Picture credit - Melting Clocks by Salvador Dali
Day 53 - Creative Thinking Skill
1 June 2020
sirurp@gmail.com
My learning for the day
Today I want to summarise two movies on creative thinking skills. Thanks Neha Neelam for recommending the Netflix Docu-Series - Abstract. And thanks Kakoli Chatterjee for recommending The Imitation Game
Movie 1 - Abstract: The Art of Design
The plot
Abstract is an eight-episode docu-series dedicating each episode to a different type of creator - from Nike shoe designer Tinker Hatfield to Es Devlin, the stage designer behind Beyoncé’s Formation tour.
- If you’re not in a state of play, you can’t make anything - The best creating seems to happen when your mind is malleable; when you have room to explore and try and fail and try again
- Creativity is a compulsion to find perfection
- Seeing creatives in other fields than our own triggers new ideas
- Even those brilliant people, the designers and artists we all admire, start with the same thing we all do: a challenge and a blank page.
Movie 2 - The Imitation Game
The plot
The movie is based on a true story. It depicts how the British mathematician (Alan Turing) and his team saved an estimated 14 million lives during World War II by building a computer that cracked the Nazis’ supposedly unbreakable “Enigma” encryption code.
- When you have a major challenge, hire the best qualified individuals to address the challenge
- The best teams are diverse in make-up
- Select team members based on their creative style - more on Kirton Adaption Innovation Index here
- Creative person’s goal is to reduce risk
- Involve the team on all important decisions
What is Creative Thinking Skill?
Creative thinking is the ability to look at things differently, and find new ways of solving problems
My learning so far on this topic
Day 3 post - 8 creative thinking techniques and tools
Day 13 post - An example of the Morphological matrix in action
Day 23 post - James Webb Young’s 5 step technique for producing ideas
Day 33 post - Two TED talks - Want to be more creative? Go for a walk & The surprising habits of original thinkers
Day 43 post - Two books - Sur/petition: The New Business Formula to Help You Stay Ahead of the Competition & Creativity: Flow and The Psychology of Discovery and Invention
How to improve this skill?
Set a goal to become a go-to person by mastering the art and science of creative thinking.
Follow the LAST model to build your personal brand as a Guru of creative thinking.
Learn - Invest time in learning different frameworks/ models/ techniques of creative thinking
Apply -
Identify a model suitable to you
Create a template to document the flow of the process
Find opportunities to use the selected method/ template
Maintain record/ process flow of every important activities you did with respect to creative thinking
Maintain notes of your thoughts/ insights/ failures/ challenges…. to be used for sharing/ training others
Share - Share the insights captured in step 2 above in a planned manner (social media posts, blogs, videos, study notes…)
Train - Generate opportunities to train your peers and team members so that, over time, your organization benefits from your efforts
Purpose of this document
I took a 66 day challenge to study Life Skills last year (10 April 2019). To my astonishment, I succeeded in studying for 66 days one skill a day.
My objectives of learning these skills were - To strengthen my mind to face life’s challenges with ease, To use these skills in my worklife for a better performance, To use these skills in my personal life for enriching my relationships, To open new possibilities to surprise myself.
This is my next 66 day challenge (from 10 April 2020) - To share my Life Skills learning with my social media friends.
I pray that my toil helps you in your success journey.
What are Life Skills?
UNICEF defines Life skills as - psychosocial abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. They are loosely grouped into three broad categories of skills
- cognitive skills for analyzing and using information,
- personal skills for developing personal agency and managing oneself,
- inter-personal skills for communicating and interacting effectively with others.
Which LifeSkills are covered?
The World Health Organisation identified these basic areas of life skills that are relevant across cultures:
1. Decision-making
2. Problem-solving
3. Creative thinking
4. Critical thinking
5. Communication
6. Interpersonal skills
7. Self-awareness
8. Empathy
9. Coping with emotions
10. Coping with stress.
Some trivia
‘Life skills’ was never part of the school curriculum. WHO/ UNESCO mandated academia to teach these skills in all schools across the globe in 1993.
Different countries educate their children in these skills with different objectives
- Zimbabwe and Thailand - prevention of HIV/AIDS
- Mexico - prevention of adolescent pregnancy
- United Kingdom - child abuse prevention
- USA - prevention of substance abuse and violence
- South Africa and Colombia - positive socialization of children.
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