I've recently been reading the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.  It's quite an interesting book and one of the ideas put forward is that when making decisions we gain more confidence by considering more data but we make poorer decisions at the same time.  If you can find the key elements then you can focus only on them and make quicker and more accurate decisions.  Finding those key elements, though, can be a real exercise in creative thinking.

Ok,  so you've got a project you've just started or a conundrum you have to get sorted.  It's a tricky one but it's going to be huge.  You're onto a winner.  How often have you started off with this attitude but ended up with mediocrity?  There are several factors that will define if you're heading towards stardom or the middle of the road with your creative endevours.  An important piece to look at is research.

I have spoken before on the underlying principle and it's relationship to creative thinking.  It's something that I try to work out with everything I work on. (And so should you.)  I have spent quite a while thinking about the underlying principle of this website and of websites in general.  My thoughts are constantly evolving and changing as I approach the problem from different angles.  Read on to see my current thoughts.

Creativity and memory are linked in several interesting and influential ways.  Memory looks back at what has been while creativity looks forward and creates what will be.  Yet the two intertwine and play with each other to define the world that we experience.  Creative thinking plays a part in how we recreate our memories and memories add essential fuel to what we create.  Let's consider what some of the consequences of this may be.

Foxconn, the company responsible for the manufacture of many Apple products (as well as Nintendo, HP and others) is looking to deploy over 1 million robots over the next 3 years to replace a large chunk of it's workforce.  We now have self serve checkouts in many supermarkets and stores.  Increasing online purchasing is removing the need for physical shop staff.  I'm sure you can find many more examples youself.  The fact is that technology is at a point now where it is replacing unskilled work like never before.  This actually has a huge impact on us creatively.

I was having a discussion the other week regarding creativity and how you often need to break the rules to achieve the outcomes you would like.  In particular, if it was necessary and what the consequences are.  While we didn't come up with any concrete answers (but hey, you rarely do in these discussions), we did stumble on some interesting points and the rest of this article will discuss one of them.  Maybe it's something you should consider in your creative endevours too?

It's our firm belief that games are a great way to develop your creative thinking.  So we were excited when we were asked to review a board game with creativity as the general premise.  Morphology.  We took up the challenge and put the game through it's paces.  Read on to see what we thought.

Creativity and Innovation are two terms that get used a lot.  They are very similar but can both be vague and often misunderstood.  So I thought I would do a bit of poking around using the Google Keyword Tool and see what I could discover.  What the world is searching for can give us a good insight.  Read on to see what I have discovered and what conclusions I have drawn from it.  It would be great if you'd leave a comment too and tell us your thoughts on the subject.

I've been on my quest to promote and encourage creativity and creative thinking, to help people be creative, for just over 2 years now.  CreativityGames has been a part of that journey for just over a year.  I thought it was about time to take a step back and reflect a bit on how my understanding and appreciation of creativity has changed over that time.  Read on to see some of the things I've learned and to share your thoughts as well.

Would you like to be innovative?  Of course you would.  Why wouldn't you be.  It's fun, exciting and you could change the world for the better.  All you need is an idea, right.  Well sort of.  You need an idea that is going to really appeal to people.  It has to be awesome but also fulfil a need, a strong need.  So... Here are 5 questions for you to think about in your quest for innovation.  We'll call it the Who, What, When, Where and Why of innovation.

How often do you spend reflecting?  How often do you spend reflecting on specifically how and why you do things the way you do?  Megacognition is defined as cognition about cognition, or knowing about knowing.  It's a concept that I think is very important in terms of creativity and improving it.  Whilst there are activities you can do to improve your creative thinking.  If you really want to improve you need to move up a level.

That's so crazy it just might work.  How often have you had a thought along those lines.  Or was it more like this.  "That so crazy.  It's silly.  Ok, what else could we try."  We tend to dislike things that are different.  As far as ideas go,  those that fall into the crazy category also have a habit of being quite different.  But sometimes that's exactly what we need.  Completely different thinking that really shakes the boat.

I ask a lot of people about their creative ideas and projects they are working on.  Some people are working on some quite funky things.  Many have awesome ideas but aren't doing anything with them.  When I ask those people why they aren't working on turning these ideas into something I get a range of answers.  If you ask yourself similar questions,  what answers do you get?

I recently recieved an enquiry from someone who wished to get into IT,  programming to be more specific, and wanting to know what they can do to prepare themselves.  It's always great to meet people that are pro-active.  Read on to see my response.  Although some areas are specific to programming, in general the advice is good advice for everyone.

This week we haven't got an article as such but instead an example of some really funky creativity.  At Siggraph in 1991 Loren Carpenter demonstrated an interactive interface that many people could use simultaneously.  Each person was given a paddle which was red on one side and green on the other.  You pointed a side at the screen and it would register your vote.

Wouldn't it be awesome if we could just say "Hey I need a really good idea for X", brainstorm for a bit and then end up with a great idea.  This is rarely the way it works.  Creativity needs time to simmer.  Your ideas also need time to grow.  Sometimes you have great ideas waiting to come out but you are just not ready yet.  Great ideas lie on a path and you have to travel down it before you can find them.

Life these days is crazy.  It's hectic.  It's busy.  And it's only getting worse.  You constantly have more demanding your attention and more information barraging your senses.  In some ways this is great for creativity.  The more information you have, the more ingredients to mix and match and make your creations from.  That won't happen by itself however.  Read on to see what you may be missing.

In my work as an educator I have noticed a worrying trend.  More and more, students are coming to rely on the internet and other sources to provide answers for them.  They almost expect to be spoon fed what they need to know.  I am assuming that this phenomenon is not just limited to students either.  This is a dangerous path to head down and has some serious consequences for creative thinking. 

This week I would like to pose a question.

I'm of the firm belief that before you can help someone to be more creative you have to create in them a desire to want to be more creative.  So the question is:

What are your experiences in inspiring others to want to become highly creative?