What do you think about the two “Mistakes we should avoid?”

1. What do you think about the two “Mistakes we should avoid?”

The author briefly explains two common pitfalls to avoid in an attempt to attain successful creativity. The first mistake is thinking that you only need to be creative on occasion. This implies taking the initiative to be creative once in a while when the known skills and habits fail. The challenge is in tarrying until the last moment and then having hope to abruptly become creative, just long enough to provide a solution to the problem. The second mistake has hope that there is one great idea out there. Occasionally, most people think that the answer to a question will likely be a thought that dawns on them in that time of clarity. Surprisingly, creativity studies show that the likelihood of creativity arriving as a single great idea is minimal. Notably, solutions of the invention are brought to manifest by small, numerous sparks of creativity.

2. Go through the Personal Creativity Assessment. Which areas are your strongest and weakest?

Strongest  Areas

• I would call myself an expert in my area.
• I’ve learned just about everything there is to know about my creative challenge.
• People come to me for advice about my field.
• I can tell you exactly where to get the answer to your question.
• I stay on top of new developments in my area.
• I subscribe to magazines and journals that keep me up-to-date.
• I keep handy the most important reference books in my field.
• When something new and different happens in my field, it’s immediately apparent why it’s different.
• I always have sketches and notes posted on the wall, where I can see them and think about them some more.
• Sometimes, to help me think, I draw ideas or words in bubbles with arrows between them.
• I’m a tinkerer. I have a work area where I keep lots of tools and materials, and I’m always experimenting.

Weakest Areas

• I frequently notice strange connections between things: people, events, TV shows.
• I’m usually working on more than one project, and I switch between my tasks pretty often.
• I like to talk to people very different from me.
• I’m always dabbling in new hobbies.
• This past year, I attended a new group meeting or public event for the first time.
• I’m usually juggling a lot of different projects and interests.
• Sometimes people laugh at my ideas because they seem crazy.

3. Have you considered the importance of asking the right question

Asking the right question helps uncover the present problems that one is facing and gives leverage in generating quality solutions to solve those challenges. This art keeps one in a continuous learning mode rather than judgment mode. Right questions ushers in increase and growth in capacity and potential. Often the right questions create a sparking “aha” moment, giving a directive to growth and individual innovation.

4. Which technique shared in the chapter did you find most helpful?

Find the Question

This technique entails generating different formulations of the problem. This technique also calls for listing all the flaws one can think of. These flaws, by nature, they do not have to make sense necessarily. Lastly, one is required to reinterpret the question.

Chapter 2

1.What are your thoughts concerning the statement “the real secret to exceptional creativity is deliberate practice.”

Mastering creative thinking calls for deliberate practice that involves several techniques formulated and designed to educate effectively and purposefully. These details are setting goals, having complex tasks broken down into small pieces, developing highly advanced and sophisticated depictions/ representations of likely outcomes, taking the initiative from zones of comfort, and receiving continuous responses.

How did you interpret the differences between practice and deliberate practice?

The regular practice involves mindless repetitions, whereas deliberate practice demands undivided focus and is carried out with a single clear goal of upgrading performance quality. This kind is purposeful and systematic.

How encouraging is to know that anyone can be exceptionally creative if they A: work hard and B: work deliberately. Is this notion exciting or overwhelming?

This notion is exciting since exceptional creativity only comes after considerable effort and time has been put into practice to generate ideas within a short time.

2.Do, you feel that you are learning with a deeper understanding? Does your education in the UK support this? What about problem-based learning?

I can attest that I am learning with a deeper understanding as a result of having the possibility to put pieces of information together and use the knowledge gained to solve problems and create new ideas. The UK’s education supports a more in-depth understanding by allowing students to use their expertise in new and much-sophisticated ways. It also enables the student to grasp the idea of relativity and significance. Problem-based learning refers to a manner of teaching in which compound/complex natural challenges act as the vehicle that fuels student learning of principles and fundamentals instead of the demonstration of facts and principles directly. Education in the UK utilizes problem-based learning by helping students access content or conceptual knowledge.

Chapter 3

1. What did you make of the explanation of how we see? That seeing is as much about the brain as it is as the eyes. That only 20% of our perceptions are based on the information coming in from the outside world.

The brain is responsible for translating every information it receives from the eye into an understandable object. Scientifically, the minds receive only three images per second. These images are sorted and go through combining them with previously acquired information to create a reality that is experienced. Therefore, our perception is optimally based on selective information that the brain records from the outside world. This supports the statement that our creativity is shaped not by what we look at but what we see.

2.Do, you believe that how we look at the world determines how creative we can be? If so, what stage are you in understanding how your mind and vision influence each other, realizing how the brain has shaped your previous perceptions and guided (or limited) your thinking? Are you ready/willing to begin seeing the world afresh?

I believe that how we look at them, the world affects our levels of creativity. An elevated individual’s ability to perceive the world translates to a higher creative power. Our perception ushers us in being observant and developing our knowledge. My current stage of understanding is in going deeper in imagination and robust in running innovation. It suffices to say that the mind and vision influence each other’s point of view.

Personally am willing to take the journey of seeing the world afresh by examining the cues that trigger my perception. I propose to scrutinize the creative process more efficiently and effectively by considering the dynamics of change in my thinking.

3.Which practice in this looking chapter do you find most Impressive? Why?

Use Fresh Eyes

This practice emphasizes looking at the world in a manner embraced by the majority of creators. It provides a hind-sight in observing the exact movement of the creative journey. This enables one to find solutions to every ear-marked indices of failure. The generated brand-new ideas fuels one forward, right over your writer’s block. The practice stands out by giving one recognition on occasions when the stipulated ways are part of the problem. This is so crucial for it opens one’s eyes wider and provides a broader scope beyond the known patterns.

Chapter 4

1.What activities do you use that allows the subconscious mind to roam and make connections?

Imagining possible futures is one of the activities that allows the subconscious mind to roam and make connections. These techniques teach me how to imagine freely. A fantastic explanation is another activity that empties the mind and clears away any practical worries or to-do checklists. Lastly, visualizing my space is an activity that also allows the subconscious mind; this is possible by closing the eyes, imaging the area around me, and making it better.

2. What other pieces of advice/insight do you find helpful?

The third practice of finding the right box outlined by the author contains priceless information. The practice explains that constraints enhance creativity. It demands being specific in the constraints, drawing the right box: this involves solving similar, smaller problems to solve larger problems. It advocates coming up with a particular area of expertise that does not take long to master. Lastly, its insightful to plan something fun.

Chapter 5

Do you agree with the author in Quantity of ideas leads to Quality of ideas?

It is a reality that in creativity, Quantity always leads to Quality. As an illustration: the more ideas one generates, the higher the likelihood of stumbling with a fantastic concept that could potentially solve the problem. Just as it is in a numbers game, one will commence with them that is most logical in the generation of ideas.

1.What steps can you take to ensure you achieve Quantity and Quality?

Ideate

Ideate involves thinking differently by coming up with as many ideas as possible for the most common items available. In these, multiple possibilities are generated.

Transform

In transforming, you substitute, combine, adapt, magnify, or modify. This step list attributes that aids in deconstructing the problem and examining the attributes of each component.

Schedule

Scheduling calls for setting an ideal time as well as setting idea quota. This involves coming up with a given number of ideas each day.

2. What steps might you take to plan idea sessions in your life?

Setting an ideal time: This may include setting some minutes each day to journal out the ideas.

Setting an idea quota: This involves forcing oneself to come up with several ideas each day. This step makes planning idea sessions easy by posing a specific problem on a given day and coming up with solutions for that problem for the rest of the week.

3.When would be most beneficial in your daily life to plan for an ideal time? What this looks like?

For me, this usually takes place at the beginning of the week. Having time to write all the problems I would like to solve and take the initiative of coming with solutions in the week’s course.

Chapter 6

1. What makes this FUSION of ideas so difficult? What is preventing this thinking from being common in our lives?

• Inability to make remote associations. Lack of ability to combine different ideas makes the FUSION difficult.
• Lack of motivation to work on multiple projects at once. This limits the chances of ideas originating from combined projects.
• Failure to focus on purpose and structure.
• Laxity in gaining insight from different perspectives.
• Inability to work at an intersection. This reduces the odds of encountering people to talk about your ideas with.
• Lost opportunities for attending a group or meeting that is not familiar.

2.Do you find yourself practicing any of the Practices highlighted by the author (working on projects in parallel, use of analogy, etc.)?

I find myself practicing the Do a People Mash-Up Practice.

This kind of practice involves talking to someone different, thus gaining leverage in attaining insight from different perspectives. Crashing in meetings is an area captured in this practice; it calls one to observe people’s behaviors and dynamics. This practice allows one to work in the intersection by placing oneself in a location around others, increasing the odds of encountering people to talk to about the ideas.

3. What other practices (not mentioned in the book) would you suggest to develop associative thinking?
   • Seeking and Recognizing Patterns

Developing associative thinking requires having a deeper introspection in both the short and long term memory for any ideas, images, and thoughts that can link to build a pattern.

• Gain Technological Management Skills

There is a dynamic shift in the working landscape. With technology growing alongside us, there is the creation of new problems, conflicts, and opportunities. Having an elevated level of managerial skills in the technological world will allow a smooth transition in the technical field.