What is Creative Thinking and Why is it Important?

Have you ever wondered why some people come up with amazing and unique ideas while others struggle to think about a single original idea? This incredible ability to think out of the box is a skill which is highly in-demand these days- creative thinking. Today's highly competitive world is not only about hard skills, but it is also about excelling in soft skills, especially creative thinking.

It is a common perception that creative thinking is associated with artisans, painters, designers, writers, or marketers. But, the truth is that today creative thinking is an essential part of all professions. And, you are at the right place to learn all you need to know about creative thinking.

What is Creative Thinking?

Creative thinking is our ability to think in a new and different way about something you came to know. It's about providing distinct and efficient approaches and angles to an existing situation. Resolving a conflict between colleagues or employees, coming up with more acceptable strategies for tasks, all these involve creative thinking.

Stages of Creative Thinking

Creative Thinking Stages

Preparation

Creative thinking begins with researching on the topic in discussion. Knowledge of that subject is of prime importance in thinking about a newer way of dealing with it.

Incubation

If you are finding it difficult to think about an idea despite all your efforts, then give yourself some relaxation period so that your brain can process it subconsciously.

Illumination

Illumination is the stage in which the idea suddenly comes to your mind. You can call it 'eureka' moment. It usually occurs when you are not thinking about the problem and are doing something other than thinking about the issue in hand.

Verification

After you come up with a creative idea, you need to know if the idea will work or not. Here, you will try to evaluate the creative idea via tests so that you are sure about its working. If the solution seems unfit, you may need to go back to stage one. But if the idea is good-to-go, then you can apply it with some modification, if required.

Importance of Creative thinking

Today employers across the world need employees who can think out of the box while working and thus can give excellent results at the workplace. Successful leaders are those who can work under pressure, who can sustain in all challenging situations, who can come up with solutions to problems without being frustrated.

Thus all professionals need creative thinking as an indispensable part of their life. Let's dive into the importance of creative thinking one by one.

1. Boosts your confidence: Always having ideas and being able to solve problems gives you immense confidence.

2. Gives you freedom: A child has supreme creativity and is away from being afraid of failures or judgements, similarly when we have creative minds, we become free from fear of "what will people say".

3. Makes you more suitable for a position of responsibility: A person who has a creative mind can be a better candidate for a role as compared to others.

4. Increases your 'self-awareness': When you know your ideas and their influence on situations, you become more self-aware and honest to yourself.

Can you Improve Creative Thinking?

In the end, creative thinking is a skill, not a natural talent or inherited quality, and everyone can work upon this skill to improve it.

So, now the question that remains is how to improve it? Creativity takes time to improve but, once developed, it can change your life to a great extent. Patience and continuous efforts can help you in accomplishing in excelling problem-solving and creative thinking skills.

We can increase creative thinking by using the following methods.

• Be open to change: Creative people feel free to explore new things. They never restrict themselves. For example, if you prefer watching TV shows for entertainment, then try reading books or playing outdoors or try going for a walk in a park. Restricting yourself to a single way also restrains your brain.

• Quit Judgement: Being a judgemental person comes with its demerits. Always judging people, things makes you a close-minded and less creative person.

• Meet new people: Socializing with others increases your social circle and helps you in expanding your ways of thinking. The people you meet will have different opinions and perspectives, and this would help you in knowing different angles to a single topic.

• Try something new: Keep trying things that you find worth trying. Even if you think that you are not good enough for it, always give a shot to it. For example, if you were thinking of writing poems or stories but were afraid that you are not good at writing, this is the time to start writing.

• Be a risk-taker: Risk takers are more prone to change and thus are more creative. If you're processing new, somewhat scary experiences regularly, you will have to do some creative thinking to find unique solutions to new problems.

• Have a healthy diet: How is a healthy diet related to creative thinking? Well, it is. A healthy diet keeps your body nourished and thus makes your brain function in a better way.

Key takeaways

- Creative thinking is thinking about a new way to a problem or topic at hand.

- Creative thinking involves researching, letting the information settle in the brain, coming up with an idea and verifying it.

- Creative thinking is an essential skill for modern workplaces.

- Creative thinking can be improved.