbal 
>spanking changes the entire aspect of the 
>solution while keeping all the good points we 
>identified.
>7. Problems lead to improvements. The attitude 
>of constructive discontent searches for problems 
>and possible areas of improvement, but many 
>times problems arrive on their own. But such 
>unexpected and perhaps unwanted problems are not 
>necessarily bad, because they often permit 
>solutions that leave the world better than 
>before the problem arose.
>For example, the first margarine was made from 
>beef fat, milk, water, and chopped cow udder. It 
>wasn't extremely tasty or healthy. Then about 
>the turn of the century a shortage of beef fat 
>created a problem. What to use? The margarine 
>makers turned to vegetable fats from various 
>plants and the soybean, corn, and sunflower oils 
>they used are still used today. The margarine is 
>healthier and tastes better.
>Or think about exams or papers. When you don't 
>do as well as you want, you think, "Oh no!" But 
>actually, you have a good insight into what you 
>don't know and still need to learn. You are 
>aware of the geography of your knowledge in a 
>much more detailed form than before the errors 
>showed up.
>8. A problem can also be a solution. A fact that 
>one person describes as a problem can sometimes 
>be a solution for someone else. Above we noted 
>that creative thinkers can find good ideas in 
>bad solutions. Creative thinkers also look at 
>problems and ask, "Is there something good about 
>this problem?"
>For example, soon after the advent of 
>cyanoacrylate adhesives (super glue), it was 
>noted that if you weren't careful, you could 
>glue your fingers together with it. This 
>problem--a permanent skin bond--was soon seen as 
>a solution, also. Surgeons in Viet Nam began to 
>use super glue to glue wounds together.
>Another example, also involving glue: 3M 
>chemists were experimenting with adhesives and 
>accidentally came up with one that was so weak 
>you could peel it right back off. Hold strength, 
>shear strength, all were way below the minimum 
>standards for any self-respecting adhesive. A 
>glue that won't hold? Quite a problem. But this 
>problem was also a solution, as you now see in 
>Post-It Notes.
>9. Problems are interesting and emotionally 
>acceptable. Many people confront every problem 
>with a shudder and a turn of the head. They 
>don't even want to admit that a problem 
>exists--with their car, their spouse, their 
>child, their job, their house, whatever. As a 
>result, often the problem persists and drives 
>them crazy or rises to a crisis and drives them 
>crazy.
>Creative people see problems as interesting 
>challenges worth tackling. Problems are not 
>fearful beasts to be feared or loathed; they are 
>worthy opponents to be jousted with and 
>unhorsed. Problem solving is fun, educational, 
>rewarding, ego building, helpful to society.
>
>Miscellaneous Good Attitudes
>
>1. Perseverance. Most people fail because they 
>spend only nine minutes on a problem that 
>requires ten minutes to solve. Creativity and 
>problem solving are hard work and require fierce 
>application of time and energy. There is no 
>quick and easy secret. You need knowledge gained 
>by study and research and you must put your 
>knowledge to work by hard thinking and 
>protracted experimentation. You’ve surely read 
>of the difficulties and setbacks faced by most 
>of the famous inventors--how many filaments 
>Edison tried before he found a working one, how 
>many aircraft designs failed in the attempt to 
>break the sound barrier. But planning to 
>persevere is planning to succeed.
>2. A flexible imagination. Creative people are 
>comfortable with imagination and with thinking 
>so-called weird, wild, or unthinkable thoughts, 
>just for the sake of stimulation. During 
>brainstorming or just mental playfulness, all 
>kinds of strange thoughts and ideas can be 
>entertained. And the mind, pragmatist that it 
>is, will probably find something useful in it 
>all. We will look at several examples of this 
>later on.
>3. A belief that mistakes are welcome. Modern 
>society has for some reason conceived the idea 
>that the only unforgivable thing is to fail or 
>make a mistake. Actually failure is an 
>opportunity; mistakes show that something is 
>being done. So creative people have come to 
>realize and accept emotionally that making 
>mistakes is no negative biggie. One chief 
>executive of a big American corporation warns 
>all his newly hired managers, "Make sure you 
>make a reasonable number of mistakes." Mistakes 
>are educational and can lead to success--because 
>they mean you are doing something.
>Sir Francis Pettit Smith, one of the early 
>developers of the screw propeller, tried one 
>design in 1836. During the test, half of it 
>broke off--what a failure--but then the boat 
>increased in speed substantially, revealing the 
>efficiency of a new design, formed from a 
>mistake.
>In sum, as Vergil once said, "They can who think 
>they can." Having the proper positive attitude 
>about generating new and useful ideas and 
>solving problems is really a large part of the 
>whole process.
>A few years ago, the pipes in my mom's house had 
>finally rusted through and I was faced with the 
>task of finding a plumber to get a bid. Knowing 
>how much they charge for small repairs, I knew 
>that doing a whole house would cost a fortune. I 
>thought, "You know, I'd really like to do this 
>job myself, but I wonder if I can." My neighbor 
>happened to be around once when I said this, and 
>he said, "Oh, you can do it." Just that simple 
>expression gave me the positive attitude I 
>needed to do it. So I did.
>
>Characteristics of the Creative Person
>
>curious
>seeks problems
>enjoys challenge
>optimistic
>able to suspend judgment
>comfortable with imagination
>sees problems as opportunities
>sees problems as interesting
>problems are emotionally acceptable
>challenges assumptions
>doesn't give up easily: perseveres, works hard
>
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