Creativity - How to Generate Ideas

30 Circles Experiment

In 2008, Tim Brown (CEO of IDEO) performed a creative process exercise with a large audience. He handed everyone in the audience a piece of paper with 30 empty circles. Then he asked the crowd to adapt those circles into "objects of some form." At first, you should think of pizza, sun, and bike wheels. But in the end, there were no limitations on what you could create with those. The important thing about this experiment was the time constraint - all participants had 1-2 minutes to complete the task. Tim also instructed them to give the most focus on quantity.

Seeing not only the simple examples but also non-obvious ones with a somewhat "breaking the rules" attitude was encouraged. The creation of this experiment initially dates back to the 50s of the XX century, and its designer was Robert McKim - Lead Creativity Researcher. One of the important things is: what does this teach us?

The results were somehow similar to this:

Quantity vs. diversity

It proved that Idea Generation (in other words, creativity) thrives when it reaches the perfect balance between quantity and diversity. People who just colored all circles black were considered less creative than those who put some effort into finding different ways of completing this task.

Self Censoring

The second take from this experiment is also fascinating. At some point (after filling in some of the circles), most of us tend to enter self-censoring mode, fearing what others might think about our idea generated within time pressure. The self-censor aspect is a crucial realization of the research. It leads to the question: is this mental state a constant? Or has it ever been an exercise that teaches the importance of balancing quantity and diversity in the creative process differently?

A group of researchers wanted to know the answer to this, and the results they came up with were shocking. 98% of kids are creative geniuses, and only 2% of the adult population remains as such. This massive drop in creativity among all of us is primarily due to the outdated education system. It seems to be killing all behaviors and thinking patterns that fall into an out-of-the-box category.

So, what is Creativity? How do we understand it, and can it be taught, or is it a genetically determined predisposition that belongs to only a few? Let's have a look!

What is creativity?

Creativity is the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others. In the research field, there's a distinction between low C and high C Creativity. But that's just another take on the definition and doesn't fully represent the concept - but it is somehow hopeful:

Low C (or small c) creativity describes small everyday ideas (like creating costumes for Halloween, coming up with an idea for a party game, you name it).
High C (or big C) creativity is a relatively rare but life-changing breakthrough, like Darwin's evolution theory.

Some researchers also connect the creative process with a sweet spot that lies between the middle of three elements:

• Creative thinking skills
• Motivation - it's worth mentioning that our brains work much better and efficiently when motivated intrinsically (passion, curiosity), not extrinsically (money, status)
• Expertise

Conceptual combination

Conceptual combination is the process of creatively combining existing ideas or concepts to generate new ones. It is a key element of the creative process and is often studied in cognitive psychology and cognitive science. Researchers have found that factors such as the type and quality of the concepts being combined, the individual's prior knowledge and experiences, and the task or problem they are trying to solve can influence the conceptual combination process. In summary, conceptual combination plays a significant role in creativity research and is essential for generating novel and creative ideas.
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‍"Creativity is for everyone."

That, of all, is my favorite definition/statement. It doesn't say what you can't but what you can - that significantly changes everything.

Creativity is not a trait that is limited to a select few individuals. It's a capacity that is present in all people. Everyone has the ability to think creatively and come up with innovative ideas, regardless of their age, education, or background. In fact, research has shown that everyone has their own unique style of thinking and problem-solving. And that this diversity can lead to a wide range of creative solutions. Additionally, creativity is not a fixed trait. It's rather a skill that can be developed and nurtured through practice and exposure to new experiences and ideas. Therefore, it is important to recognize that creativity is not just for artists or geniuses. It's a natural part of the human experience that is available to everyone.

The crucial question is: can we re-learn what we have lost growing up? Can creativity be taught?

Can creativity be taught? Find out here!