1.2 Creative thinking
“Everybody has a creative potential and from the moment you can express this creative potential, you can start changing the world.”
– Paulo Coelho
Reflect
- Who is the most creative person you know? Why have you chosen them?
- Do you consider yourself a ‘creative’ person? Why? Why not?
- How would you define creative thinking?
What is creative thinking?
You might be surprised to know that everyone has creative abilities: it’s true of everyone who fully expresses creative abilities, as well as those who express them very little or not at all. All humans are innately creative, especially if creativity is understood as a problem-solving skill.
Creativity is inspired when there is a problem to solve. For example, when a sculptor creates an amazing sculpture, it’s an act of problem-solving: perhaps they must determine which artistic style to use in order to create the likeness of an object, or perhaps they’re deciding which tools will most suit their purpose or style. In every case, the problem sparks the sculptor’s creativity. But you don’t necessarily need to ‘create’ something, like a sculpture, to use and benefit from creative thinking.
Considered as an act of problem-solving, creative thinking can be understood as a skill—as opposed to an inborn talent or natural ‘gift’—that can be taught as well as learned. Problem-solving is something we are called upon to do every day, from performing mundane chores to executing sophisticated projects. The good news is that we can always improve upon our problem-solving and creative-thinking skills—even if we don’t consider ourselves to be artists or ‘creative’.
Why is creative thinking important?
When people talk about important skills for life, study, and work, creative thinking is sometimes overshadowed by critical thinking. However, creative thinking and critical thinking go hand in hand, and human progress relies heavily on both sets of skills.
Critical thinking helps us examine situations and identify problems, while creative thinking drives idea generation, exploring solutions, and innovation. Creative thinking makes entrepreneurship possible and it’s vital to our personal growth and adaptability.
Read about these major benefits in more detail below.
Problem solving
Creative thinking enhances your problem-solving abilities by helping you approach challenges and situations from different angles. This can help you find solutions that might not be immediately apparent even to experts in a field because they’re so accustomed to doing things in a particular way.
Innovation
Creative thinking was a crucial part of the development of all the innovations we benefit from today, from reading glasses to media streaming services. Creativity is what drives innovation. Creativity is the thought process, and innovation is the action of turning those creative ideas into tangible outcomes.
Entrepreneurship
To figure out where there are gaps in the market and to fulfil a need that is not being met, entrepreneurs need to first use their critical thinking skills to analyse and evaluate the market, and then their creative thinking skills to solve those problems and come up with ways to engage the customers.
Personal growth
The more you use your creative thinking, the stronger your skills become. Knowing you can create things, and/or come up with unique ideas and solutions, gives you confidence in your ability to adapt to new situations and deal with whatever comes up.
A (dystopian) world without creative thinking…
Can you imagine it?
Life would be monotonous as we carried out our daily routines – it would likely be a stagnant and repetitive existence. Without the ability to innovate through creative thinking, industries would struggle to address complex issues and create new products. Problem solving would be formulaic, and any problem that couldn’t be solved through these conventional formulas would remain unsolved.
People would be less able to adapt to new situations and would no longer express their individuality through creative means. Without creativity, there would be less beauty in the world in the form of artistic and cultural expression – we wouldn’t have the art, music, books, or shows that we enjoy today.
Luckily, this is just hypothetical, and humanity does have the critical thinking skills necessary to come up with solutions to day-to-day problems, create beautiful and functional things, and tackle the larger, pressing issues that the world faces.
Creative thinking in careers
It’s highly likely that you will be required to use your creative thinking skills in your future career. Employers value creative thinking skills and employees who can solve problems and innovate are always in demand.
According to The World Economic Forum’s 2023 The Future of Jobs Report, approximately 73% of companies surveyed highlighted creative thinking as an increasingly important skill in their industry. Employers reported that creative thinking and analytical thinking (related cognitive skills), are their top priorities for hiring and upskilling employees between 2023 and 2027 (The World Economic Forum, 2023).
Move through the slideshow below to learn a bit about the role of creative thinking in three different industries: education, health, and engineering.
Reflect
What does creativity mean to you in the context of your academic or professional discipline?
How do you currently approach problem-solving and idea generation within your field of study?
How do you think creative thinking and innovation might be important in these roles?
- Advertising executive
Example: An advertising executive needs to use creative thinking to come up with new campaign concepts that will capture people’s attention. If they just copy their company’s past campaigns, their brand won’t stand out and their advertisements will be uninspiring.
- Architect
- Content creator
- Criminal investigators
- Economist
- Marketing assistant
- Sustainability advisor
- Urban planner
- Videogame designer
Now that you know what creative thinking is and why it’s important, explore the following pages on developing your creative thinking skills and using creative thinking when you do group work.
Content in the ‘What is creative thinking’ section of this page has been adapted from:
- Critical thinking web: Creativity by Joe Lau & Johnathan Chan, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA
- College Success by Lumen Learning, licensed under CC BY (Original: Creative Thinking Skills by Linda Bruce, Lumen Learning, licensed under CC BY).
Sources
Quote: Coelho, P. (2008, October 13). Just A Minute With: Paulo Coelho on digital media. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLD241495/
World Economic Forum. (2023). The Future of Jobs Report 2023. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2023/.
