CHALLENGE 2 | DAY 19 | All about creativity

22 january '14

Why it's important to not know

Perspective on lateral thinking
Deliberate generation of different/alternative ways to look at things and/or situations
The challenge of assumptions. Ask 'why'.

The purpose of thinking
Thinking is about being effective, not about being right. Being right is about being right all the time. Being effective is about being right at the end.
Lateral thinking brings up ideas which may seem wrong in the proces, but are necessary for the upcoming restructuring and  'being right' in the end.

A small story about proces of change not the proces of proof.
'Education is soundly based on the need to be right all the time. Throughout education one is taught the correct facts, the correct deductions to be made from them and the correct way of making these deductions. One learns to be correct by being made very sensitive to what is incorrect. One learns to apply judgement at every stage and to follow up this judgement with the ‘no’ label. One learns how to say, ‘no’, ‘this is not so’, ‘this cannot be so’, ‘this does not lead to that’, ‘you are wrong here’, ‘this would never work’, ‘there is no reason for that’ and so on. This sort of thing is the very essence of vertical thinking and accounts for its great usefulness. The danger lies in the arrogance of the attitude that assumes that vertical thinking is sufficient. It is not. Exclusive emphasis on the need to be right all the time completely shuts out creativity and progress.'

Edward de Bono, Lateral thinking | creativity step by step

The importance of being right all the time creates a situation where one is afraid of failing and/or making mistakes.

I promote failing! Fail as often as you can! When you fail, you learn.
Doubt it. Doubt, if you gonna make it or if you going to fail it. Enjoy it, be curious. This is what we call a learning process. If you know you will pass a test. If you know you will make it to the other side. If you know, what will you learn?

CHALLENGE 2 | DAY 13 | All about creativity

15 january '14

Lateral thinking vs. vertical thinking

Today I started reading the book of Edward de Bono. The book is called 'Lateral thinking, step by step creativity explained'.
Learning for me is also reading books about the subject. And to make it more powerful for me I make notes during the reading sessions.

A few notes of today:

- One can only admire a result but one can learn to use a process

- Liberation from old ideas and the stimulation of new ones are twin aspects of lateral thinking

- Lateral thinking is digging holes on different locations, while vertical thinking is digging the same hole deeper.

- You can't dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper

- Lateral thinking is a very basic part of thinking in general

Lateral thinking is 
--> restructuring old patterns and provoking new ones
--> the use of information for the effect
--> deliberately seeking irrelevant information
--> generative

Vertical thinking is
--> selecting only what's relevant
--> selective
--> making a conclusion after a pre determined series of steps
--> developing ideas which are generated by lateral thinking
--> proving and developing concept patterns
--> digging the same hole deeper

CHALLENGE 2 | DAY 5 | All about creativity

6 januari '14

All about mind tools!

The concept fan
Steesd een stap terug zetten en je blikveld verbreden. Daar komt het simpelweg op neer. Je hebt een groot probleem. Uit welke onderdelen bestaat dit probleem?
Elke onderdeel kan weer uit verschillende onderdelen bestaan. Zo ga je door en kun je uiteindelijk tot hapklare brokken komen om aan te pakken!

De zes denkhoeden

Witte hoed	kale feiten en cijfers	Je gaat uit van objectieve informatie.
Rode hoed	gevoel en intuïtie	Je reageert emotioneel (zonder een reden te hoeven geven).
Zwarte hoed	negatief / pessimistisch	Je bent advocaat van de duivel.
Gele hoed	positief / optimistisch	Je bekijkt het van de zonnige kant en zoekt naar de voordelen.
Groene hoed	creatief	Je mag freewheelen in je manier van denken (vrij associëren, alternatieven bedenken).
Blauwe hoed	beschouwend, controlerend	Je houdt het proces in de gaten.

De zes denkhoeden van E. de Bono.

Bekijk en bespreek problemen letterlijk of figuurlijk, met een gekleurde hoed op. Deze methode creëert een gedwongen verandering van perspectief. Elke hoed geeft een voorzet in denkrichting.

Bronnen:
+www.mindtools.com
+www.toolkitforthinking.com