[Assam] Creativity 101

[Chan Mahanta]

O'Deka:

Thanks again for finding this brilliant piece and 
sharing.  Even though it does not appear to have 
generated any interest among netters, my guess 
would be that it is not because they don't find 
it useful or educational or otherwise revealing. 
But there may be other reasons for the apparent 
cold shoulder.

Not that I am itching for another round of 
circular and unproductive debates and arguments 
here, but I think this is a subject that all of 
us ought to take seriously, not just for 
ourselves but for education in Assam . Perhaps 
others would chime in on how to introduce it to 
the education system in Assam. If we can be 
instrumental to ONE school adopting it in their 
curriculum and showing effective use, we would 
have provided a great service.


O'm















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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