Develop Creativity Using this Technique
Would you like to develop creativity in your approach to life's
challenges? You can start by habitually using a technique or
two designed to get your thinking out of the box. The following
is one such technique that you can learn and put to use today.
Habitually Change Your Perspective to Develop Creativity
Perhaps you've heard the expression, "there is more than
one side to every story," but how often do you actually
look for the other side? We tend to stick with the perspective
that we already have when approaching life's problems. If you
want to develop your creative problem solving abilities, changing
this habit is a good place to start.
For the sake of an example, we'll suppose you work for an
animal shelter and your goal is to place more dogs and cats with
good families. One common perspective might be to think about
how to "sell" people on the idea of adopting the animals,
or appeal to their sympathy. Instead, try to think about it from
the animal's perspective, and imagine what the animal would be
looking for in a human owner.
My mind quickly imagines an advertising campaign with "Human
Wanted" ads. "Small collie looking for a human caretaker
with a yard and time to play with me. Offers love and affection
in exchange." "Persian cat looking for a man or woman
with a house or large apartment. I prefer to stay indoors and
need at least one window that allows me to take my nap in the
sun. I purr when petted."
How can you change your perspective, adopting new ones for
creative solutions to problems? That's something more easily
demonstrated than explained in theory. It can involve looking
at a problem or issue from some other place (literally or metaphorically),
with other eyes, from a different point in time, or with a wider
or narrower view of the situation. It isn't necessarily about
satisfying the goal from the other perspective, but about
suggesting new ideas to work with.
Another Example
What if an investor was looking at houses in a neighborhood,
and he wasn't sure if he wanted to be a landlord or just buy
a house to fix and sell. He starts with the usual perspective
of "How do I make money with this?" But remembering
that he's trying to develop creativity in his approach, he considers
other perspectives on the issue.
He asks, "What would renters like me to do?" Some
would like to buy instead of renting he realizes, which suggests
that there might be good profits to be made buying and then selling
on easy terms to those renters who want to be owners.
Next he asks, "what would the neighbors want me to do?
That reminds him of a comment one local made about the trashy
houses bringing down property values in the neighborhood. Our
investor has a new idea: buy the three worst houses on the street,
make them look good, and the value of each of them would likely
be raised by more than if he just fixed up one, because he improved
the appearance of the whole area. In fact, the example he sets
might even encourage others to clean up their homes and yards.
These two perspectives still relate back to his primary one
of making money, but this won't always be the case. If he imagined
looking back on his investing activity from thirty years in the
future, he could realize that he doesn't want to be involved
in real estate at all. Such a perspective could lead to ideas
for a life that is more fulfilling. He may take an imagined perspective
from high above, looking down on the area, and this might encourage
him to build homes that don't impact the environment too heavily.
One of the most famous examples of using an imaginative and
even "crazy" perspective is that of Einstein visualizing
himself riding a beam of light. It helped him create his theory
of relativity, and it's a great demonstration of how to develop
creativity by consciously choosing to look at things from other
perspectives.
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