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ThinkQuest 2011

The Creative Teens

Unleash Your Creativity!!

“O Allah!(swt) Bestow upon me wisdom, and unite me with the Righteous and make me amongst the inheritors of the Guardians of

Delight”

Unleash Your Creativity! ThinkQuest 2011

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“The beauty of creativity rests in the fact that it is, to date, undefined. No words created by man, can help us exactly understand what creativity is all about.

Creativity is a mass of contradictions. It is spontaneous, yet structured. It is the result of a thorough clean-up job after a good mess. It cannot be judged, yet flourishes with criticism. There is no dictionary on creativity, yet every language is a result of its power.

Truth be told, the only message that comes out sure, clear and strong, in defining creative is this:

Creativity is contagious.

And by the time you’re done viewing this site, we sincerely hope that you will have caught the bug.”


Home Page > Creativity An Introduction

Introductions are for those who are unknown, un-famous and need their secretary to read out a rehearsed speech before they make their entrance on stage.

None of this applies to creativity, who is neither unknown, nor a “nobody” and, even though I have known creativity only for a few months, I can honestly say that it does not have a secretary.

And all of this relates to the simple, yet undeniable fact that:

CREATIVITY IS FAMOUS.

Creativity is all around us. From nature, which is God’s Creativity, to building, machines, novels and works of art, all of which are man’s creativity, everything is a form of creativity. We know creativity in one form or the other. We admire creativity from afar. We respect it.

Creativity needs no introduction, and no two-lined dictionary definition can do justice to it.

Creativity is a great power. Instead of trying to define this power, we have defined the distances between us and creativity. We have defined each millimeter of the acres that spawn between a creative individual and a run-of-the-mill one.

This website has created the bridges, and defined each wooden plank. We have defined each and every step of the journey to creativity.

Now, all you need to do is walk – and you will reach Creativity.


Creativity; As You Think! - Tales of Creativity

Tale #1

The Book of Legends MYTH 9: CREATIVITY

Chapter 1: The Gift:

Once Upon A Time…

In a land far, far away, there resided a tiny village, cut off completely from the rest of the world. In this village lived a poor and extremely hard working wood-cutter, who spent his life cutting trees in the forest and then carrying his load to the nearest town; where he would sell them to earn some money.

One night, it rained heavily causing all the trees in the forest to become wet. The next day, the hard working wood-cutter, seeing all the soggy tree barks in the forest, became quite grim. He knew that no one would buy wet wood, and that cutting down the trees would be extremely difficult.

Disappointed and hopeless, the wood-cutter sat down on the forest floor with a heavy heart, pondering at what he should do next.

“Worried? Maybe I can help?”

A strong deep voice echoed throughout the forest, sending a shiver down the wood-cutter’s spine.

“Don’t worry. I’m only here to help”

Again the mysterious voice echoed through the trees and once again the snide and cruel tone that it adopted made the wood-cutter shiver in fear.

“W-who are you-u?” the woodcutter stuttered.


As if in answer, the winds around him began to pick up pace, whipping his face, their intensity almost blowing his saw away. The winds began to swirl in front of him like a tornado, enveloping a spot about ten-feet away from where he stood, circling around the hurricane’s eye with ferocious speed.

Spinning faster and faster…

Until

They stopped

In a second, the winds, blurred because of their speed, vanished into nothingness, leaving him staring at what they had concealed. For in the very spot they had circumnutated, stood a tall lean figure clocked almost fully in purple.

The figure had a sharp, almost eagle-like wizened face with hollow cheekbones and prodding lips. His long raised nose was raised menacingly in a dark sneer. The purple cloak that lung loosely around his frame branched out at his feet, turning straight upon contact with the floor and then branching out upwards a few centimeters away, rising like a flame at the ends, in an eerie semi-circular pattern.

Yet it was not his unusual attire, scornful expression or even his unexpected, sudden or creepy way of appearing that managed to alarm the wood-cutter the most. No, it was in fact his eyes that seemed the most threatening to him. Narrow and slit-like with almost no lashes to speak of, the glowed like red rubies, flashing dangerously every now and then.

“I,” the figure announced in that same scornful voice, “am the wizard of talents”

The wood-cutter merely gaped at him, unable to say a word.

“You,” the wizard announced, “have proven yourself worthy enough to inherit my dearest treasure – the gift of imagination, also known as The Power of Creativity”

The wood-cutter stared at him wordlessly, as he held out a sharp wrinkled hand with a yellow glowing orb. Gulping down his anxiety and fear, he reached out for the orb, surprised at the sudden warmth that engulfed him as his fingers brushed the cold glowing surface. With a shock, he realized that the orb had been absorbed into him.


“You now have the very influx of human brain power at your disposal. Take care of it, flourish it and you will get to keep it, and become richer than you have ever dreamed, but only if you do so for knowledge. Use it for personal gain, for money and let it rot away, and I will take it from you – and losing such a treasure would make you the poorest man on Earth.” The wizard explained.

And before the wood-cutter could say a single word, the winds around him began to speed up, engulfing the old man and in a matter of mere seconds the wizened old wizard was gone.

Chapter 2: Decisions:

The wood-cutter soon realized the importance of his gift. No longer was his routine confined to the chopping and selling of wood. Grateful of the gift bestowed upon him by Fate, the wood-cutter set out to expand his horizons. A task that became easy, almost natural to him. He had developed a natural curiosity for the world around him, and took delight in wonder, exploration and seeking knowledge. As a result, his creativity flourished and he was able to increase his occupation – from a wood-cutter, he had managed to become a world renowned wood exporter, a great scientist and inventor who had managed to create ways to revolutionize the wood-chopping techniques, not to mention a painter and an artist. In his own little world, he had pushed to the extremes and become a creative individual. His life was perfect, nothing could go wrong.

Then, tragedy struck.

Fame and fortune had gotten to the wood-cutter’s head and thinking he could do no wrong now that he had gotten creativity, he fell back and became lazy. Getting rid of his tight schedule the wood-cutter decided that he could have the world at his fingertips without hard work or perseverance and that he could just idly sit by and watch himself become one of the richest people in the world.

His technique worked fine for a few weeks, but then…

He could see himself slowly losing control of his empire. Now disorganized and messy, he could no longer handle the collapse in his fortune. His wealth began to decrease and he watched numbly as his world crumbled around him.

Although aware of the situation, the wood-cutter had embedded laziness so fully into his personality that he could no longer take charge of the situation fully.


Suddenly, in his panic stricken days, realization hit him hard. What was he to be worried off? He still had creativity! He could reach his way to the top even without work!

Imagine the wood-cutter’s horror when he realized that even creativity had more or less left him! Not inclined to work, under too much pressure with no passion, resolve or inspiration- he could not invent a single thing!

Chapter 3: Crime and Punishment:

The wizard had heard of the wood-cutter’s demise and needless to say, he was not pleased. Despite his seemingly uncaring attitude, the wizard was extremely worried. In a millennium he had not found one single individual upon whom he could place his gift until death parts them.

Disappointed, he stripped the wood-cutter of this gift. He was not worthy.

And now the wizard felt guilty – how many worthy individuals had he missed out on while the useless wood-cutter played with his gift?

Had he missed out on that one person for whom he was searching? He shook his head in irritation! How many disappointments must he bear before finding him? No human seemed worthy of his gift. At least not the whole of it..

Bitterly against the entire human race, he stood up and began to walk away. He had work to do. He had a plan.

Epilogue:

It has been over 4000 years to this story. The woodcutter, like any other mortal, has naturally died.

But legend has it that the wizard still lives. Guarding his treasure jealously, he has come up with the perfect solution. Upon birth he bestows each human child with the mere gist of the gift of creativity and then decides whether or not that human is worthy enough to retain the shadow of his gift.

Some he strips of his prize, others he rewards by increasing it, yet to others he is extremely merciful, taking away the prize from time to time if they are neglectful of it but returning it if they repent.

Yet legend has it that he travels alone at night, still searching for that one individual upon whom he may place an absolute trust and be relieved of his duty once and for all.


He travels at night. The cloaked figure. The man of many disguises. Carrying the greatest power known to man.

Still searching…

Tale #2

The Story of our Lives

It’s her first day of Montessori, and Anna is happily and furiously coloring an apple blue. To her it hardly matters that her scrawls are supposed to be contained inside the curved outline of the apple. Or indeed, the fact that apples are red! Anna gets her first dose of reality when her teacher, Miss Ellen comes up behind her and says, “Oh my, you’ve made such an awful mess. Dear you must remember to keep your strokes inside the lines. And next time do keep in mind that apples are red!” “But miss,” protests Anna innocently “This is MY apple and I want it blue and besides apples can be blue too if you paint them over!” “Be that as it may Anna,” her teacher responds firmly “You will be appearing in the entrance test for Grade I in three years and your examiner will not take too kindly to a blue apple. Remember dear, apples are red.” Miss Ellen has added the first brick to Anna’s wall. Rest assured she will never colour an apple blue again. She will still color outside the lines, once or twice more, though, but don’t worry, she is in good hands. Miss Ellen will see to it that by the time she is eligible for appearing in her entrance examination, all her strokes remain inside the lines. Like I said, she is in good hands. Anna is six. I would ask her to introduce herself but at the moment she is extremely busy. She is in Miss Spencer’s Grade


I class and is at the moment staring at her teacher with absolute concentration. Mouth hanging slightly open and eyes round she is taking in every single word as Miss Spencer reads out aloud a storybook titled THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF to her class. “Sweaters you know,” Miss Spencer tells the class, “are made from goats’ hair” “Miss,” Anna demands “if sweaters are made from goats then are goats colored blue, orange and pink too? Since sweater’s come in many colours” “Don’t be silly Anna.”Miss Spencer replied firmly, “we dye the sweaters. Goats are only black, white, grey or brown.” Another brick added to the first. The walls around Anna are building. Rest assured that she will never envision, write about or paint an orange goat for the simple yet undeniable reason that “goats are only black, white, grey or brown.” At eight Anna is in third grade and having trouble in English. Sir George has just returned her composition paper with red ink scrawled all over it. Apparently Anna has made the grave mistake of writing an introduction to long, not adding the third paragraph to her essay and ending with a conclusion to short. An unforgivable mistake, no? Well, it is in Mr. George’s book. Not to worry though. Anna has learned her lesson. She wants to pass third-grade English so she will be careful next time. Before Anna, now stands a solid brick wall and she is unable to see beyond it. Every time she tries someone tells her she is wrong. Someone who is either older or wiser or who has a title attached to his/her name. Aged fifteen Anna is busily completing her Eighth Grade Geometry homework when her two year old cousin comes running into the room frantically waving his latest work of art drawing above his head. It’s a drawing of an apple and


Anna is appalled by its condition. “My Word!” she exclaims, ‘‘Your teacher will be furious” She watches her cousin’s face fall as she continues, “You’ve coloured outside the lines! And apples aren’t supposed to be blue!” “Why not!” her cousin demands “Because Adam,” she says, placing a hand firmly on his shoulder “Apples are red”


Creative Blocks

IDEAS: DONOT ENTER

NO CREATIVITY ZONE!

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCEPT

The idea of a “no creativity zone” isn’t a new one. We have already encountered many times in our lives boundaries or “red-zones”

where creative ideas simply do not flow and imagination is unimaginable. Where thinking is unthinkable and invention a sin.

Meet The Creative Blocks!

CREATING THE BLOCKS:

All you need is sugar, spice and everything ignorant and viola! , you’ve got the perfect creative block!

BLOCKS THAT MAKE UP THE WALL

DEAD END!Imagine this:

You’re driving home from work on a Saturday and decide you take a short cut. Suddenly you run into a dead end wall. You hit the

brakes. Hard! Mumbling and grumbling, you shift into reverse gear and slowly back out of the narrow lane.

Grumpily you make your way home, an hour late

Now here’s the question. Would you venture down that road again? Or would you even try to take another shortcut, lest you meet

the same fate. Of course not.


Creative blocks work in pretty much the same way. Once you have been told that your ideas as useless, outrageous or simply

unacceptable you will never present them again. At least not to the same audience! With a wall of disapproval in front of you,

you’ll do the smart thing. Shift into reverse gear and slowly move out.

SERIAL KILLERS ON THE LOOSE!


FEAR OF FAILURE

WARNING: Wanted! This individual is responsible for the death of a million creative individuals annually. It has been known to work in collaboration with society. DESCRIPTION: Can be recognized through stutter and nervous manner of walking. Tends to look over his shoulder a lot. LEVEL OF THREAT: MAXIMUM Do not approach at all! Highly dangerous to all individuals.

It is just a random day and just a random moment and we just start to do our assignment or whatever that is that we intend to do, a broad stream with a high volume and intensity of ideas starts to flow in to our mind. We just begin our work and then there is this thought which makes us rethink in fact which is the big boulder which stops the flow of ideas into our mind “Will this work?, Will the final product be as gorgeous as I am wondering?” This fear of our product being a failure is one of the biggest blocks to our creativity. This thought basically diverts our concentration from work, and when our attention/ concentration is diverted we are not able to accomplish what we had to, we are not able to achieve our goals. What we need to do is that we need to shove this fear of failure out of our minds until and unless we do that we will not be able to create. In order to create something we need to give that a lot of thought, concentration, and attention. We should stop thinking about the final product. Just think that whatever I am doing is the best and will remain the best. Just thinking positively about what you are doing will make your outcome the best. This thought will make you more committed towards your work and you will be able to create something that is great, unique, different, and yet one of the wonders that you have done in life


THE SOCIETY WARNING: Wanted! This person alone has been responsible for the deaths of millions of creative individuals. DESCRIPTION: Looks ordinary enough, to blend in with a crowd of normal civilians. A master of disguise. Can take up the shape of any individual. Might be living in your schools, houses and offices. Can be identified through his limited beliefs, inability to accept new ideas, inferiority complex and inability to take action without back-up and constant support. LEVEL OF THREAT: MAXIMUM If seen do not approach! Has been known to reduce highly creative individuals to just “another face in the crowd.”

Tradition and society may seem to carve our creativity but actually they are blocking it. Creativity is basically creating something new but what the society is doing it is defining things for us. Where is the creativity in an apple being red and in a perfect shape rather than an apple of blue colour and has no shape it is deformed. The society laughs at us when we make an apple blue. Take an example of fashion field. For us people creativity in fashion is something that only some people have and we have made those people our fashion icons. Why can’t we wear red shoes with a purple shirt unless and until a celebrity or a model doesn’t wear them? Why can’t we make any fashion statements? Just because we think that people are going to laugh at us if we do that. Here comes the fear of being mocked at. Just stop thinking that if you create something people are going to mock you. You should not be afraid of that believe in yourself besides in others for something you are going to create. Believe in yourself and think that you can do it and you will do it. And even if someone mocks you just tell them at least I had the courage to do it and display it in front of others you don’t even have that. The society limits our creativity and blocks the flow of ideas in to our mind by convincing us and telling us that there are only a few who can master creativity while its better if others don’t even try to be creative. In this way they are limiting their thinking as well as ours. Take the following example: Two friends are getting ready for a party one while getting ready asks the other is this necklace going with my outfit. The other says no it is not. Why are we relying on others to tell us what is good and what is bad we need to set our own limitations and live with them. Why do we let others define for us that purple only goes with pink and not with any other colour. We have the ability to think and analyze ourselves that 2+2=4 or 2+2=5+5-7+2-1…. This is up to us not to others. Why should we let anyone tell us that this colour looks good on us or not. We have our own life our own way of thinking an d no one has the right to tell us that what we think is wrong or right it is our life and we need to define this ourselves


THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

WARNING:

Wanted! This individual prefers children. He has been known to cause over a million deaths each year.

DESCRIPTION:

Usually dressed in a suit and bow-tie. Uses difficult English vocabulary and is usually incomprehensible. Favorite haunts include: schools, colleges and universities.

LEVEL OF THREAT: MAXIMUM

If seen do not approach without plugged ears. Has been known to make highly intellectual individuals feel unintelligent.

When we are young the creativity in us is the strongest. We have no sense of what is right and what is wrong. Give us a variety of mediums such as Paints, Crayons, Colour pencils, paper pieces, glues e.t.c and we will just throw all of them together to make one grand piece which is unique, out of the blue and yet creative something that you have never seen before. The reason is our inquisitive mind, we look at young children asking their parents and older siblings some questions that we teens and grown ups would never in our wildest dreams ask; Why is the sky blue? Why can I not reach up and touch the sky? Why does the sun set? …..and the list goes on. But when a child enters a school the system there starts to build a wall around the brain of the child and when he/she grows up is forced or is obliged to think inside the box. The child starts to have a fixed mindset that the apple has to be red, the monster has to be scary and must look horrifying, the balls have to be round and the sky has to be blue… But why?When a child starts to ask the reason for everything the parents just ask them to keep their mouth shut. Why? Because it is not good to ask so many questions, but I must say that is not a good reason at all. This is the reason that some of the most creative minds in the society stop thinking beyond what has been told or has been fixed in the mind. Why are the students who give the most logical answers in class given more preference over those who give answers which might not make sense to you and I but there might be some thing different that they might have thought of and maybe after they explain it to us it may start making sense.

In our schooling systems we see that when a teacher asks a question for example: Choose the odd one out Earth, Mars, Venus and shovel. – (Example Plagiarized) One of the students raising their hands says Shovel while the other says earth. The one who answers shovel is appreciated while the one who answers earth becomes the laughing stock. Maybe the student who answered earth chose that answer because it is the only one which is blue. The Schools are killing creativity! Why don’t the students have the full right to do what they want to explore the talent hiding in them. Unless and until the schools stop limiting the mind of the creative young people we can not make a creative youth.


HERO-WORSHIP

WARNING:

Wanted! This individual murders victims of inferiority complexes. Causes around a 100 deaths each year

DESCRIPTION:

Is always dressed in a long flowing cape, has wind-swept blond hair and perfect teeth.

LEVEL OF THREAT: MEDIUM

Is approachable to individuals who have high faith in their abilities. Has been known to cause doubt of abilities in highly creative people

O.M.G! Look at that actor, the clothes that he is wearing are so awesome. I wish I had them; I’m going to get a pair of shoes just like his. This is known as hero worship. Why are we doing this? He is just an actor for crying out loud! Well you are an actor too, I am sure that most of you would have acted out many at times as if you were having a stomach ache or something, when you wanted to have a break from school and sit back at home, because your parents wouldn’t allow you. Secondly, he is just an ordinary guy just like you and I or for that matter any other person living on the face of this earth. He is a person, who has made his life wonderful using up his talent; he is enjoying his life and living it to its fullest. So why can’t you do the same. You have a talent maybe not acting it could be anything; you have a creative part in you that is eagerly waiting to get explored. When you follow a person whether in his sense of dressing, his accent, his style, the way he lives or even the way he walks you are doing hero worship. Hero Worship is a major, major block in your creativity. You should believe in yourself, he is a trend setter so what, you are too. He could get whatever hairstyle he likes, why you have to get one exactly like his. This is where we are bound to do what we see, why can’t we think beyond that. This is the mindset of our society that if a celebrity wears a pair of red converse they look amazing and we are going to proudly wear that and everyone will make them their definition of the so called “Cool Looking Shoes” or “Trendy shoes” and in case of girls, they are going to call them “chic,” But if an ordinary person wears the same red converse on a black suit before any idol wears them they are going to mock that person. You should have the confidence to face the world and tell them that yes I am a trend setter and I will wear these shoes whether you like it or not. It is my life and I have full right to do whatever I like in it, I am the one living it and so I decide what I wear and what I don’t. At first people will call you crazy or psychologically impaired but after a while they will themselves think, “You know what those shoes actually look nice” When you start thinking for yourself you will have 1000 of creative ideas for doing different things. That is when your creative !!


COMPLACENCY WARNING:

Wanted! This individual has been known to stab creative people to death. His methods of murder are extremely painful. Causes around a million deaths annually.

DESCRIPTION:

Dressed in silk robes, that trail behind him, with a fur collar. Walks with his shoulders thrown back. Always has a gold crown on his head.

LEVEL OF THREAT: MAXIMUM

Slowly and painfully kills a creative individual. Do not approach at all.

Complacency is the sense of satisfaction that one has while doing any kind of work. This satisfaction is like the devil. The devil instigates us and prevents us from doing good deeds, in the same way this little devil of complacency prevents us from thinking up of new ideas or for that matter, any more ideas. It tells us that what you have done is perfectly fine and you don’t need to do anything else. The work you have done is good enough to get you what you want to achieve. What will happen is that you may achieve your target but the level of achievement will be minimum as the ideas you thought were minimum and you were further prevented of thinking by this little devil. If this evil power of complacency over shadows you, you will not be able to think of new and unique ideas. And when you don’t think of new ideas how is your work going to be innovative or creative. To achieve the best out of your work you need to think creatively and first list down all the possible ideas that are coming to your mind. Then what you need to do is use the power of critical thinking to chose the ideas that are the best and cancel the one’s you think that are not going to work. This will enhance your creative and thinking skills.


IMPATIENCE

WARNING:

Wanted! This killer has been known to murder around a hundred creative individuals each year.

DESCRIPTION:

Walks extremely fast and is dressed in dirty patched clothes.

LEVEL OF THREAT: MINIMUM

Can be hazardous only to those individuals who do not schedule themselves. You may approach if you are organized.

Even the people who have the ability to excel the most in creativity have this problem. Well everyone can be creative. Impatience never let us put our best in our work. It makes us panic and hurry in making decision and decide everything without deeply thinking over the topic. We should never have impatience in us; some people who are very impatient say that it’s just out of curiosity. Well even if it is curiosity we should learn how to deal with it. For example if we have an assignment that we need to complete within a weeks time, and in a hurry to submit the assignment just because we are in a hurry to hear the result we submit it after three days. Well even if you have done the assignment in three days you are not going to get the result the very next day. You will only get the result after everyone has submitted their assignment and the teacher has checked all of the assignments. It will only be your project that had the potential to be one of the best but was not just because you were in a hurry to submit your work. Well let’s see how this affects your work in a negative manner. When a person is in a hurry to do something he or she does not have his/her full attention towards the work. They just want to hurry up and finish the work before time. There attention and mind is only towards the submission the have in mind. What you could do to make this assignment the best is that you could forget the deadline and just think about what you need to do in the project when you forget the deadline and think about the assignment then you will be able to concentrate more and have excellent ideas come to you. When you have more ideas you can then even decide what you need to do and how you are going to do it. Put the maximum amount of time that you can. And that is what develops creativity. Creativity comes with thinking creatively and coming up with ideas when you have a million things on your mind you will not be able to concentrate, and when you are not going to concentrate, you will not be able to think, and when you will not be able to think you are not going to come up with ideas. So make use of your time, think, pay attention and put your best…….to Unleash Your Creativity.


Boost Your Creativity

Dream High

One of the many things that greatly help you to increase your creativity is that you utilize the information that you attain in your dreams when your mind is subconscious. Dreaming is supposedly the most creative act that one can do in his life. Dreaming increases the creativity in a person to a great extent, as you can take symbols, words, adventures and people out of your dreams and put them onto paper in either the form of words, painting, 3 -d model or whatever to make something creative, something unique, out of the blue. There are different beliefs of different people. Some say that dreams are a result of your day’s happening, some say that dreams are a result of fears in oneself which express when one is sub conscious. What you should do is that you should keep trust on your intuition. Think and listen quietly to what the dream means. What message is being portrayed in the dream that you had last night or on a particular day. If you think then you will most probably feel something or you might come to interpret your dream. The best part is having a lucid dream. Lucid dream is basically defined as when a person knows when he/she is dreaming. When one comes to know that he/she is dreaming, they have power or control over the conclusion, this is when you have infinite power. Lucid dreams help you to challenge or over come problems that might occur to you in future life much better. For example, you are having a dream when you have been kidnapped you suddenly wake up to check the situation whether or not this is real, then when you again go back to that dream you can control what is going to happen next whether you are going to run away or you are going to attack the kidnapper. These are some things that you might not have done in real life if you encountered them. So the next time when you victimize such event you would probably handle the situation with a strong grasp. One of the techniques as described by professionals is that if some one learns to see their hand while they are sleeping that is one clue that they can wake up during a dream. Another thing Is to maintain a diary in which you could record all your dreams, the first thing you do after you wake up just spend some time in writing the contents of your dream, keep that journal by your bedside and if you wake up In the


middle of the night you could write your dream in the dark. This is one thing that helps to have lucid dreams. Dreaming is not some thing that God gave us by accident or it’s not just something that occurs from somewhere out of the blue, but it was given to us as an extension of our consciousness to sleep and to use the sleeping state effectively. We should learn to use this gift and improve or hone the creativity in us.

Expand Your Horizons The power of imagination is more than what a person can imagine. Today people think that a person who dreams or imagines is the one who will be lost in his or her thoughts and the world will change, but that is not the truth. There are quite a few or I should rather say many examples in history and even recent history in which people did wonders just through imagination and believing in what they imagined and dreamt. I am not saying that if one dreams that they got wings and they start flying after a few days, that is not possible but that can also happen if a miracle occurs, But the point is that if one person dreams and imagines something and strives to achieve it he/she accomplishes it in his/her life. One example is of Vera Fryling, she was a Jewish teenager at the time of the holocaust, she dreamt of becoming a psychiatrist and she became a part of the faculty of San Francisco medical school. The trick is not to imagine of the future or think of what you are imagining as a part of the future but to think of it as a part of today, believe in it, believe that it is what you are today and keep working on it to achieve it and you will very soon be what you see. Futuristic Approach

Thinking about the future, being open minded having a broad vision is another thing that helps to influence your focus and creativity. When you start your work just think about what your target will be. What you want to achieve out of your work. Keeping the objective and aims in mind just close your eyes and think, think about what you are going to do and how you are going to do that. Once you know that you will be able to imagine and think about the product or the outcome you’ll get. When you keep your target in mind and keep thinking about it that is what keeps you focused and motivated towards your work in our example it is that we want to win this competition and we’re focusing on getting the first position. That is what is


keeping us in high spirit towards our work and we’re putting the best of our efforts. Puzzles

Solving Puzzle is a very interesting exercise and it also increases the brain capacity and activity. Puzzles are of different types and they help to open up your mind in different manner. There are puzzles which acquire a solution only from the right side of your brain, other from the left and there are also those which require the work and input of the whole of your brain. Different types of puzzles acquire different intelligences to come to a solution. For example which are of pattern recognition/completing a picture, this type of activity requires the work of your right brain. The brain utilizes its potential to develop a picture in your mind about the information/data that is being processed. Such activities open up neural paths in your brain and are fun to do at the same time. When you are not able to solve a problem that means that some of the neuropaths are blocked or not have been opened yet and you are not able to think in the manner required. When you try to solve them you try to think out of the box and try different ways in which a problem can be solved. So it Is fun, you learn and at the same time your mind gets open.

Stay Focused

The ability to concentrate on your work is an art. In order to create something unique focus and intent are the two most important things that go hand in hand with creativity. There are two main types of concentration on work which are; hard focus and soft focus. Hard focus is when you keep concentrated on just one point or just one idea and do not concentrate on other ideas and keep working only on one thing. On the other hand Soft focus Is basically when doing some work you keep each and every single thing in mind and do not single any idea. Soft focus can only be gained when you are relaxed, it can be practiced whenever wherever you are. Soft focus helps you in coming to a perfect decision. It helps you to decide what you want to chose between alternatives. You need to learn how to focus. One of the best techniques in order to learn focus is to meditate. When you meditate you close your eyes you forget everything and


your mind is blank and you focus on just one thing. You forget everything in else and just focus. Keeping and maintaining this focus helps great deal. When you meditate your mind opens and expands. This accelerates your mind’s work and thinking. Focusing on one thing helps us to keep us concentrated on what we are doing and this influences the flow of ideas into our mind. Meditation is the best thing to practice focus. Relax yourself whenever you get the chance to. Relaxing and focusing allow the stream of creative juices to flow into your mind.

Becoming Sherlock Holmes

Cryptography…….many of you know what cryptography is, for those who don’t let us tell you that cryptography is the art of analyzing or converting some sort of information in to codes. The oldest example we today have in world of cryptography is of scytales. Cryptography is an important part of today’s world to secure different types of data and transactions, financial info and etc. Cryptography is an exercise which makes both sides of your brain to work. It opens up your mind and makes your mind work. It allows your mind to think in different manners to recognize and interpret the codes. When you are not able to solve the code just relax and allow your mind to open up a bit. Permit different feelings into yourself. This will help you to recognize different ways in which a code could be deciphered. Deciphering codes and solving cryptography puzzles allows your mind to work in unique ways and opens up new neuropaths in your mind.

Chess!! The Game of Life

For normal people chess is just a boring game for nerds, and for the lucky people who have creative minds chess is a game, competition, basically a mirror image of a creative life. Playing chess carries a great value of time, liveliness, and mindful efforts. To expertise in playing chess and conquering the game is an art. This is one of the activities, which require both your right brain and left brain to work at the same time. A game in which you are directly paying all your attention to will generate a whole brain contemplation and permit your mind to flow spontaneously and redirect you to


different strategies as you move across the checkered board. Playing chess replicates our affiliation with the external humanity and permits us to reflect upon our interior identity as we distort and intertwine our line of attack to triumph. Playing chess is another way to reflect upon yourself and how you are affiliated with the world. Ask yourself and search for the answers to these questions; whether you are watchful or valiant. Do you listen to your heart or your mind when making difficult decisions and are double minded? Do you look at the pros and cons of both and decide after a whole analysis? Are you able to envision the outcome or are you stuck at that very point and are unable to think about anything else? Are you able to strive your way till the end or do you end giving up in between? If you play chess you will be able to perform these traits in a good-natured manner.

Concentration

The ability to concentrate on your work is an art. In order to create something unique focus and intent are the two most important things that go hand in hand with creativity. There are two main types of concentration on work which are; hard focus and soft focus. Hard focus is when you keep concentrated on just one point or just one idea and do not concentrate on other ideas and keep working only on one thing. On the other hand Soft focus Is basically when doing some work you keep each and every single thing in mind and do not single any idea. Soft focus can only be gained when you are relaxed, it can be practiced whenever wherever you are. Soft focus helps you in coming to a perfect decision. It helps you to decide what you want to chose between alternatives. You need to learn how to focus. One of the best techniques in order to learn focus is to meditate. When you meditate you close your eyes you forget everything and your mind is blank and you focus on just one thing. You forget everything in else and just focus. Keeping and maintaining this focus helps great deal. When you meditate your mind opens and expands. This accelerates your mind’s work and thinking. Focusing on one thing helps us to keep us concentrated on what we are doing and this influences the flow of ideas into our mind. Meditation is the best thing to practice focus. Relax yourself whenever you get the chance to. Relaxing and focusing allow the stream of creative juices to flow into your mind.


Retaining The Aha!! Moment

Everyone has those wow!! or ahhaa moments. The moments where he finally figures out a solution to something that he was working on for quite a while. Triggering a memory is another technique which helps to find or figure out a creative solution to a problem. This technique is most applicable in work places and schools where a creative solutions are often required. This technique is used when you want to figure out some thing, which usually is a solution to a problem. In this what you do is you try to remember a moment that you had in the past in which you had an experience where you were busy in thinking about a solution to a problem but you just couldn't get to the answer and then there was this ahhaa!! or viola! moment where suddenly the solution comes to you. Now this technique is required when you are thinking about a solution to a problem. First think about a trigger that will either be an action some examples are that you could touch your forehead with your index finger, or touch your chest where your heart is supposed to be. These actions are supposed to act like triggers and send you shooting through the space of time and take you to that moment. You have to remember what your feelings were when you could not find out the solution and the moment where you found the solution. You need to remember your actions, your surroundings, the environment, the people, and absolutely every bit of detail that you could remember. How you are going to do it we will be telling you now. Wherever you are just sit back, relax and press your trigger the trigger is supposed to take you back into the time and you are going re-feel that moment. Then after you have had a vision of that moment you are going to again press the trigger and you are going to be back where you are. Once you are back into the reality phase. You know the exact details how you did it and now you will be able to think of a solution in the same manner. This is known as biofeedback. The act in which you remember the feelings and emotions that are strongly attached with a memory is known as a state dependent memory. Together the combination of these two acts you are able to have a creative vision.


Take A Break Dude!!

Pause…….You might be thinking that “pausing….what does it have to do with creativity. Well initially this is what we thought too, but now since we have done it and have experience doing it. I can assure you that it really helps. You can carry out this activity when you are thinking about any topic and you are not able to get any ideas. What you need to do is just give yourself a break and absolutely do nothing but stare at something blank. It could either be you lying down on your bed and staring at the ceiling of your room, or you could just be string out the window of your room and looking at the plain blue sky. What will happen is that you will keep looking at the plain surface and then suddenly this idea will just snap into your mind and you’ll get the creative juices flowing in your mind once again. This activity is simple yet effective and the best part is that it can be carried out anywhere. It basically refreshes your mind and gives your mind to work on a new approach towards something. This process of halting your thinking act for a minute or two appears to be useless but it can prove to be one of the most useful things to hone your creative thinking skills. The sense or the ability which is usually described as the sixth sense helps a lot. When you do not have the background information or the required experience to solve a certain problem, this sixth sense helps you to imagine the possible background and helps you to solve the problem. This pausing technique is usually advised to be used when you are out of other techniques and are stuck in between solving a problem this technique is most useful at that time. This technique is much, more simple than the meditation. You are for this technique to be effective you are required to stop the act of thinking and then gaze at something neutral. After practicing this act quite a few times, it might happen that you are carried away into small daydreams/visions which often provide you with solutions to the problems that you were finding.


Brain Box

BRAIN-BOX

The tools we rarely use My own brain is to me the most unaccountable of machinery - always buzzing, humming, soaring roaring

diving, and then buried in mud. And why? What's this passion for? Virginia Woolf

http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brainyquote.com%2Fquotes%2Fquotes%2Fv%2Fvirginiawo147091.html&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFrqEzfpKAm7TEGCCBr5SfNzzRz5_aLuUw


PRESENTING “THE BRAIN-BOX!”

OPEN IT UP!

In your hand, I place a small grey rectangular cuboid. On the outside it seems an ordinary toolbox. Closed,

grey and shining.

So what do you do?

You spare it one fleeting glance and then toss it aside on the sofa. After all, you’re busy. You have work to do.

The “In-box” at your office is piling up to the ceiling. You have a 20-mark math assignment to complete or a

dinner to cook.

Besides you don’t need a toolbox. All the things you needed fixed have been taken care of by the plumber. Or

the carpenter. Or the mechanic.

Let me rephrase the above condition.

In your hand, I place the very influx of human creativity. The seed of invention. The key to the door of success.

Your ticket to being as famous as Einstein. The answer to all your problems.

“So what do you do?

You spare it one fleeting glance and then toss it aside on the sofa.


After all, you’re busy.

You have work to do.”

Sad isn’t it?

Introduction

As sad as it may seem, the above is one of the harsh most ironic details of our lives. We, as human beings, have been blessed with the

extraordinary capacity to learn, improve and create. However most of us are simply too busy in our lives to even notice, let alone utilize our

enormous potential for change.

The brain-box is a handy tool-box that we have all been born with. As children, when we are curious and have a lot of free time on our hands

we often search and explore this tool-box. As adults we rarely visit it.

Components of the Brain Box: The brain-box is absolutely crucial for building up the structure of creativity. To do this, it contains the following tools.

A: The Claw Hammer:

This tool is one of the brain-box’s most important components. It is used to hammer in important information and extract the

imprisoning bars around the brain, brick by brick, to ensure freedom of thought. Experts call it “Lateral Thinking”

B: Six Coloured Screws:

These tools are used to ensure careful analysis. With all six screws, screwed on tight and holding the structure of creativity

together, an individual may rest assured that he/she will look at all sides of a picture before making the final decision.


C: The Tape Measure:

This is the perfect tool for measuring creative ability from all angles of your brain. The length, the breath and the height of your

creative structure can be measured through this tool and the areas which are lacking in creativity can be brought up to scratch.

THE CLAW HAMMER Feeling “Boxed In”?

“We are taught to think inside the box. Then we are taught to think outside the box. What I want us to ask is who put the box there?”

UNKNOWN

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCEPT Lateral thinking-also known as parallel thinking-basically refers to an in-depth analysis of a concept in an unusual and seemingly illogical pattern that is beyond the “normal” approach to a solution.

DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN CREATIVE AND LATERAL THINKING: Creative Thinking refers to the thought process responsible for generating (or creating) new ideas and approaches to solve an issue. While lateral thinking, refers to the idea of approaching a problem in a seemingly illogical manner or through the considerations of a variety of options, though all may be distantly related.


WELCOME TO THE BOX:

AN ANECDOTE Your mind has been confined to a tiny dark metallic space. It’s dark in here and you can’t get out.You don’t even try Because in spite of there being no light and no air ventilation, it’s strangely secure in here. At least you know what to expect, at least you see others like you. At least you are living up to what’s expected of you. At least you don’t disappoint. “Out here”, beyond your mental walls is a whole new world. One that, you can’t even imagine. One that you are not even supposed to think about, where you don’t know what to expect. So what do you do? The smart thing, of course. You tell your mind to stay put.

Wondering where you are?

Welcome to the box

THE SOLUTION GO BEYOND BOUNDRIES!

The solution to all your problems lies in the acceptance of the fact that all the solutions may not be entirely “rational”. In other words thinking outside perceived limitations or “expanding your horizons” is the way to break out of your box.


CONQUERING YOUR BOX!

STEP 1: IDENTIFY YOUR BOX

Your “box” or your set of perceived limitations needs to be clear to you. You need to identify what factors rule your life.

They may be your school, your parents, your friends or the society in general. Anything or anyone that influences you set

up pre-defined thinking patterns.

STEP 2: IDENTIFY YOUR CONDITIONED BRAIN

Factors may influence you to act in certain ways but your reactions to their conditioning define your thinking patterns.

Most of us have clear and preset ways of thinking. Decide if your choices are among the society’s norms. If they are you

are probably not thinking laterally.

STEP 3: TAKE BABY STEPS

You probably won’t break out of your box in a day and its going to take long while to do so. Taking small steps one at a

time helps out a lot. Taking impulsive decisions in a desperate situation, speaking up and sharing your ideas no matter

how wrong they seem and forming your own decisions instead of influenced ones are all ways of slowly expanding your

own horizons


Creative thinking vs Lateral Thinking vs Critical thinking

INTRODUCTION:

Let’s introduce out contestants.

1. CREATIVE THINKING: First of all please welcome, Creative Thinking! For those of you who don’t know Creative Thinking is the thought process responsible for generating (or creating) new ideas and approaches to solve an issue. It is in fact the power to invent a completely new idea that is original. An individual is creative on a personal level if his idea is original to himself and original on a global scale if his idea is original to humanity. Creative thinking originates only from fascination, wonder and the willingness to explore.

2. LATERAL THINKING: Next is, Lateral Thinking! Lateral thinking is primarily defined as approaching a problem in a seemingly illogical manner or through the considerations of a variety of options, though all may be distantly related. It is in fact, the thought process that steps outside the society’s norms. Lateral thinking is achieved through trusting one’s judgments enough to side with his/her own decisions even if they seem “silly” or “unacceptable” to the majority of other people. As Edward De Bono would put it, "Exploring multiple possibilities and approaches instead of pursuing a single approach" is lateral thinking.

3. CRITICAL THINKING: Last but not the least. Let me introduce our final contestant: Critical Thinking! Critical thinking can primarily be defined the thinking process associated with analyzing a situation and assessing it on the basis of pre-known facts, intellectually and practically. Critical Thinking is based on reason and facts and does not go beyond factual boundaries to originate something new.


ROUND 1: FACTUAL ANALYSIS TASK AT HAND: A HISTORY ASSIGNMENT – ANALYTICAL QUESTIONS.

1. CREATIVE THINKING: RESPONSE: Approaches the situation with a passion to create or invoke something new, unique and different in the answer or presentation or work. RATING: Low 4 OUT OF 10 NOTES:

Distracted. In efforts to provide something new, it often loses sight of the goal 2. LATERAL THINKING: RESPONSE: Approaches the solution in an indirect manner. Instead of answering how the war might have been prevented through cause-and-effect, focuses on the leading personalities at hand, answering how minor changes in their backgrounds may have altered their reactions to small situations and how on a macro-scale the collaboration of all these changes may have prevented the armed fight.


RATING: An Average 6 OUT OF 10 NOTES: Undistracted. Focused on task at hand. However, vertical approach may complicate matters in application. Approach avoided direct answers.

3. CRITICAL THINKING: RESPONSE Analyzes the situation carefully and presents a structured a well-researched answer organized chronologically and following the cause-and-effect theory as well as an in depth analyses of the Butterfly Effect. RATING: Very good 8 OUT OF 10 NOTES: Undistracted. Clear and focused approach. Provides clear and relevant answers However, work lacks the bravery to step outside the lines.


ROUND 2: QUICK DECISIONS TASK AT HAND: MAKING UP A QUICK EXCUSE AS TO WHY YOUR MOM CAUGHT YOU SURFING THE NET AND NOT STUDYING 1. CRITICAL THINKING

Tries to comprehend the situation fully. Assesses all the negative and positive aspects of it a tries to come up with a suitable response. RATING

Low 5 out of 10

NOTES Over thinks the entire situation Wastes valuable time Explanation is unnatural and not to-the-point.

2. LATERAL THINKING Tries to approach the situation in a distinct and indirect manner. The response is new and imaginative. RATING Good 7 out of 10 NOTES The utterly new response may make the excuse seem both impractical, and obviously imaginative


3. CREATIVE THINKING Tries to take inspiration from the elements around it. Provides a good, solid excuse that seems neither to inside-the-box nor too imaginative.

RATING

Excellent 9 out of 10 NOTES Precise, clear and too the point A good, believe-able excuse.


“HATS OFF!”

TO EDWARD DE BONO

“The Six Thinking Hats method may well be the most important change in human thinking for the past 2300 years”.

EDWARD DE BONO

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCEPT:

The De bono hat system, also known as the Six Thinking hats states that human brain interpretations and patterns of thinking are based wholly on defined ways of analysis.

Elaborating on the above, the hats presence and existence of the hats is for the clear definition, division and explanation of these defined ways.

According to Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia:

Dr de Bono identifies six distinct states in which the brain can be "sensitised". In each of these states the brain will identify and bring into conscious thought certain aspects of issues being considered (e.g. gut instinct, pessimistic judgment, neutral facts).”


INTRODUCING THE HATS…

A GREAT TEAM IS COMPOSED OF

The Blue Hat

The Manager

The Blue Hat’s presence is of vital importance, as it ensures the smooth progress of the operation. This hat ensures the flow of ideas and total co-operation and collaboration. A stickler for rules, this hat ensures that everyone does their job and helps keep tempers in check. This hat is always ready with a paper, a pen a planning sheet and an action plan.

2. The White Hat

The Fact File

This hat is willing to listen to other people’s ideas but is obsessed with information. To this hat getting the facts is crucial and it comes in great use when rationalizing relevant data. In a project, this hat’s final word is “Facts please.”


3. The Black Hat

The Devil’s Advocate

Talk about your staunch pessimist! This hat spots all the difficulties and dangers in a project. To it if the tiniest detail in a project is blurry, the entire thing is bound to be a wreck. The Black isn’t a big risk taker and that’s what makes it so powerful, only don’t overuse it!

4. The Green Hat

The Inspiration

This hat is all about the ideas. It deals with creative thinking and generates new possibilities and ways overcome challenges brought into the spotlight by the black hat. One thing’s for sure, going green sure helps a project!

5. The Yellow Hat

The Light House at Sea

A beacon of light in the dark, this hat is the optimist of the group.

It provides the possibilities and stresses on what can be done, helping the other hats keep heart. It’s final word “We can do it!”

6. The Red Hat

The Firework

This hat is the group’s explosive energy. This hat lays great emphasis on its feelings and is ever-ready to follow them. If you need sincere instinctual responses, this is your hat. Its final word is “follow your instincts”


A PIECE OF ADVICE

TRY ‘EM ALL ON

…the secret to success

Solving mind-boggling issues or problems and/or putting together a great project are all tasks that can be handled with astounding ease provided that the thinking hats be utilized in the most effective manner and achieve what they were created to do: help individuals think outside their perceived limitations. For example, they may help a critic to think creatively and an optimist to consider the rational problems. What makes a great project come together is if all the members simultaneous put on the hats as a single entity and then throw their ideas around!


THE CREATIVE GUIDE

Imagine your life without colors, imagine it without the architecture around you, imagine it without your favorite mp3 or try imagining it without your favorite food. How do you see it? Boring? I thought so. All of these things add creativity in to your life. God made everything with colors to make life beautiful, man made the most amazing infrastructure, our gadgets make our lives livelier and our moms make the best food. All of these things could not be done without creativity.

Creativity is an essential part of our lives. It is needed in everything to do. When we dress ourselves we see which jeans coordinates with which shirt, we walk in a different manner, people talk in different manners and everyone has a different personality. How? Creativity is the answer. People differentiate themselves from others through their thoughts and actions. After reading this, if I ask you, are you creative? What would you say? You are, right? I am pretty sure you’re different. After all isn’t everybody?

But how? It’s because everyone thinks differently, everyone has their own views. If I like the color black, you might dislike it. This is what makes life creative. Thinking differently, standing out. You should think out of the box, jump over those walls inside of you, when you have two roads to chose from, dig up another path and be on top of the world! Sometimes it is good to think out of the box, life will seem more extraordinary, more fun.

Have you never felt really bored, stuck in a rut, trapped, stuck or dissatisfied? You know why you felt that way? Because you reacted the way you were suppose to. You did not react differently, say creatively. You reacted as expected, like it was engraved in your mind. Next time if you spill a glass of water on your new table cloth, instead of whining, why not get over it? No big deal. If you ever feel bored, why not dance on your favorite song or go play basketball! Do something different, make your routine different! You only get bored when you stay in your boundaries and do the same stuff day in and day out! CHANGE! CREATE! SMILE! All you need is a whole lot of creativity with a tablespoon of enthusiasm! And there you go , you have got a boredom free life! Make your life worth living. Creativity matters.


CREATIVITY IN SCHOOL FOR DUMMIES

For most of us the word “school” brings about a whirlwind of thoughts of unfinished homework due the next day, project deadlines and falling grades.

School is a just a jail cell that has been decorated with crayoned drawings, glitters and/or markers. A beautified jail cell, but a jail cell no less. A place where idea after idea is forced upon you and you simply have no choice but to follow.

Schools increase workloads - not neurons, and certainly not creativity.

The above is the way most of us think. Unfortunately, since we spend at least a quarter of our lives in educational institutions this mindset greatly affects our creativity.

And this is the reason that we present to you

CREATIVITY IN SCHOOL FOR DUMMIES.

A complete idiot’s guide to enhance his/her own creativity at school, while he educates himself to step out of idiocy! This guide is simple, easy-to-use and, unlike most books that have the word “school” in their title, doesn’t require you to first learn the Quadratic Formula to understand it.

So let’s begin!


TEACHER TRAINING

STEP ONE: THE CLAW HAMMER

Teacher’s need to be flexible to teach creativity. Do not just go by the book. Go “outside the box” and think of new learning-teaching strategies. The following are example of how we can avoid the routine we’ve become slaves of.

It’s time to eradicate those blocks and hammer in some new ideas!

1. GOOD MORNING, CLASS.

It certainly isn’t! Not if you’re going to plan on the usual clichéd way of greeting a bunch of hyperactive teenagers. I don’t know who came up with this phrase but it’s been used, worn-out and now it’s time to throw it way. For good!

Squench! Well I had to pull hard, but the rusted nail is finally out!

What’s wrong with Hi Class or Hello everyone or Greetings fellow Earthlings (What! It sounds better than Good Morning!) or even Hi guys.

Thump! A newer, shinier nail in place!


2. TAKE OUT OUR TEXTBOOKS AND PLEASE TURN TO PAGE NINETEEN.

Booooorrr-riiinnnng!

Seriously, that’s all I can say when the word “text book” comes to mind. Instead of following the routine – why not take your students out to the garden to study. Biology will make more sense under a tree, writing notes on broken tree barks and leaves than it will in a classroom, anyway!

STEP 2: THE SIX COLORED SCREWS

De Bono’ Thinking Hats are a good way to encourage the flow of creativity in school.

1. Wear the White Hat

Always present your students with the facts first, so as not to confuse them. Facts should be integrated in creative ways to construct knowledge. The details can wait. Let everyone’s views flow and do not restrict yourself to the....

2. Use the Green Hat

Always remember to go green when you think of your teaching abilities. More questions and less information. Purpose driven projects should be designed for students in all the disciplines to discover knowledge.


For example you may decorate your classroom according to the lesson. Quadratic equation formulas hanging from clothing lines in your classroom will probably make students learn it faster than writing it on the board once.

3. The Black Hat

Judge your students progress with a critical eye. Know what their difficulties are – and how to help them overcome these difficulties.

Fewer facts should be memorized and students should be engaged in experimental learning. Do not provide all the answers.

4. The Yellow Hat

Always be the shining Sun when you discuss students’ problems and progress with them. Make them believe that they can achieve so much more. Creativity is boosted more when curiosity, divergent thinking and passionate participatory approach is affirmed.


STEP 3: THE TAPE MEASURE:

Learning techniques are greatly effective if they are based on Blooms’ Taxonomy.

1. Physical Development:

You, as a teacher, need to change the way your students think. They may, for example, feel that Mathematics is a dry and extremely boring subject. Change that! Take them out for a field trip and ask them to calculate the mean number of ice-creams they can eat!

Or tell them to make party hats, and get them to calculate the hypotenuse of one!

2. Mental Development:

Make sure your students understand all the facts you present them with. Be clear and concise. Help them explore. Remember, all creative individuals need inspiration. Feed them the right information, and they will create!

3. Emotional Development:

Your students need emotional priorities. Teach them how to receive information, and where you place it. They must know what is important for them to pay attention to, and how they must sort out relevant information in their brain.


THE STUDENT GUIDE

STEP ONE: THE CLAW HAMMER

With De Bono’s Lateral Thinking school can help foster creativity. Without it, it is one of the biggest barriers to creativity. Flourishing Lateral thinking in school is one of the most difficult, yet achievable tasks.

1) DON’T BELIEVE IT ALL

True, passing examinations is one of the biggest tasks that we have to accomplish at our school. And true, our textbooks are a medium to that. And it is yet again true that we must go “by the book” in order to get good grades

But-

Learn, don’t believe.

That’s the key to preserve lateral thinking in schools and other educational institutions.

They will teach us that the probability of getting a 0 in a standard six-sided die is 0 – and that is what you will write in your examinations, because unfortunately we are slave to an educational system that caters to “exam passing” and the “facts” not “learning” and “thinking”. Not only is this system a hazard too creativity, but, at also unchallengeable, at least for most – at student level.


So they question is: how do you allow your lateral thinking room to breathe in such an environment.

The answer is simple: while you’re writing 0% in your exam paper, smile to yourself, at the fact that your "intelligent" examiner didn't know that you had scratched out all the numbers on the die leaving a 100% probability of getting a 0.

2) LEARNING TECHNIQUES

Surviving in this system is hard, but there may be ways to make even “learning by the book” a tool for flourishing creativity.

Ditch the Boring Learning Techniques:

Eradicating blocks, that is what Lateral Thinking is all about. The first step to being creative is letting go off the traditional, the conventional.

Hammer In Some New Ideas:

Learning can be fun and creative if you choose to let it be. The following are examples of how you can make your learning experience, Creative!


When in doubt, do the Cockney Slang!

Originating from the east end of London, the Cockney Slang helps us make useful Rhyming words to remember phrases!

For example, Hiroshima was bombed on August 6th

.

You can remember this information by a poem.

August 6, Japan in a fix!

Linking it all!

This technique helps us link together log lists in our heads. For example you may want to remember the names of the continents: Asia and Antarctica. Using the Link Technique for this would go something like this:

As Ia, thought that she lived in a dump she never payed much attention to her surroundings. Her house was infested with ants, the only decorations being portraits of her artwork – those that remained anyway. For most had been devoured by ticks.


Story Time

This technique helps us remember crucial exam information, by putting it in story form.

For example you may want to remember a list of rhyming words for your upcoming English test. This task is simple with the story technique!

A man named Will saw the mountains through his window, leaning on hiswindow sill, and decided to go camping near the hills in question.


STEP TWO: THE SIX COLORED SCREWS

1. The White Hat

Present yourself with the facts first. No the task, and what has to be done. Do no more, and no less. That way you will be able to give it a 100%

2. The Blue Hat

Prioritize! Manage! Set up a timetable so that you won’t get caught up in a whirlwind of homework, being done at the last minute. This will hamper your ability to do a good job!

3. The Black Hat

Look at your work with a critical eye. Remember positive criticism helps in flourishing creativity.

4. The Green Hat

Now that you have the time and the facts, be inspirational, be dynamic. Your teacher will probably like a creative student better then a run-of-the-mill one!


5. The Red Hat

When you are doing a task,do it well. Use all your abilities!

6. The Yellow Hat

Be the optimist, for Creative People are rarely otherwise!

STEP THREE: THE TAPE MEASURE

EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Categorize the information you receive, and place is as important and unimportant. It is essential to know what you want, and what importance it holds to you. If something is truly precious, do not lose sight of the goal and discard it. Remember Creativity is based on prior knowledge. Get the best of the best of that knowledge.


PHYSICAL DEVELOPEMENT

Paradigm shift!

Change your perspective of the world. Be instinctual, yet structured. Always be ready for action. Opportunity’s knock once – take them or loose precious creative neurons!

MENTAL DEVELOPMENT

Unless you are willing to understand and comprehend your prior knowledge, you will not be creative. School gives you the facts- take just that. Filter out the rest, and shape the facts in your own ways.


CHANGE; FOR THE BETTER

The above guide is for those individuals who want to survive in the current school system, and yet retain their creativity. To a certain extend, which has been exhausted in this guide, this is plausible however after that, the above statement is a true oxymoron. It is impractical to assume that the system in which we currently live will not hamper creativity.

To fully end the genocide of creative individuals one must change the school system. Base students on abilities, not ages. Base learning on field work, not textbooks. Imagination – not facts.

Believing in a better school system may sound idiotic and impractical and impossible but hey, it takes a bunch of idiots to change the world!

That being said

CREATIVITY IN SCHOOL FOR DUMMIES

Comes to an end! We hope it helped!


CREATIVITY IN LIFE FOR IDIOTS

In our lives, we are often too busy to consider stepping outside our limitations and boundaries, and being creative. Self- discovery always comes after our jobs, the massive amount of homework we have, and/or preparation for the Mathematics test the next day. The only way we can manage our already filled-to-the-top schedule is by avoiding all the unnecessary tasks in life: like eating, drinking or sleeping. That being said, there is no time in our lives to actually consider being creative let alone actually trying to be creative. The most disturbing part of this matter is that we fail to realize that if we denote a little time out of our schedules towards developing creativity; the other tasks we have to perform will seem easier and less threatening! So basically by giving you this guide we are giving you time to eat, drink and sleep -hence saving your life! Thank us later. Right now, sit back, relax and read

“CREATIVITY IN LIFE FOR IDIOTS”


STEP ONE: THE TAPE MEASURE The Blooms’ Taxonomy Thinking Technique is the greatest way to foster creativity in life. This Technique helps us shape our creativity in every aspect of our lives. Some Ways To Implement This Are: 1) Use your senses: In life, we need to constantly put our wits and senses to rigorous training or else they become rusty and are not befitting to a creative individual.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT: Our eyes have been glazed over by years and years of being taught what to see and how to see them. It is now time to rub them clean, and start over. A. Paradigm Shift! Be the optimist. All creative people believe that Fate has given them destiny in their own hands. It is their reaction and response to a situation that sets them apart from the rest of the world. Rene Descartes once said “I think, therefore I am” That should be the motto of every individual who aims to be creative. ü Anger Management is necessary for all creative individuals. Giving in to your inner anger is degrading of a creative person, for creative people always think before they react. Not only does this develop thinking skills, but also self discipline.


APPLICATION Red Light: Don’t hit back. Stop Yellow Light: Consider. Weigh the advantages and disadvantages. Weigh how much time you would lose in a scuffle. Green Light: Walk away. The person wasn’t worth it. B. Action! If you lose the moment at hand, you may end up losing possibly life-changing opportunities. Creative People are organized but they too can make good spur-of-the-moment decisions. ü Confidence and Self Surety is a must for all creative Individuals. You must never be pressurized by the society’s norms if you wish to be creative. APPLICATION Red Light: Don’t shy away. Don’t say No at once Yellow Light: Tell yourself that you can handle it. Weigh the advantages and disadvantages. Give yourself a mental pep talk. Green Light: Open the door, for opportunity knocks only once. C. Practice Makes Perfect Creative People never give up. They stick to a task, till they can do it well. ü Each and every skill needs to be honed and developed properly.


APPLICATION Red Light: Don’t throw it all away in frustration. Yellow Light: Think! How much do you need this skill? What can you do to improve in it? How can you make developing this skill easier. Green Light: Resolve to stick with the task till the very end.

EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Over the years we receive and receive information. However, it is up to us to decide where we place it all. A creative individual knows what boxes of his/her mind he/she has too fill, and avoids unnecessary garbage that may litter his brain. A. Responding, Valuing and Categorizing: Selecting the right boxes is hard, but it is something that a creative individual must be apt at. Filling up the boxes and categorizing them makes them easy to extract and use. ü Sorting away information is a must. APPLICATION Red Light: Stop! Look around. Yellow Light: Think! Do you need this environment in this head? Is it useful to you or is it polluting your mind? Green Light: Act on your decision. If your environment is good for you, embrace it. If it is negative, leave. At once.


MENTAL DEVELOPMENT Mind development is crucial for a creative individual, and honing of mental skills is an aspect of Blooms Taxonomy. A. Conclusion After careful consideration, and evaluation a creative individual must possess the ability to come up with an original, out-of-the-box solution that is both feasible and possible. ü Be sure of your analysis. There is no need to get flustered at this point of time. RED LIGHT: Stop all the negative thoughts. YELLOW LIGHT: Self-assurance. Tell yourself over and over again that you have done everything in your power to get the best possible outcomes. GREEN LIGHT: Do your best! STEP TWO: THE SIX COLORED SCREWS: Edward De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats Provide a quick and effective way to multiply your creative neurons. Ways To Implement This Are: 1) Reaction Guide: This step teaches us how to react to different situations and which reaction would be better for us 2) Management: Team work, co-operation and management, this is what this step aims to develop in life.


WEAR THE: · WHITE HAT Look for the facts in life. Have complete information regarding a subject, before you start a project or discussion on it. · BLUE HAT: Manage this information, with this time and other peoples’ perspective. Being a loner doesn’t work, if you’re going to survive with other people you need to listen to their ideas. · THE GREEN HAT: Never be afraid to pitch in ideas. The green hat is all about inspiration and ideas. Get your thinking gears in motion! · THE YELLOW HAT: Hope sustains the (creative) world. Always have appositive attitude about a project. · THE BLACK HAT You have the optimism, the ideas, the inspiration and the acts. Now you need the professionalism. BE positively critical of your work. · THE RED HAT When you work, work with explosive energy and enthusiasm.


STEP THREE: THE CLAW HAMMER Edward De Bono’s Lateral Thinking Technique is a perfect way for most of us to step outside our limitations and go towards a future that is outside-the-box. Ways To Implement This Are: 1) Constant Change: Most of us are prone to falling into a dull, comfortable and habitual routine. We go about our lives like robots: doing the laundry, doing the dishes, writing an essay for school or typing away mindlessly on a computer in our offices. We need to eradicate old nails, and put in newer shinier ones.

Identification: Know your blocks. For some us those may be complacency, or fear of failure, impatience and/or The society in general

Unblock those blocks.

For a full detailed analysis of this step, visit (--insert link to Creative Blocks--)

A New Approach Create a new outlook on life. Be original and fearless. Do not let anyone’s viewpoints hamper your creativity.

With this advice, Creativity in Life for Idiots comes to an end. You know have breathing space, and time to sleep and eat. Ok, now you can thank us!


WORKPLACE CREATIVITY

Guess what your company needs most at this very minute? Money? That green thing that, in your opinion, makes the very wheels of your organization turn? The thing that, we have been told can solve almost all of our problems? The thing, that you and your company work day and night to earn? Well guess what That’s not what your company needs most. Workers, then? That has to be the obvious answer. In mean, your boss is always howling that his team doesn’t throw their weight around. And you’ve always thought that if you had more people things would be easier to get done. But wait… that would mean more people to pay, and that means less money for you. Definitely not a happy equation. Well, you can relax – because that’s not what your company needs most either. Well then it definitely has to be has to be enthusiasm, right? I mean that’s what comes after money and man power. You and your colleagues need to step outside your dull comfortable routine, and give your company all you’ve got. Ouch! It hurts, just thinking about how much work that’s going to be. Don’t worry. That’s not what your company needs most either. You can stop guessing. I’ll tell you what your company needs. But you’ll never believe me. Okay, ready for this? What your company needs the most, at this very minute is creativity. Okay, you can stop laughing your head off now. You don’t believe me. I get it, why should you anyway? I’m practically “a nobody” and I don’t use big words either, Fine, don’t listen to me. Listen to IBM, which says: "More than rigor, management discipline, integrity or even vision - successfully navigating an increasing complex world will require creativity."


Convinced yet? I thought so. No here’s the second problem: How do you develop creativity in a workplace? The answer to that one is simple: through this guide book of course! Workplace Creativity for Dummies is a simple easy to use guide to developing or rather, harnessing creativity in workplaces. You don’t require a PhD. in English to understand it and the steps aren't rocket science. All you need to do is open your ideas, open your mind and block out the rest of the world. So lets’ start.

GUIDE BOOK RULE NUMBER 1: CONQUERING THE BOX TOOL NUMBER 1: THE CLAW HAMMER Many good ideas are wasted because we, as individuals, and company-wise, like to stay within our comfort zones. You need to Conquer Your Boxes in two major steps. (A) THE INDIVIDUAL WAR: We are so accustomed to the blocks around us, that we don’t even think about “thinking outside the box” and this is why this simple piece of advice is not enough – you need steps which you can follow to break out of your comfort zone. STEP 1: INDENTIFY YOUR COMFORT ZONE Before you can break out of your boxes, you need to be able to name the blocks that make it. Are you scared of failing, or your boss? Do you think your peers or colleagues will laugh at you if you present an idea? If you still need help identify your barriers, click here.

https://sites.google.com/a/generations.gs/tqcreate/Home/create-blocks


STEP 2: IDENTIFY HOW THIS AFFECTS YOU We all have different ways to reacting to a barrier. Some of us may turn into introverts, while others turn bitter knowing that their idea was better than the one accepted. Some of us may stop the flow of ideas all together. Know how the barrier affects you, this will help you overcome it. STEP 3: TAKE BABY STEPS · Seek To Understand. Before you keep yourself from making a potential decision – stop! And question. Why are you not doing this? Is it not in your interest or are you simply afraid to try? Understand your reasons – you may find them absurd. · Imagine Once you are sure you know your block and you are still afraid to venture outside it, try imagining. When you are uncertain – it helps to imagine what you will feel like after you have accomplished something. Imagine how miserable you will be if you don’t try, and later realize that it could have changed your life. · Be Inspired In a world where we continuously hear stories of how people could have done something, but didn’t because they were too scared to try- it’s important to have some great mentors. Follow people who are aiming to be someone or people who have done great things and refer your life to theirs. You’ll see that it takes a lot to be creative – but it’s definitely worth it. · Scorn the block. Whatever your block is – don’t turn it into a wall. Keep telling yourself how small and insignificant it is. People have had to do way greater things than what you’re faced with. Never think that a mountain has come crashing upon you. Self-pity is a major no-no for creative individuals. · Be Slow.


Sometimes it takes a minute to make a split second decision and break outside the box. Often it’s more tedious. When you feel that you can't spontaneously combust your block – take a deep breath. Do little things outside of the norm and then move on to a bigger game. · Deadline! This is the real world. An in the real world we have submission dates. DO NOT leave stuff for the last minute. It will hamper your ability to do a good job. · Accept the apologies. You’re changing your life. There will be time when you make mistakes. Forgive yourself when you do. Look to the future. (B) THE COMPANY WAR: Individual development is not nearly as hard as the creative devolvement of an organization. Here the risk factor is much high. Instead of just your pride, you now have your job, your company and capital to worry about. The following will help you increase creative development in a company. STEP 1: CHANGE THE ENVIRONMENT Your workers have probably fallen into a dull and comfortable routine; Shake them out of their reprieve. Try working outside for a change. Or in a bright green wallpapered room. Who says your walls have to be grey. Be original and you’ll become creative. STEP 2: KNOW YOUR GOALS Know what you have to achieve and when you have to achieve it. Setting pre-defined goals will help your team focus and channel their creativity. STEP 3: KNOW THY AUDIENCE Before looking for ideas, know how you will be presenting them, and who will benefit from them. Keep the benefit factor in mind. STEP 4: BE UNCONDITIONED


DO NOT think of an idea as too outrageous or overwhelming. Maybe its fierce factor is what will make it appealing to your audience. Be ready to take risks. You will probably fail before you fare. GUIDE BOOK RULE NUMBER 2: HOLISTIC DEVOLPEMENT TOOL NUMBER 2: THE TAPE MEASURE: For your company to fare better, each and every individual needs to focus on the holistic development of his or her own skills, and this can be done best with the help of the “ Bloom’s Taxonomy” – a theory that helps and individual measure and control creativity. Bloom’s Taxonomy leads to the development of creativity by improving three major domains of an individual’s life. It would include: (a) Emotional Development: Emotional Development would comprise of developing the input and output of information. It would mean how you choose to respond to the knowledge that you gain, whether consciously or subconsciously, while living in this world. A creative individual must group, value and organize the information he/she receives, and sort it by level of importance in his/her brain. This trait, if found in an individual can do wonders for a project, as there is a lesser chance of getting side tracked. (b) Physical Development: Physical Development consists of the action-phase of the project. It depends purely on your willingness to take action, and deals with how your respond to the information you have synchronized in the first step. A creative individual uses this phase of development wisely for he/she knows that they must not let negative inertia stop them from taking action, and what physical action is required when. They know that practice makes perfect, and that they must follow all the steps of the Bloom’s Taxonomy and try things multiple times to get them right. An individual with this perspective contributes greatly to the project, for he is enthusiastic, organized and hard-working.


(c) Mental Development: This stage deals with the application and comprehension of the information presented to an individual throughout his life. It’s steps are ones that, although are used for individual holistic development can also be used to facilitate group-work. They include the synthesis of an idea, as well as the selection of the best one. An individual is only creative if he/she can select an idea to meet the needs of a project. An idea may seem exceptional, but a creative individual must be prepared to part with it if it does not meet the needs of the issue at hand. GUIDE BOOK RULE NUMBER 3: SYNERGY TOOL NUMBER 3: SIX COLORED SCREWS Like it or not, a major part of developing creativity in workplaces is knowing how to work with different people all having different ideas. Luckily de Bono’s Thinking Hats help us out with that. STEP 1: THE BLUE HAT Put on the blue hat. It will ensure that everyone is comfortable with each other. Just keep pitching ideas, and noting them down. Some may seem insanely absurd – but those might be the ones which will get you on top. Remember thinking time – no criticism. At all! STEP 2: THE WHITE HAT Extract the facts from the fiction. Ask yourself what you need from this project, then see how each idea caters to this need. Are you getting the facts out of each idea. If not, then add on. Do not short-list at this point. Just go with the flow. STEP 3: THE BLACK HAT Criticize each idea. Extract the crucial information. See what’s wrong and why. Be very careful about your tone though – no idea is bad. Ideas rejected just don’t meet the needs of the project. DO NOT be scornful. Let everyone be at ease. STEP 4: THE GREEN HAT After ideas have been approved, start creating! Let the originality flow- but restrict yourself to the boundaries.


STEP 5: THE YELLOW HAT Sometimes ideas seem impossible. Be the voice of inspiration. Allow yourself leverages. Tell yourself even IMPOSSIBLE spells out I M POSSIBLE. STEP 6: THE BLACK HAT AGAIN Moderate your leverages. Yes, everything can be done – but how much should be done. Concentrate on what is easy to do. STEP 7: THE GREEN HAT AGAIN The Black hat has served its purpose in curtailing the overwhelming idea. With what’s left –do not be afraid to take risks. STEP 8: THE RED HAT Start working with enthusiasm. That’s all for the guide book to creative development, Hope it helps. Good luck!


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