In This Article You can Follow These 5 Steps for a More Creative Mind. This article discusses the creative process that almost all brilliant ideas go through. Knowing this is crucial because being able to think creatively is one of the most beneficial abilities you can have. Innovative solutions, lateral thinking, and original ideas may help you with nearly any issue you encounter in life and at business.
Using these five stages, anyone can develop their creative abilities. That does not imply that being creative is simple. It takes guts and a tonne of practise to unlock your creative genius. This five-step method, however, ought to demystify the creative process and show the way to more creative thinking.
Let me tell you a quick anecdote to demonstrate how this technique operates.
A Challenge in Need of a Creative Approach
Newspapers and printers in the 1870s had to deal with a particularly unique and expensive issue. At the time, photography was a brand-new and intriguing medium. Readers clamoured for additional photographs, but no one could figure out how to swiftly and affordably print them.
For instance, in the 1870s, if a newspaper wanted to print an image, they had to hire an engraver to manually carve a replica of the photograph onto a steel plate. The image was transferred to the page using these plates, however they frequently cracked after only a few usage. You may probably guess that the photoengraving process was both time- and money-consuming.
This issue’s answer was created by a man by the name of Frederic Eugene Ives. By the conclusion of his career, he had amassed over 70 patents and had gone on to become a pioneer in the field of photography. His example of innovation and creativity, which I will now offer, serves as a helpful case study for comprehending the five essential elements of the creative process.
A Moment of Clarity
In Ithaca, New York, Ives began his career as a printer’s apprentice. He spent two years mastering the details of the printing procedure before taking over the leadership of the adjacent Cornell University’s photographic lab. He experimented with various photography techniques for the remainder of the decade while studying cameras, printers, and optics.
Ives had an epiphany about a more effective printing method in 1881.
Ives stated, “I explored the subject of halftone process while operating my photostereotype process in Ithaca. I was in a state of confusion over the issue when I went to bed one night, but as soon as I awoke the next morning, I was faced with the fully developed procedure and working equipment that had evidently been projected on the ceiling.
Ives rapidly brought his concept to life and in 1881 patented his printing method. He worked on it for the next ten years, making improvements. He created a more straightforward method that produced even better results by 1885. The so-called Ives Process, which was the dominant printing method for the following 80 years, cut the cost of producing pictures by 15 times.
Let’s now talk on what insights into the creative process we can gain from Ives.
The printing method invented by Frederic Eugene Ives is an excellent illustration of the ideal creative procedure.
A photograph was divided up into a number of small dots using a technique called “halftone printing” in Frederic Eugene Ives’ printing process. When viewed from a typical distance, the dots in the image blend together to form a picture with a range of grey tones. Up close, the image appears to be a collection of dots. (Referent: Unknown.)
The Creative Process in 5 Stages
A Technique for Producing Ideas was a brief manual released in 1940 by advertising executive James Webb Young. He made a straightforward but important point on coming up with original ideas in this manual.
Young asserts that creative ideas emerge when old pieces are combined in novel ways. In other words, creative thinking involves taking what is already there and putting it together in a novel way rather than starting from scratch and creating something entirely new.
Most importantly, your capacity to perceive the connections between concepts is what determines your capacity to produce novel combinations. It takes creativity to create a new connection between two outdated concepts.
Young was of the opinion that this five-step creative connection process always took place.
- Collect new information. You start by learning. In this phase, your attention is divided between acquiring specific information that is pertinent to your activity and learning general information through developing a passion for a variety of ideas.
- Work the information in your head completely. In this phase, you review your learning by examining the data from numerous perspectives and attempting to fit diverse concepts together.
- Take a step back from the issue. The next step is to entirely block the issue out of your thoughts and go on to something else exciting and energising.
- Let your thought come back to you. Your idea will eventually, but only after you have stopped considering it, come back to you with a flash of insight and newfound vigour.
- Based on comments, refine and develop your concept. Any concept needs to be shared with the public, subjected to feedback, and modified as necessary if you want it to succeed.
The Concept in Action
The five steps are perfectly shown by the creative process utilized by Frederic Eugene Ives.
Ives began by gathering fresh information. He worked as an apprentice printer for two years before managing the Cornell University picture lab for four. He had a wealth of information from which to draw when he connected printing and photography.
Second, Ives started going through everything he had learnt in his head. Ives spent almost all of his time working with new methods by 1878. He was always playing around and trying out new ways to bring concepts together.
Third, Ives turned his back on the issue. In this instance, he slept for a while before having a moment of clarity. Longer amounts of time allowed for creative problems to sit can also be effective. No matter how much time you spend away from the issue, you need to engage in something enjoyable to keep your mind off of it.
Fourth, the thought came back to him. Ives awoke with the answer to his issue in front of him. (On a personal level, I frequently discover that inspiration strikes me when I’m about to lay down for sleep. The answer is simple to find after I allow my brain to shut down for the day.)
Finally, Ives worked on his concept for years. In fact, he made so many improvements to the procedure that he applied for a second patent. This is a crucial element that is frequently missed. Though it can be simple to fall in love with your idea’s original form, great ideas inevitably undergo development.
An Overview of the Creative Process
A suitable metaphor for an idea’s height is that it is a marvel of association.
— Robert Frost
Making fresh connections between preexisting ideas is a key component of the creative process. Thus, we might define creative thinking as the process of identifying connections between ideas.
Following the five-step process of 1) gathering information, 2) intense mental work over the information, 3) stepping away from the problem, 4) allowing the idea to come to you naturally, and 5) testing your idea in the real world and making adjustments based on feedback is one way to approach creative challenges.
Being the first (or the only) person to come up with an idea is not a requirement for creativity. Creativity is more frequently about linking concepts.
