Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius

Try taking on a different role to get a different perspective. First, write your problem statement from your point of view. Then write your statement in two of the fol owing ways:
How would a leader in your field write it?
How would a col ege professor write it?
How would a precocious child

multiplicity of perspectives opens awareness and creativity. In

creative solutions proposed.
Look at your problem using multiple perspectives.
1. First, write the problem from your point of view.
2. Next, write the statement from the perspectives of at least two other people who are close to or involved in the problem.
3. Synthesize the different perspectives into one al -inclusive problem statement.

Leonardo believed that until one perceived something from a minimum of three different perspectives, one did not yet have a basis for understanding it. A true and complete knowledge comes

Open your eyes and now examine the business situation from the viewpoint of the opposite sex. Ask yourself, “How would I view the situation if I were of the opposite sex?” Write down everything that comes to mind

statement.
A positive action statement has four parts:
1. The Action: The thing you want to do.
2. The Object: A thing or person you want to change.
3. The Qualifeer: The kind of action change you want.
4. The End Result: The result you expect to fol ow.
Example: In what ways might I package (action) my book (object) more attractively (qualifier) so people wil buy more (end result)?
Next, rate the action statement on a scale of one to ten. This serves as a benchmark to assess the probability of achieving workable solutions.

the problem?
Word Chain
In an atomic pile, a chain reaction comes about when a particle splits off from one atom nucleus and then col ides with another atom nucleus and dislodges a second particle, which in turn, col ides with another nucleus. If the mass of material is large enough, the chain reaction becomes an explosion. So it is with words. One new word can set off a reaction when it col ides with another, and a sort of creative chain reaction fol ows.
1. Ask yourself what the theme of your problem is right now. What one word describes the current problem or situation you’re dealing with?
2. Write down the key word at the top of a page of paper.
3. Then make a list of words that pop into your mind in connection with this word. Don’t think about it. Let the words flow spontaneously. Let one word trigger another, and so on. Continue this for a few minutes.
4. Read over your word chain and write down your reactions and comments.
5. Look for a particular theme or issue that keeps recurring. These themes are worth exploring for significance to the problem. If a particular word evokes a strong emotional reaction, it’s worth exploring.
Suppose my problem is how to improve the morale of employees. My key word is “enrichment.” My word chain would include words such as
“need,” “interdependence,” union,” “the one and the many,” “coming together,” “fear,” “loss of self,” “communication,” “bond,” “weakness,” “touching,”
“courage,” “involvement,” “trust,” and so on. The phrase “loss

scourge in the Western world.
One-Word Technique
According to Aristotle, words are sounds that become symbols of mental experience through the process of association. The

Playing with verbs and nouns encourages you to think of perspectives that you would probably not think of spontaneously. Try changing the nouns into verbs and verbs into nouns in your problem statement. For example, a problem might be “How can I sel more bottles?” Changing the verbs into nouns and nouns into verbs makes this into “How can I bottle more sales?” Bottling sales now suggests looking for ways to close sales, instead of ways to sel more bottles.
The problem “How can I improve customer relations?” becomes “How can I customize related improvements?” This new perspective leads one to consider customizing products and services for customers, customizing al relevant aspects of the customer relations department, or other customizations.

One of Aristotle’s favorite ways to test a premise was what he cal ed “convertibility.” He felt that if a premise were true, then the reverse premise should be convertible. For example, if every pleasure is good, some good must be pleasure. By simply transposing words, you achieved a different perspective. Sometimes changing the order of words in a problem statement wil create a verbal-conceptual chain that may trigger a different perspective.