You’ve probably noticed how everyone expects you to think outside the box today. They say it’s a must-have skill for any employee. They say it’s useful for personal relationships. Plus, you, too, feel you’d use a bit more creativity. If so, that’s pretty doable.
Playing Games
Some games require strategic thinking and problem-solving. These are excellent for stretching your mental muscles. You can play chess with a friend or play table games in RollXO casino. In both cases, playing introduces you to scenarios that require quick thinking. So your mind learns to be flexible. It learns to switch focus quickly and to come up with new solutions. Sounds like thinking outside the box, doesn’t it?
The beauty of games lies in their diversity of challenges and the instant feedback they provide. For instance, try a few games at neteller casinot. This is a potentially beneficial option because you play for real money here. And because real money is involved, your brain will work harder to achieve the best outcome possible.
Cross-Disciplinary Learning
Very often, when an employer asks you to be more creative, you take courses related to your profession hoping this should help. And it, indeed, helps. But what could help even more is learning about subjects outside your primary field of expertise. This is because such learning exposes you to different ideas, theories, and practices that you can connect in novel ways. The thing is that your brain LOVES surprises. New knowledge is exactly the type of surprise it can appreciate.
For example, if a tech professional takes art classes, they will most likely discover new ways of visualizing data. These connections, in turn, will lead to breakthrough ideas because they’ll be applying thoughts and processes in ways that others in their tech field might not consider.
Random Input
Sometimes, the solution to a problem may come from where you least expect it. Random info can be of great help so if it’s not coming naturally to you, you should introduce it yourself. By doing so, you will break out of routine thought patterns and see things (hopefully) in a new light.
Now, how could you do that? For instance, randomly pick a word from a dictionary. Then, think about how it could relate to your project. It may sound ridiculous but this method is actually based on the principle that our minds have an inherent ability to form associations quickly. When you present it with a completely unrelated concept, it starts to think creatively and can really discover innovative solutions to existing problems.
Restrict Yourself
It may seem counterintuitive but restrictions do help with creativity. This is because when your brain has to work within a set of bounds, it has to be more creative.
For example, you set a rule that your solution must involve only existing in-house technology. Or, it must fit a fixed budget. Now, your brain is free from the paradox of choice (when many choices overwhelm and stifle decision-making). You’ve narrowed the possibilities for it so it can focus more deeply on problem-solving.
Reverse Thinking
Reverse thinking (that is, approaching problems from the end goal) is a superb trick. Here’s how it works:
- imagine the final outcome
- figure out the steps required to achieve it
- optimize each step as much as possible.
As you can see, it’s very simple. You just reverse the usual planning process. Sometimes, it might help you to find shortcuts or innovative pathways that aren’t apparent when using linear thinking. Plus, it’s somewhat easier to identify potential issues when using reverse thinking.
All in all, although you can often hear that creativity is a quality, even a gift, it’s much more productive to think of it as a skill. Just as any skill, it must be developed and practiced. You don’t necessarily need to implement all the ways described here. You can combine them, you can choose a couple of those that appeal to you most, or you can invent those of your own. The key point is to challenge your brain continuously.
