TELEVISION
About
Anyone can be creative. You just have to know how to think creatively, which involves taking a more imaginative approach to the challenges we all face, whether at work or at home. And you can learn how to wield the same research-based tools that today's creative people use. All you need is an open mind, a determination to succeed, and The Creative Thinker's Toolkit.
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Episodes
1. The Creative Person - Practice and Passion
34m
What, exactly, is creativity? Take a closer look at what makes a creative person in this introductory lecture that explores ancient ideas about creativity (including the muses of the ancient Greeks); debunks common myths about the sources of creativity; and examines how play, passion, practice, and purpose can enhance your own creative thinking.
2. Lateral Thinking Is a Survival Skill
29m
First, investigate the evolutionary history of creativity in human beings and the fascinating paradox of conformity and creativity - both essential to the survival and development of our species. Then, learn about how modern education approaches creativity in our youth, and several lateral thinking skills to promote more playful ideation.
3. Creative Styles - Adaptors and Innovators
31m
Using examples of real-life creative icons, investigate two major "styles" of creativity exemplified by Norman Rockwell and Pablo Picasso. The first: adaptors, who are precise, reliable, and detail oriented. The second: innovators, who approach problems from novel angles. Where do you fall on the adaptor-innovator style spectrum? Why is it so important to be flexible?
4. Combining Opposites - Diverge, Then Converge
29m
Focus now on the nature of creative thinking itself, with a look at divergent thinking (which involves intuition and associative thought) and convergent thinking (which selects and develops the most promising ideas). Along the way, you'll learn skills for balancing these surprisingly complementary ways of thinking in your own life.
5. Principles for Unleashing Your Imagination
28m
There are times when we all want (or need) to be creative on demand. And with the right approach, it's possible. Here, use Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway as a lens through which to explore four key principles of creativity training: defer judgment, go for quantity, make connections, and seek novelty.
6. Principles for Converging on the Best Ideas
30m
What mindset and attitude do you need to decide which of your ideas to pursue? Professor Puccio reveals the four key principles you need for success: practicing affirmative judgment, keeping novelty alive, checking your objectives to make sure they meet the needs of reality, and - of course - staying focused.
7. Stages of the Creative Process - and You
31m
Learn explicitly about creative problem solving, a research-based process that can help close the gap between what you have and what you want. There are four stages: clarify (identifying the challenge), ideate (generating tentative solutions), develop (turning good ideas into great solutions), and implement (moving your solutions from your head to reality).
8. Clarifying the Challenge
32m
This lecture focuses on the clarification step of creative problem solving, in which you identify your goal, gather data, and formulate your challenge. Professor Puccio shows you how to use a variety of helpful tools, including finding out the "who, what, where, when, why, and how" of a problematic situation and developing a powerful challenge statement.
9. Clarify Even More - Webbing and Storyboarding
34m
Continue learning about clarification with a closer look at some more advanced tools to add to your toolkit. One is webbing, which leverages two probing questions to broaden your perspective and think in abstract terms. The other is storyboarding, a tool designed to tell your story in a visual sequence.
10. Classic Brainstorming and Brainwriting
31m
Learn how to brainstorm the right way. Explore the three roles in a classic brainstorming session (the facilitator, client, and resource group members) and try your hand at brainwriting, a variation on brainstorming that involves silent cross-ideation - all while peering over the shoulders of an actual brainstorming session in action.
Extended Details
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