Creative vs Critical Thinking...learn more at http://www.managing-creativity.com

1. CREATIVE
VERSUS
CRITICAL THINKING
by
managing-creativity.com

2. The process of creative thinking is
often, mistakenly, intertwined with
critical thinking. There is a tendency
to write and edit simultaneously,
couple hypothesis generation and
evaluation, combine problem
identification with solution.

3. To increase effectiveness, one
should first apply creative thought,
which is meant to be daring,
uninhibited, free-spirited,
imaginative, unpredictable, and
revolutionary. The trick is to ignore
content and maximise the size and
richness of the idea pool.

4. Second, critical thinking is
exercised to achieve applied
creativity. This is reductive, logical,
focused, conservative, practical and
feasible. During this stage, the idea
pool is reduced to achievable,
appropriate ideas.

5. Now onto the Idea Pool itself:

6. Maximising the size and richness of
the idea pool is a conscious
process that has a lot in common
with a) lateral thinking and b) the
elicitation of tacit knowledge. It is
the pre-critical thinking phase and
some elements include:

7. #1
Coming up with ideas for the sake of
generating ideas.

8. #2
Using a variety of stimuli and
frameworks to open up as many
pathways as possible.

9. #3
Not having a conscious direction.

10. #4
Not stopping when a goal seems fulfilled.

11. #5
Consciously stimulating change in
direction.

12. In short, the key principle is to
produce first and scrutinize second;
writing and rewriting are two
separate processes. This applies
across the board, from business
problem solving to arts such as
screenwriting. The more people try
to understand meaning, the less
they produce.

13. Learn much more at
managing-creativity.com