How to Cultivate Creative Thinking

There are multiple benefits to creative thinking, many of which have a direct impact on business relationships, growth and client satisfaction.

Sometimes when developing new products, new ideas come up from creative thinking sessions or even while talking a casual walk with a colleague. Many have wondered why some are creative, while others aren’t, and they attribute it to being one of many personality traits that only a few people possess.

The opposite couldn’t be truer.

Creativity is a skill, just like any other, and it can be harvested and cultivated by anyone who invests time. From brands to partners, employees to upper management, creativity doesn’t just belong in the art galleries, its become a core component to how businesses function.

When companies can’t focus on what the client needs, they lose out on revenue.

When customers can’t engage with your product, they move on to a competitor.

There are distinct advantages to being more creative, many of which are directly linked to a source of curiosity. If one is curious about their surroundings, then they’re more capable of fulfilling their inner creative needs.

Creativity isn’t just about being artistic or creating something beautiful.

It's about solving a problem in the most artful way possible.

This includes understanding what the customer needs, empathising with their needs, and delivering them in the most pleasing manner possible.

Brands that are more creative have customers that are less price-sensitive as well.

Here are some great ways that you can cultivate creative thinking in your everyday life –

#1 Reading frequently –

People that love reading have more vivid imaginations and can generally think outside the box.

There is one form of reading that involves actively visualizing the text written in the fictional story. The other form of reading is to acquire industry knowledge (through blogs and magazines) that add to your creative thinking processes.

When you start to collect various ideas and thoughts from different fields, you can become more creative by analysing them and adding them to your own life.

#2 Indulging in an artistic venture –

You don’t have to be an artist to be creative, but it doesn’t hurt.

You can pick up a paint brush, or a graphics design tablet and paint away. You can even scribble on an iPad to start with. Spending 2-3 hours a day disconnecting from work is a good idea. Investing some of those precious hours in quiet painting is a better one.

You can even pick up a guitar and go online to learn how its played. The simple process of creating new neural pathways can boost your creativity tenfold.  

#3 Get outside your comfort zone –

Many times, we restrict our experiences and the number of people we meet, to our friends and families. If you don’t come from a long lineage of artists and designers, then you need to get out more often.

You can head over to an art gallery, a museum or even a theatre play to check out what the crowd is into these days.

You can talk to the people there, volunteer or sit quietly and analyse why people love art, music and theatre. Getting outside our bubble of non-creativity is a great way to be exposed to new experiences, thoughts and ideas, as we experience them first-hand.

#4 Go outdoors –

Spending some time in nature helps people become more creative.

There is significant research to show that spending time in fresh air can make people happier and more creative. A spark can come from nowhere, as you take a stroll down a quiet park.

It’s all about spending time with yourself thinking about new things and experiencing new colours and sights. A walk around the park, a trek or a new pathway is the perfect way to gain the benefits of becoming more introspective and creative.

#5 Engaging in fun exercises –

The best way to get your creative juices flowing is to participate in fun exercises that make you think. You can take a dance class, yoga sessions or hit the gym twice a week.

Exercising fills you up with endorphins and makes you feel more alive and happy.

This rush of endorphins and serotonin makes us more creative and switches our brain to a “growth-mindset” one. Exercise can be a great tool to help relieve stress and put our minds at ease as we think about different experiences during our rest periods.

#6 Empathise with others –

When you empathise with the person under duress, you create better solutions. Think about the last time you helped someone out or took some time to talk to an old friend.

You were engaging in creative problem solving by empathising with the person’s situation.

Similarly, it pays off to empathise about your customer, bosses and team members so that you can develop creative solutions to the problems that might arise at work.

#7 Invest low and sell high –

This is an interesting approach to cultivating creativity.

According to research by Todd Lubart, Prof University of Paris, creative individuals tend to invest in ideas when they’re raw, and perfect it to a point where they can sell it “high”. They have a discerning ability to figure out what ideas will work, as their muscle memory has figure out a path to selling an idea at a high point.

You too can cultivate creativity by understanding how some ideas can be invested in with low involvement and others require too much creative input.

E.g. if there are two projects at work which require different levels of creativity and problem solving, you should go for the one where you can gain the maximum benefit from being creative.

Invest “low”, and sell “high”.

Conclusion

Creativity is a skill, just like any other, that can be learned over time.

You don’t need to go to art school or join a band to become more creative, but you should invest some time in the strategies mentioned above so that you have a better shot at being more creative.

Not only are creative workers seen more favorably by upper management, they get involved in more diverse and interesting projects as well.