DEVELOPING CREATIVITY (OPPORTUNITIES AND IDEAS) Entrepreneurship 30

OBJECTIVES Creativity Barriers/Mental Blocks and How to overcome them Stimulate Creative thought Problem Solving – Roles and Thinking Skills (Explorer, Artist, Judge, Warrior) Idea Generation and Evaluation – Six Modes of Thinking Ideas and Opportunities Trends – Opportunities for you this semester!

ATTITUDE AND CREATIVITY One idea is not enough! Innovation is your friend! In relation to creativity, experts feel that, by being positive, you become more confident, tend to generate more ideas, and have a much better chance of turning these ideas into reality. Whether you think you can or can’t – you are right!

ACTIVITY Hidden Messages – mind stretching activity Define creativity:  Imaginative, original, artistic, inventive  Everyone has some degree of creativity and it can be developed by understanding how the brain works  More than one way of doing things Handout – “The Brain and Creativity” Which side of the brain will be more valued in the future in regards to the labour market?

TEAMWORK = left and right work together exercise both parts of your brain

ctives.com/blog/brain-left- right-brain-thinker/ Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz t.net/test_area/questio nnaire/questionnaire.c gi r-sommer.com/en/ What kind of brain do you have?

BARRIERS/MENTAL BLOCKS Thinking logically Following the rules Being practical Play is frivolous Looking for the right answer That’s not my area Don’t be foolish Avoid ambiguity To err is wrong I’m not creative

GENERATING IDEAS Word Clustering  word in middle  group like ideas Mind Mapping picture in middle (similar to word clustering) associate key words and images

GENERATING IDEAS Brainstorming  record all ideas, even strange ones  used frequently in business Visualization  create picture of idea in your mind

WHERE THERE ARE PROBLEMS THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES, WHERE THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES THERE ARE IDEAS – NEEDS, WANTS, MARKET Problems Solving Model (problem finding, idea finding, solution finding, re-evaluation). However, there are four roles and thinking skills in the process of problem-solving:  Two think creatively and two think critically – need to pay attention to each role and when to use them  Roger von Oech “A Kick in the Seat of the Pants” 1.Explorer 2.Artistic 3.Judge 4.Warrior

The problem solving process involves 3 stages:  Problem Finding  Try to define the problem by gathering information, observations, feelings, and impressions  Idea Finding  try to come up with different alternatives for solving the problem, even the “crazy” ones  Solution Finding  Establish a criteria and evaluate the alternatives, choosing the best option THE PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS

THE STEPS OF PROBLEM SOLVING

A NEW WAY OF THINKING Lateral Thinking  Means generating ideas by being flexible, and creative, think side ways not up and down, unique perspective, think outside the box Edward De Bono – expert in creative thinking and says there are six modes of thinking. The “Thinking Hats” – idea creator/problem solver.  The hats are colour coded to help people remember which type of thinking is associated with each one.

The whole point of the method is that the human brain thinks in a number of distinct ways  If these ways can be identified and deliberately used, it can allow someone to develop strategies for thinking about particular issues  Broadens the scope of thought By mentally wearing and switching "hats," you can easily focus or redirect thoughts, conversations, or meetings WHY LOOK AT DEBONO’S HATS?

Black-Negative feedback Green-Nature/creativity Red-Emotion/intuition White-Gathering facts Yellow-Logic/positive Blue-Organizes/Controls DEBONO’S SIX HATS

Negative Feedback; Critical logic; no emotion Sounds Like: “It won’t work; this could be a problem” Always looking for the problem(s) in the idea DE BONO – BLACK HAT

Represents nature and things that grow from seeds - creativity Sounds Like: “Aha; eureka; how else could we do this?” Similar to Green in True Colours, always looking for ways to improve the idea DE BONO – GREEN HAT

Recognizes that emotion and feeling influence decisions Sounds like: “I have a hunch; this is how I feel about” Uses emotions to determine how others will “react” to product DE BONO – RED HAT

Gathering Facts, acquiring information Sounds like: “Just the facts ma’am” Simple data collection without making judgment calls DE BONO – WHITE HAT

Positive Feedback; Constructive logic Sounds like: “I want to explore this further; this idea has value” Rather than looking for the problems (black), looking for ways to further develop the idea DE BONO – YELLOW HAT

Organizes, Controls and Leads Sounds like: “Focus; Lets get started: Your turn” Involved with the implementation of the idea, the “nuts and bolts” of it DE BONO – BLUE HAT

PLACING THE HATS IN THE CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS 1.Problem Finding Red & White Hat 4. Action Blue Hat 3. Solution Finding Black & Yellow Hat 2. Idea Finding Green Hat

REVIEW Agents of Change: During 1930’s, a company tried selling packages of low-priced cheddar cheese powder. No one wanted them. Left with cases of the stuff, one salesman tied packages of cheese powder to boxes of macaroni and stared selling the two together. What was it called? How was this an example of lateral thinking? Which hats did he probably wear? Problem Finding = white and red hat Idea Finding = green hat Solution Finding = black, yellow and red hat QUIZ tomorrow

IDEAS AND OPPORTUNITIES A venture can succeed only when a good idea and an opportunity come together. Turn problems into opportunities: Opportunities for New Products and Services: