Teaching Creative Thinking
Summary #
There is a common misconception that creativity and innovation are either the result of personal disposition or the result of divine inspiration. In fact, many aspects of creativity can be taught and one can improve their creative output over time—like any other skill.
Yeah, they're just not that into you.
(Photo: Wikimedia)
Commentary #
One of the fascinating things about humans is their ability to learn and adapt. Creative thinking is not exceptional—like any other skill it can be improved with (lots of) practice. Children are naturally creative because they make many loose associations which foster the type of non-linear thinking required for creativity. Unfortunately, during those years when they should be fostering that ability, most schooling systems focus on obedience
See Also #
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General Thinking Skills Course at Effective Thinking by Edward de Bono for an example of a course on lateral thinking.
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Quality v. Quantity and Intrinsic & Extrinsic Motivation for our discussions about improving creative output.