week twelve

• 3 principles of creativity (I) - new ideas


  • about coming up with new ideas
  • theory, product, solution, art etc
• Extraordinary creativity 


  • must deviate from ordinary & traditional
  • lots of people avoiding challenging status quo
• Implications of principle one

  • limited domain of knowledge = fewer resources
  • intellectual curiosity + wide knowledge = enhance creativity
  • can be useful to consult others with different expertise
• Principle 2 - cognitive + artistic


  • Artistic - art, ideas, emotions
  • Cognitive - solution to theoretical problem
• Principle 3 - connections 


  • enhanced by ability to detect connections between ideas
  • need wide knowledge
• Creativity cycle 


  1. Preparation
  2. Exploration
  3. Incubation
  4. Verification
• 1 - Preparation (creativity cycle)


  • gather info on topic, study history of problem, think about sources, learn about existing ideas
  • do case studies, talk to people, be willing to explore
• 2 - Exploration (creativity cycle)

  • analyse and digest material, rank info's importance, look at different perspectives, look for gaps
• 3 - Incubation (creativity cycle)


  • can be good to step back and forget about it
• 4 - Verification (creativity cycle) 


  • check if new ideas work, see if they can be improved, understand why they don't work, be prepared to fail
• The 'SCAMPER' mnemonic


  • S - substitute something
  • C - combine with something else
  • A - adapt something to it
  • M - modify or magnify it
  • P -put it to some other use
  • E - eliminate something
  • R - reverse/rearrange
• Techniques for thinking creatively 


  • feature lists
  • analogies
  • brute-force searches
  • shifting perspective
  • changing focus
  • brainstorming
• Feature list 


  • list main features
  • see how they can be changed
  • see clearly
• Analogy


  • comparing X with Y, looks at whether special features of Y might have analogues in X
  • compare similar problems
• Brute force search 


  • search through long list of possible solutions
  • divide into sections
• Perspective shift


  • different attitudes needed
  • can appreciate difficulties / opportunities
• Reforming the problem 


  • different ways of formulating the problem
  • stops fixating on one aspect
• Changing focus 


  • think about different parts
  • shift emphasis of question
• Brainstorming 


  • generate new ideas, can be done in group
  • have leader (impartial), bring outsiders, split into groups