How to boost your creativity
Strengthening your creativity is a bit like training for a marathon: you have to get your brain used to not taking the shortest path (habit).
Here are four simple, quick, and almost playful exercises to stimulate your lateral thinking on a daily basis:
1. Testing alternative uses
This is a classic creativity test (Guilford test).
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The exercise: Take a completely ordinary object from around you (a paperclip, a brick, a comb, a cup).
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The challenge: Find 10 different uses for its primary function in two minutes.
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Why does it work? It forces your brain to ignore "functional fixity" (the tendency to see an object only for what it is usually used for).
2. The forced connection technique
The brain loves to build bridges.
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The exercise: Choose two words that have absolutely nothing to do with each other (e.g., "Cloud" and "Hammer").
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The challenge: Invent a product or concept that combines both.
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Example: A silent pneumatic hammer that uses vapor compression (cloud) so as not to disturb the neighbors.
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Why does it work? That's the principle of innovation: merging two existing ideas to create a third.
3. Changing Glasses (Perspective)
When faced with a deadlock or a decision to be made:
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The exercise: Ask yourself how three completely different people would solve the problem.
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How would a 5-year-old do it? (They would go for the simplest option, without fear of judgment).
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How would a NASA engineer do it? (He would be seeking extreme technical precision).
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How would a chef do it? (He would mix the ingredients to see the reaction).
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Why does it work? It breaks down your own cognitive biases and mental barriers.
4. The "Why not?" rule
Habit is the enemy of creativity.
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The exercise: Once a day, identify an unwritten rule or routine that you follow automatically and ask yourself: "Why do I do it this way? What if I did the opposite?"
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Why does it work? It awakens your critical thinking. Creativity often begins with disobeying a useless habit.
💡 A little challenge to start with?
Look at the object closest to your left hand right now. Find three functions for it that could be useful in a survival situation in the forest or during space travel.