Creativity..!!!

They say it’s thinking outside the box,

It’s a shining torch to help you when you are desperately lost.
It’s like the magic wand,
Giving you the instant solution to the problem at hand;
Seems like a very instantaneous process,
Almost a master work of a genius…

In short it’s that elusive term for which we seek to find a definition, without a proper explanation!
Creativity is one of the most misunderstood words… no one knows what it means, how it works! What we only see is a creative person coming up with a solution at the time when all fails, and we think, “Oh, my! What a genius!” missing the fact that there has been a lot of cognitive effort which has been dedicated to.
We must first realize that creativity is not something that you have or not have; it’s only a more organized way of thinking! Just by thinking right you can use creativity to your advantage. All you need is a problem to solve and the dedication to follow the 4

Simple steps to Creativity:
Preparation:
This involves collecting the relevant data or information pertinent to the problem. We often underestimate the importance of this process and want to find solutions to our problems without knowing much about them…this in all possibility leads to disastrous consequences!

Incubation:
Considering that you have taken a lot of pains to gather the relevant facts and figures, you’d know that its’ quite a bulk of information which you have gathered… (If not, check again- you might be missing on something!). This information needs some time to be assimilated and understood carefully, and you need to give it some time, before you can come to any logical conclusion. It is also in this stage, that as you are getting and understanding the information provided to you, the process of finding the effective solution begins, where you explore the different options which can be used, or choose the one which is best suited.

Illumination:
In the previous stage, our mind is working simultaneously on gathering information on the problem as well as finding effective solutions to it; therefore it is obvious that getting a solution would not be as easy as thought, and might take a considerable amount of time. This may be quite frustrating at times, and there may be a moment where you just want to ‘shut off, and take a break’, or simply not think about it. It is at this time, where one has the “Aha-Eureka” experience of getting a solution.

The reason this works is because, when you are consciously shutting yourself from the problem, the process still continues into the undisturbed chambers of your unconscious mind, to give you an effective solution. Our mind has the uncanny ability to process and form connections between pieces of information even without our awareness, encouraged by the structure and the neuronal networks.
Since the revelation is sudden, having a notebook and a pen to note down the solution is advisable

Verification and Implementation:
After having found the appropriate solution, it needs to be tested to see if it satisfactorily solves the problem. Frequently the insight turns out to be unsatisfactory, and the thinker is back at the beginning of the creative process. In other cases, the insight is generally satisfactory but needs some modification for it to be a really “good” idea.

So there you have it!

Four simple steps and you are a creative person, and an effective problem solver. These steps are not mutually exclusive of each other, and neither do they have to follow the same order. They can be repeated in the entire process, and there are no rules how long a particular step should take.

Summing up the entire process; it’s rightly said, “It’s like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” -E. L. Doctorow

Creativity is no longer an elusive term now, and with a little effort, almost everyone can be a genius at it!...

Happy Reading...!!!!