Posts Tagged ‘thinking’

Six Great Ways to Ruin a Brainstorm

The brainstorm is the most popular group creativity exercise. It is quick, easy and it works. But many organizations have become frustrated with brainstorms and have stopped using them. They say brainstorms are old-fashioned and no longer effective. But the real reason for the frustrations is that the brainstorms are not facilitated properly. A well-run brainstorm is fun and energetic. It will generate plenty of good ideas. But a poor… » Continue

May 1 2008 | By Paul | Tagged: brainstorm, business, idea, meeting, thinking | 7 comments»

Quantity Breeds Creativity

One of the problems with our education system is that it teaches that for most questions there is one correct answer. Examinations with multiple choice questions force the student to try to select the right answer and avoid the wrong ones.

So when our students leave school they are steeped in a system that says find the ‘right answer’ and you have solved the problem. Unfortunately the real world… » Continue

April 7 2008 | By Paul | Tagged: creative, creativity, edison, imagination, problem-solving, solution, thinking, toyota | 10 comments»

29 Worn Out Perspectives in Need of the “Oh Really?” Factor

We all have places in our lives where we get stuck, augured in by a particular belief like, “work is hard,” or “children are too expensive,” or “politicians are evil.” To make matters worse, we often can’t distinguish between the truth and a disempowering belief because we attach little refrains like, “that’s just the way it is.” It’s as if our minds have become the honeymoon destination for Archie Bunker… » Continue

April 4 2008 | By Lisa | Tagged: creativity, pattern, routine, self-knoweldge, thinking | 39 comments»

Welcome Failure

Very often the best way to test an idea is not to analyze it but to try it. The organization that implements lots of ideas will most likely have many failures but the chances are, it will reap some mighty successes too. By trying numerous initiatives we improve our chances that one of them will be a star. As Tom Kelley of IDEO puts it… » Continue

March 27 2008 | By Paul | Tagged: creativity, failure, imagination, leadership, Management, problem-solving, success, thinking | 10 comments»

Look for the Solution within the Problem

Two prisoners dug a tunnel from their cell 80 feet to escape from prison. Where did they hide the dirt? This is one of the examples used by Roni Horowitz of the consultancy group SIT to show the advantages of a method called Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT).

The answer is that they hid the dirt in the tunnel. The prisoners stole nylon sacks from… » Continue

March 14 2008 | By Paul | Tagged: creative, creativity, imagination, lateral, problem, puzzle, solution, solving, thinking | 11 comments»

Unleash your Inner Genius

Let’s say you are wrestling with a tough issue - maybe at work, at home, with your children or in your social life. You have been stuck for a while and you can’t seem to make a breakthrough. You want to come up with some really creative ideas. What can you do? Here are ten great practical ways to boost your inventiveness and to crack the problem:

1. Ask why… » Continue

March 7 2008 | By Paul | Tagged: brainstorming, creativity, idea, ideation, lateral, problem, problem-solving, solution, thinking | 9 comments»

What Storytellers Can Teach You About How to Learn Faster

Storytelling is a demanding craft. Not only do you have to be able to write or perform the story accurately, you need to create vivid descriptions. Boring, complex or difficult to understand metaphors can turn an imaginative journey into a lifeless plot.

You may not think of it deliberately, but learning is very similar to storytelling. You need to give yourself vivid, memorable and emotionally descriptions… » Continue

January 3 2008 | By Scott H | Tagged: brain, grades, holistic, improvement, learning, mental, metaphor, Productivity, study, thinking | 21 comments»

How to Boost Your Creative Output

Working productively can be broken down into several key skills: time management, organization and controlling your attention and energy. One of the often neglected but most important factors is your creative output. Successful people tend to have an unusually high creative output and I’d like to offer some tips for how you can boost yours.

What is Creativity?

Creativity is often compared with originality. When you see someone… » Continue

November 27 2007 | By Scott H | Tagged: create, creativity, ideas, improving, learning, Lifehack, Productivity, thinking | 17 comments»

4 Reasons Why Curiosity is Important and How to Develop It

The important thing is not to stop questioning… Never lose a holy curiosity. Albert Einstein

Curiosity is an important trait of a genius. I don’t think you can find an intellectual giant who is not a curious person. Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, they are all curious characters. Richard Feynman was especially known for his adventures which came from his curiosity.

But why is curiosity so important?… » Continue

November 14 2007 | By Donald | Tagged: brain, creativity, learning, mind, thinking | 19 comments»

Combat Mental Entropy With These 10 Tips

Entropy in physics is a measure of disorder. The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy will tend to increase. It isn’t uncommon to see an egg break, but it is extremely unlikely that a broken egg will spontaneously reform. Entropy increases with time.

Along with physical entropy I believe we all have mental entropy. This is the amount of chaos present in our minds… » Continue

September 18 2007 | By Scott H | Tagged: energy, mind, organized, stress, thinking, zen | 7 comments»

7 Stupid Thinking Errors You Probably Make

The brain isn’t a flawless piece of machinery. Although it is powerful and comes in an easy to carry container, it has it’s weaknesses. A field in psychology which studies these errors, known as biases. Although you can’t upgrade your mental hardware, noticing these biases can clue you into possible mistakes.

How Bias Hurts You

If you were in a canoe, you’d probably want to know about any… » Continue

September 11 2007 | By Scott H | Tagged: bias, brain, decide, heuristic, learn, Lifehack, logic, mental, study, think, thinking | 86 comments»

Master The Simple Science of Positive Thinking!

Just by simply spending some effort and time, staying positive every day can be easily achieved. All that is required is a fraction of your time, 10-15 minutes a day to cultivate the positive you! But first, what is really positive thinking? Do you have to be in an upbeat, cheerful and enthusiastic mood all day to be positive minded? No. Positive thinking simply means the absence of negative… » Continue

August 31 2007 | By George | Tagged: affrimation, mind, positive, subconscious, thinking | 14 comments»

15 Steps to Cultivate Lifelong Learning

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.” - Marcel Proust“I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.” - Abraham Lincoln

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” - Mark Twain
Assuming the public school system hasn’t crushed your soul, learning is a great activity… » Continue

July 31 2007 | By Scott H | Tagged: book, intuition, learning, study, thinking | 29 comments»

Learn Something New Every Day

Most of us have one or two areas of knowledge that we strive to know very well — things related to our jobs, of course, and maybe a hobby or two. But while it’s important to develop a deep understanding of the things that matter most to us, it is just as important to develop a broad understanding of the world in general.

A lot of unfortunate… » Continue

July 16 2007 | By Dustin | Tagged: education, knowledge, learning, mind, thinking | 23 comments»

7 Rules for Maximizing Your Creative Output

Creative is extremely important for many professionals. Without creativity, you couldn’t breakthrough with new findings. Without creativity, you will be just a follower, not a creator. Steve Pavlina shares his ways of optimizing his creativity. He finds there is a state which happened once in a while - he called it a creative flow state, that is when all his creative thoughts happening. On the flow state… » Continue

January 18 2007 | By Leon | Tagged: creativity, thinking | 2 comments»

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