Linear and Nonlinear Creativity

Creativity at work is a process of combining old information and old ideas into New & Useful ideas. This contradicts the harmful myth that creativity generates ideas out of nothing.

Solving problems creatively at work is a down-to-earth activity, not a mountain top phenomenon. You need a prepared mind full of diverse facts and ideas that you can mix and combine to form creative connections.

Stuff your mind for creativity with new facts and ideas. Attend trade fairs and meetings, read, travel, talk with peers, customers, and vendors, and take training.

Another way to spark creative connections is to use bizarre trigger-ideas as stepping stones to new ideas at work.

Bizarre Ideas Can Lead to Useful Solutions

Consider this statement:

“Let's train bears to climb telephone poles in winter and shake off the ice that breaks the transmission wires.”

The idea was proposed to prevent ice from breaking power lines in a mountainous region. One person had complained about being harassed by bears during a repair trip. In a spirit of fun, someone suggested training the bears to climb the poles and shake the ice loose.

Another person suggested putting pots of honey on top of the poles to attract the bears. A third person continued the idea, suggesting the same thing.

This led to a potential solution: the down draft from helicopters flying over the wires might knock the ice off, an idea worth testing.

Bizarre trigger-ideas can spark useful solutions. Unless you help bizarre ideas survive, you lose much creativity at work. Don't squelch bizarre trigger-ideas. Use them to spark better ideas. Squelch criticism, not trigger-ideas.

Linear Creativity

One way to produce new and useful ideas is through Linear Creativity:

A → B → C → D → E → New & Useful Idea

You check each step carefully for truth and logic before continuing. Precise and analytical, you know where you are heading, how to get there, and why you want to be there.

Does it work at work? Of course. Much of our rational thinking is based on this model.

Nonlinear Creativity

Another way to produce new and useful ideas is through Nonlinear Creativity:

A → L → Z → R → E → X … → New & Useful Idea

Ideas leap through bizarre trigger-ideas and remote creative connections. Eventually, a new and useful idea may emerge.

It is an uncertain process. You do not know where it is heading, how or when you will get there, or why you even want to be there. It is risky, unpredictable, and ambiguous. Most often it leads nowhere. But when a new and useful idea emerges, it is very likely to represent a paradigm shift and be unique.

The Bear and Helicopter Example

Take another look at the nonlinear creativity example:

1. Bear harasses telephone pole repair man.
2. Train bears to climb poles and shake ice off.
3. Place pots of honey on tops of poles to attract bears to climb and shake the wires.
4. Use helicopters to place pots of honey on tops of poles to attract bears.
5. Use the down blast of helicopters to shake ice off the wires.

None of these bizarre ideas logically led to the next, yet the outcome was possibly quite useful. Had someone stopped the process by insisting on seriousness, the useful outcome would never have occurred.

Do you deliberately misperceive the world enough at work to obtain a new creative viewpoint when you need one? If not, consider using bizarre trigger-ideas.