At Happy Creative we often use the phrase ‘creative thinkers’. What does that really mean? How does thinking creatively differ from just thinking? How can I be defined as a creative thinker when compared to someone who just… ahem thinks… So let’s start by defining ‘creative thinking’ and break it down by it’s definitions.
‘Thinking’ is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as: “Process of considering or reasoning about something. A person’s ideas or opinions.”
‘Creative’ is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as: “Relating to or involving the use of the imagination or original ideas to create something. Having a good imagination or original ideas.”
The key part of ‘Creative Thinking’ is the ‘creative’ part. We all have thoughts and opinions. We can all consider different ideas or options, but not everyone has the imagination to create something original. This is why ‘creative thinking’ is a term that can be given and applied to many different fields and is a way to define a persons ability to think in a fundamentally different way to someone else.
A creative thinker is obviously an applied term to giants of particular fields – The Einsteins, Da Vinci’s, Edisons, Wattersons… but it is also applied to people that can look at problems from a fresh perspective and provide ‘a new intrinsically different solution’. This solution is generally surprising as it has not been considered before.
A famous example from antiquity is the story of how Alexander the Great untied the impossible Gordian Knot. The story takes place in the city of Phrygia which had a knot that had been tied by the ancient King Gordias. Whoever untied the knot would be declared King. Alexander took up the challenge of untying the un-tieable knot. He looked at it, considered the problem, drew his sword and simply cut the knot in half. Problem solved.
Another slightly more recent example came in 1990 with the launch of the Hubble Telescope in 1990. Initially considered a dream launch for NASA. It very quickly became a nightmare when it was realised that it’s mirror had not been positioned correctly. The most powerful Telescope in the world had blurry vision.
In the shower of a hotel room, NASA engineer James Crocker was looking at a shower head that could be extended to adjust to the user’s height. Crocker made the connection between the extendable shower head and invented the idea of placing the telescope corrective mirrors on automated arms that would adjust to the correct position. This device was called COSTAR (Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement) and was installed with a millionth of an inch precision while the Hubble telescope orbited the Earth, 300 miles above our heads. Problem solved.
This is why ‘creative thinking’ is so valuable to any type of business. Creative thinkers can jump over the huddles by providing fresh solutions that conventional thinking get’s stuck behind. Richard Branson has a mantra which is A-B-C-D (Always Be Connecting the Dots).
As Crocker and Alexander demonstrated in making these connections between a problem and a solution, creative solutions can be found for the most impossible of problems.
James Chantler is a creative thinker and Creative Director at Happy Creative, a full service marketing and creative agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk
