Creativity is about looking beyond the most obvious or easiest solution to a problem.
Creative people push their ideas beyond the first reaction and try to see the problem
in a fresh way, from another angle. Sometimes, even for the very creative, this is
hard to do, especially if you've been working on the problem for a while and can't
see past it.
Here’s another exercise to help you increase your ability to solve problems creatively.
Creative Exercise 7 - Going beyond the obvious
We are frequently hampered in creative problem solving by our habitual ways of looking
at things. The more familiar a situation or an object is, the harder it is to see
it differently. Creativity, however, requires a ‘fresh’ pair of eyes.
While this problem
looks deceptively simple, it is actually quite difficult. There are four volumes
of Shakespeare's collected works on the shelf.
The covers of each volume are each 1/6” thick. The pages of each volume are exactly
2” thick. A bookworm started eating at page 1 of Volume I and ate through to the
last page of Volume IV. What is the distance the bookworm covered?
The answer is 5”.
If you had trouble with this one, you are probably used to thinking in a particular
way. We are accustomed to seeing a book in a certain position - facing us, with the
first page near the left hand cover and the last page nearest the right hand cover.
However, in this problem, it was specified that the volumes were on a shelf. With
the backs facing you, so the order of pages is reversed.
In creative problem solving
it serves well to heed this warning: the more familiar the object, the harder it
is to see it in another context.
If you got the correct answer, how did you do it? A lot of people will imagine themselves
as the bookworm and picture its journey. Not only does the ability to put ourselves
in another person’s shoes (or object’s place) help develop our creativity, it also
improves our social relationships and deepens understanding. This ability to imagine
one's self in another person's or objects place is very important to creativity,
social relations and understanding.
Creativity coaching can help you expand your thinking so that you can solve your
problems in ways that suit your situation most beneficially for all concerned.
Click here to arrange an introductory session to find out more.
