How to be Creative - Quick Tips!

I couldn't but help myself from putting this post together.

Got to know about a very interesting book : "Imagine: How Creativity Works" written by journalist Jonah Lehrer. Lehrer has actually helped to disseminate what scientists know about creativity. In fact, in March 1st week, 2012 Wall Street Journal, his article “How to be creative” took up the entire front page of Section C and another full page inside the section.

Let’s take a quick look at Lehrer’s “10 Quick Creativity Hacks” from the WSJ article.

1.       When you’re in a blue room, you’re more creative.

2.      You’re more creative when you’re a bit groggy.

3.      People who daydream more score higher on creativity tests.

4.      If you imagine yourself as a 7-year-old, you have more ideas.

5.      Watching a comedy video makes you more creative just afterwards.

6.      If you think the creativity puzzles come from another country or state, rather than your own local university, you’re more creative.

7.       Use more generic verbs to describe your challenge.

8.      If you sit next to a box (but not in it) you’re more creative.

9.      Students who’ve lived abroad are more creative.

10.   When people move to a bigger city they become more creative.

It’s true that these 10 tips are based in research studies. But it’s good to be a bit skeptical, because most of the studies used paper-and-pencil creativity tests that have only a limited relationship to real-world creativity. It makes me think of a study published a couple of years ago that found that if you stare at the Apple logo, you score higher on a creativity test than people who stare at the IBM logo. Does anyone really believe that simply looking at an Apple will make you more creative in any meaningful way? Not me.

Successful creativity results from hard work over a long period of time, from a systematic and deliberate process that raises the ratio of success to failure. Lehrer knows this too, of course.