{"id":10986,"date":"2012-07-20T22:20:57","date_gmt":"2012-07-21T06:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=10986"},"modified":"2013-09-19T09:07:02","modified_gmt":"2013-09-19T17:07:02","slug":"creative-thinking-what-is-it-and-how-can-you-start-doing-it-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/creative-thinking-what-is-it-and-how-can-you-start-doing-it-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Creative Thinking \u2013 What Is It? And How Can You Start Doing It Now!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When you see the phrase \u201ccreative thinking\u201d what\u2019s the first thing that springs to mind?<\/p>\n

For many it would be the term \u201cthinking outside the box\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m here to tell you that when it comes to creative thinking \u201cthinking outside the box\u201d is the worse possible thing you can do!<\/p>\n

Many aspire to be good at it, there are countless articles and books about it but few really know what creative thinking actually is.<\/p>\n

Which is kind of odd because most of us do it on a daily basis, (even if we don\u2019t realize it.)<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to give you a definition that will actually make you more creative!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ready?<\/p>\n

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Creative thinking is exactly the same as the telling a joke.<\/p>\n

When you tell a joke you link a number of things together in an original way and at the end of that connection you get a laugh (hopefully).<\/p>\n

When you think creatively you make connections between things and generate new ideas (new for you.)<\/p>\n

Why does knowing this definition make you more creative?<\/p>\n

Awareness of connections leads to more connections which leads to more connections and so on. We all know someone who has a reputation as an ideas guy. They have simply conditioned their brain, usually without realising it, to consistently make new intelligent connections.<\/p>\n

Note the word intelligent!<\/p>\n

For your creative thinking to have any real value it needs to be suitable to the context in which you are doing your creative thinking. That context is the box in which you think.<\/p>\n

Think inside the box not out of it and your ideas will be far more useful.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at some simple but powerful techniques you can use to condition your brain to start being more creative.<\/p>\n

The most powerful way I know is one we use every day.<\/p>\n

Questions!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Asking a question sends a signal to the brain that forces it to start looking to make new connections. The important factor is the quality of your questions!<\/p>\n