CREATIVE THINKING

Lecture 1
(Introduction)

Teacher:
ISMATULLAH BUTT
Associate Professor
 Creative Thinking
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Lecture Contents:
 What is Creative Thinking-The concept
 Critical and Creative Thinking-Comparison
 Scope of Creative Thinking
 What is Creativity?
 Antonyms and Synonyms of Creativity
 Words related to creativity.
EXERCISE
 Creative Thinking
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Thinking out of Box

 Creative Thinking
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 What is Thinking?
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 Many definitions…

 Simple definition: thinking =

process of using our mind to
determine what to believe or
what to do
 E.g. making decisions, solving
problems etc.
 Thinking as a Skill
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 Thinking is a skill  techniques for thinking can

be learnt and mastered
 Similar to:
 Reading / writing
 Drawing Techniques learnt
through step-by-step
 Riding / driving methods
 Repairing cars / bikes
 Carpentry
 Etc.
8
 Thinking Skills
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Two basic thinking skills:

1. Logical & Critical thinking:
(Thinking with proper rules for reasoning)
2. Creative thinking:
(To find the pros and cons of an idea to determine
what to believe or what to do)
 What is Creative Thinking?
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 [To create = to bring into existence something

new]
 Creative thinking = mind process to bring into
existence new ideas.
 A new idea might lead to:
 a new theory
 a new product
 a new solution to a problem, or
 a conception for a piece of art
 Left Brain & Right Brain
FACTS IDEAS

VERBAL SPATIAL

STRUCTURED OPEN-ENDED

SEQUENCE RELATIONSHIPS

OUTLINE INTUITIVE

LOGICAL SUMMARY

Human Information Processing -- HIPS

 Critical & Creative Thinking-Comparison
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Critical Thinking Creative Thinking

 Analytic  Generative

 Convergent  Divergent

 Vertical  Lateral

 Probability  Possibility

 Judgment  Suspended judgment

 Focused  Diffuse

 Objective  Subjective

 Verbal  Visual

 Linear  Associative

 Reasoning  Richness, novelty

 “Yes but…”  “Yes and…”

 What is Creativity?
 Creativity is the process of generating new ideas
 Creativity & Innovation
 Creativity is the process of generating new ideas
(i.e. the thinking)

 Innovation is converting the new ideas into

something useful (i.e. the action)
 Innovation = practical application of creative idea
 Creative Thinking–The Concept
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What is Creativity:
 The ability to imagine or invent something new.
 Original and worthwhile (according to peers) idea or solution
and its application.
 Creativity is any act, idea or product that changes an existing
domain or that transforms an existing domain into new one.
 Creativity can be described as the discovery of something
that is novel but also useful or relevant or economical,
valuable.
 Creative Thinking-The Concept
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Creative Thinking: A way of looking at problems or

situations from a fresh perspective that suggests
unorthodox solutions (which may look unsettling at
first). Creative thinking can be stimulated both by an
unstructured process such as brainstorming, and by a
structured process such as lateral thinking.
1. The state or quality of being creative.
2. The ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships,
or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods,
interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination.
3. The process by which one utilizes creative ability- Extensive reading
stimulates creativity.
 Creative Thinking-The Concept
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 Creativity is the act of turning new and

imaginative ideas into reality. 

 Creativity is characterized by the ability to

perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden
patterns, to make connections between seemingly
unrelated phenomena, and to generate solutions.
 Creative Thinking-Definitions
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 Creativity: Create > creativity;

 Creative thinking is “the ability to bring something of
new existence.” (Webster’s Dictionary 1976)
 Creativity is the making of new and rearranging of
the old.” (Mike Vance, 1995)
 Being creative is seeing the same thing as everybody else
but thinking of something different.” (Wycoff, 1995)
 Something or some process that is original, novel, newly
thought of, and in some cases as being useful.” (Amabile,
1999).
 Creative Thinking-Definitions
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 Looking at what everybody else is looking but thinking of what nobody

else has thought” (A.S Goyrgy)
 The process of producing something is both original & worthwhile”
(Sternberg, 1996)
 Bringing together ideas that were previously unrelated David Perkins
(1996)
 An idea is creative if that person (the creator) could not have had that
idea before.” Margaret Boden (1990)
 Creativity is the ability to produce work that is novel (original,
unexpected), high in quality and appropriate (Lubart, 1994; Osche 1990;
Sternberg 1999)
 Creativity is extra/ordinary, original and fitting, full-filling, inventive,
co-cooperative, un/conscious. (Rob Pope, 2005)
 Creativity-Scope
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 Small or big « C »
 All domains

– Science, technique
– Business, commerce
– Art, Literature
– Personal
 Individual or group
– Companies
– Improvisation (Jazz, theater)
 Without application, experimentation
– How to know if an idea is worthwhile ?
– What would be an artist who does not practice art ?
 Why study Creativity ?
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 Leverage our creative talent

 Better solve problems

 Improve teaching and training

 Be a better salesman, engineer, artist…

 Become a more innovative company

 Creative Thinking-Antonyms
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Antonyms for Creative:

Fruitless

impotent

inept

old

uncreative

unfruitful

unproductive

ungifted

unimaginative

uninspired

untalented
 Creative Thinking-Synonyms
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Synonyms for Creativity

1) Cleverness 2) genius
3) imagination 4) imaginativeness
5) Ingenuity 6) Inspiration
7) inventiveness 8) originality
9) Resourcefulness 10) Talent
11) vision
 Creative Thinking-Related
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Words
WORDS RELATED TO CREATIVITY:
 Talent (natural aptitude or skill)
 ingenuity (the quality of being clever, original, and inventive)
 Genius (exceptional intellectual or creative power or other natural ability)
 resourcefulness (the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties)
 originality (the ability to think independently and creatively)
 imagination (the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of
external objects not present to the senses)
 Cleverness (the quality of being clever; intelligence or shrewdness.)
 inventiveness (the quality of being inventive; creativity)
 vision ( the faculty or state of being able to see)
 Inspiration (the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something,
especially to do something creative)