Getting Creative

Vivek Mehra

What is creativity?Please write down 5

things that (you believe) define

creativity

Part 1You become

what you believeDo you believe this?

How many frescos did

Michelangelo paint before he painted the Sistine

Chapel?

Answer:NONE

Where did Leonardo Di

Vinci paint the Mona Lisa?Options:1. In a quiet room2. In an open space (field)3. In his studio surrounded by his students4. In a room full of singers, clowns and musicians

Answer:

4. In a room full of singers, clowns and

musicians

Can I influence your mooD?

Lower your Eyebrows

Raise your upper Eyelids

Narrow your Eyelids

Press your Lips together

Hold this expression. What do you feel?

• Something like this…?

Can I try this once again?

❖ Put a pen between your teeth in far enough so that it’s stretching the edges of your mouth back without feeling uncomfortable.

❖ What do you feel?

But seriously...let’s try a more real exercise

How observant are you?

You have 1 minute to tell me which object is in both pictures.

The answer…

What you know prevents you from

thinking creatively ...

This equation is wrong.Move just one match stick to make

it a valid equation...

The answer…

Concluding Part 1Key Takeaways

We influence creative outcome by the way we think

We can change the outcome by thinking differently

We can become anything we want, if only we believe...

Part 2Getting out of your comfort

zoneAre you ready?

Take off your shoes

Here is what you should be feeling...

Place the shoes under the table and relax

What if I asked you to step out of your comfort zone and...

Asked you to wear someone else’s shoes? Would you?

Asked you to wear shoes of the opposite gender as yours? Still comfortable?

Place all the back shoes on the table...

Understanding shoes,reward Rs. 3000

Build the tallest structure with the shoes

Each shoe must be touching another shoe

You can’t place any objects between shoes

The tallest structure will receive a cash award of Rs. 3000

You have 5 minutes and your time starts NOW...

I can read your mind

Are you ready? Follow the instructions carefully

Here goes...

Think of a 2 digit number between 10 and 99 (both inclusive)

Add the 2 digits together

Subtract the sum from the original number (if 39 is your number)

39 - (3+9) = 27

Hold the number in your thoughts... Don’t let it go!

Find the image next to your number

Remember it...

Now I will beam it in from you...

I know what it is...

How many of you believe I know your

symbol?

This is the symbol you were looking at…

Would you like me to try again?

Read the following passageI would like the person who can’t read this to

raise his hand...

"Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabridge Uinvervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr

the litteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the

rghit pclae.  The rset can be a ttoal mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.  Tihs is besauae ocne we laren how to raed we bgien to aargnre the lteerts in our mnid to see waht we epxcet to see.  The huamn

mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but preecsievs the wrod as a wlohe.  We do tihs

ucnsoniuscoly wuithot tuhoght."

The mind is complex…

The mind likes ‘routine’…

What did we just learn...

The mind has comfort zones

It’s difficult to get out of these zones, but not impossible

The mind adjusts to anomalies; prompts us to see what really isn’t there

But all of these can be overcome to unleash creativity

Part 3There is no such thing

called Failure

What is the definition of

failure?

Please write a definition you believe to be true.

Here are a few of mine...

But the truth is ...

What you feel like doing

What’s bothering you

Plain truths about failure

As an infant you learnt to walk by trial and error. As an adult, you fear “trial and error”

You are taught to succeed by fearing failure

The fear of failure is “taught” by the following:

lower grades means you know less

lower education means you will earn less

lower earning means you are in a lower strata of society

low self-esteem, peer pressure follow

The other side of failure...

Desire to succeed; DON’T fear failure

Learn to fail

Practice failure (repeat things you are not good at)

Stay in the present (failure is a projection of a future consequence)

The other side of failure...

Some spectacular failures...Which of these failures would you rather not be?

Part 4Ideas need to

mate

When was steam first used?

James Watt’s steam engine was patented in 1765

Newcomen made a steam engine in 1712

Edward Somerset made a steam pump in 1663

Giovanni Battista Della Porta created a steam percolator fountain in 1601

Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf used a steam turbine to rotate a roast spit, in 1551

Hero of Alexandria used steam to open temple doors in 1 AD

• Answer: Hero of Alexandria used steam to open temple doors in 1 AD

Who really invented the iPod?

Apple in 2001

Creative Labs in 1999

Sony in 1998

Fraunhofer in 1987

Kane Kramer in 1979

The truth about the iPod…

Idea Mating 1: Combine Randomly

Make a list of unresolved issues (or problems or objects)

Make another list of things you like (objects, thoughts, feelings)

Pair an item of List 1 with one from List 2

You will be surprised at what emerges

Let’s try this a little differently...

Idea Mating 2: Combine Problems

Follow the same process of preparing 2 or more lists

Instead of random selection align similar problems in a list

Practical use:

Problem 1: need to move heavy objects

Problem 2: need to weigh heavy objects

Solution:???

Do you know which company first patented

the concept?

Idea mating 3: combine ideas

You know the drill... 2 lists

Put the really diverse ones separately

Don’t be limited by your imagination, use as many adjectives and creative words as possible...

One more exercise?

Idea Mating 4: Combine Talent

For managers:

Create brainstorm groups of diverse individuals

For individuals:

Ask the most unlikely person for a solution to your problem

Not really the best of combining ideas

The 7 Deadly Sins that

prevent you from being

creative

Sin 1: You don’t believe you are creative

I can’t pretend to be something I am notI can’t do thisI once tried this in school and couldn’t do itI have 2 left hands (feet?) Remember:

Michelangelo

Sin 2: You believe myths about creativity

It’s a mystery to meIt’s for the blessed or depressedI am more right brainI am more left brain

Sin 3: You fear failure

Do I really need to say more (on this)?

Sin 4:You fail to actI can’t take

the riskI need to plan betterI will do it tomorrowI am scared

Sin 5: You fail to produce Ideas

Caught in a “culture of helplessness”

I am irritated

I am not a thinker

I have so much to do

I don’t want to look stupid

Sin 6: You fail to look at things differently

Speaking first,thinking laterI know thatIt is so obvious!This is how it was done earlierWhy should I reinvent the wheel?

Sin 7:Failure to accept personal responsibility

I don’t have the right teamI wish I was herShe didn’t tell me how He goofed upThey forgot I haven’t done this ever

AcknowledgmentsThe various images used in this

presentation are copyrighted by their lawful owners. Of the many thousands of images I perused, I found these to

be best suited to illustrate the point. I have not used them for any financial

gain of any sort. If you are a copyright holder and have any objections to this use, please feel free to write to me to take them down. I can be reached at

vivek.mehra@sagepub.in