Creative Thinking
Creative thinking is expansive, open-ended invention and discovery of possibilities. When people speak of “right brain” activity, they most often mean creative thinking. Here are some of the more common creative thinking abilities:
Brainstorming ideas involves asking a question and rapidly listing all answers, even those that are far-fetched, impractical, or impossible.
Creating something requires forming it by combining materials, perhaps according to a plan or perhaps based on the impulse of the moment.
Designing something means finding the conjunction between form and function and shaping materials for a specific purpose.
Entertaining others involves telling stories, making jokes, singing songs, playing games, acting out parts, and making conversation.
Imagining ideas involves reaching into the unknown and impossible, perhaps idly or with great focus, as Einstein did with his thought experiments.
Improvising a solution involves using something in a novel way to solve a problem.
Innovating is creating something that hasn’t existed before, whether an object, a procedure, or an idea.
Overturning something means flipping it to get a new perspective, perhaps by redefining givens, reversing cause and effect, or looking at something in a brand new way.
Problem solving requires using many of the creative abilities listed here to figure out possible solutions and putting one or more of them into action.
Questioning actively reaches into what is unknown to make it known, seeking information or a new way to do something.