CREATIVITY

Most people start thinking about creativity by thinking about imagination.

Imagination: we werent told how to be imaginative at school.

But there are ways we can increase this ability. We maybe need to go back to kinder garden to see
what the problem is.

In kinder they asked you : what is the answer to 5+5? And you all knew it was 10, because there is no
other answer to this problem.
But what if they asked: How many numbers can sum up 10? (?+? =10) the answer would be infinite
numbers.

Is the way you ask the questions that determine the type of answers you get.

If you dont ask the question in a thoughtful way, you wont get any interesting answers.

Amazing discoveries came up from re-framing the questions. For example: What if the earth is
not the centre of the solar system?

Ways to increase imagination

Connect and combine ideas. Put things together that havent been put together before.
Example: the Japanese art of Chindogu: creating un-useless inventions. They are not useful,
they are not useless. They may not be practical, but can unlock vey interesting ideas.
Your job is to connect things you have in a very interesting and surprising ways.
Challenge assumptions: when we give people problems to solve or questions to answer,
they come up with the first right answer.
Instead, you should give problems that are really surprising that there is no one right
answer.
Example: you can ask your co-workers to create something of value from anything inside
the company. Motivate employees to find creative ideas that can improve work processes
and enhance their productivity.

Knowledge is the toolbox for imagination.

You can learn things from reading books and going to school, but another way is by paying attention.

Most of us dont pay attention to the world around us.

This makes us miss opportunities to see problems we can solve, but we also miss the
solutions that might be in front of us.

How to teach imagination in a company?

- Send workers to a place they have seen a lot of times before and get them to look at it
with fresh eyes.
o They will have a deep understanding of their area or the whole company
o They will appreciate how important it is to pay attention.

Imagination and knowledge are not enough.

You need attitude.
Every person needs to have the motivation, attitude, the mindset and drive to solve the problems
they are going to solve.

If you dont have that motivation, you are not going to solve them.
Many people see themselves as puzzle builders. They see themselves as having a very defined
task and their job is to get all the pieces and put them together to reach the goal.

But if you are a puzzle builder and you find missing two pieces, what happens? you dont
reach your goals.

True entrepeneurs see themselves as quilt makers

They take all the resources they have around them and create something that is surprising and really
fascinating.

We have to view ourselves as those who can leverage resources we have around us to make
amazing things happen.

Imagination, knowledge and atitude are not enough.

You also need the right habitat:

- the people you work with
- rules
- rewards
- incentives
- physical space *** its the most important thing.
You need to create stimulative environment, one that is colourful, flexible.

We grew up in that kind of places (kindergarden) but we ended up studying and working in neutral,
boring places , all lined up un lines and columns.

Modern offices were designed to be like prisions. And yet we get frustrated because the people
working there are not creative.

Spaces tell us what role we play, how we should act.

You need to create stimulative working places in your company, place that tell the people
innovation, creativity and playfulness are valued here.

The habitats we build, directly affect our imagination, the way we think and the way we act.

Imagination, knowledge, attitude and habitat are not enough.

You also need to take into account the resources.

Money is not the only resource. We have natural resources, process resources, and human
resources.

Imagination, knowledge, attitude and habitat are not enough.

Culture is also very important.

Its like the background music of every organization
Is a collective attitude of the community, it affects how we think

CREATIVITY CAN START ANYWHERE.

1. Build habitats to stimulate imagination
1. Start by building your base of knowledge
 2. Start with a passion and the attitude that you are going to solve a problem.

ANYONE, EVERYWHERE, ANYTIME, HAS THE KEY TO HIS OR HER CREATIVE ENGINE. ITS UP
TO YOU TO TURN IT ON.