How to be creative? - Part1

Definition
Creativity is a mental process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts.

Creativity is a way of living not just an ability but the good news is that it can be learned and practiced.

Importance
It's vital to be creative in this world specially in Software Development. Often whoever is more creative, will be more successful in life. Creative people are more intelligent and attractive.

Technique 1: Problem Reversal

This technique helps us to see and think about the opposite aspects of problems. There are 7 subtechniques for this technique:

1. State your problem in reverse.
2. Change a positive statement into a negative one.
3. Try to define what something is not.
4. Figure out what everybody else is not doing.
5. Use the "What If" Compass Change the direction or location of your perspective
6. Flip-flop results
7. Turn defeat into victory or victory into defeat

Example
Imagine you're an employee with £20k salary and you would like to find a way to increase it. Think about how not to increase your salary, decrease it or keeping it in the same amount?

• Just going to work, coming back home and doing nothing else
• Not studying anything new or achieving any certification
• Not looking for a new job with higher salary
• Wasting time at work - being unprofessional
• Not thinking about self-business

The result is you will come up with new ideas how to increase your income.

Example
Imagine you want to live your day in a way you achieve your goals, so think about how you can waste your time in a day?

• Not to plan it in advance
• Watching TV all day
• Looking around the internet with no goal
• Talking with friends all day
• ...

The result is you will come up with new ideas how to use your day properly.

Example:
Imagine your goal is to improve customer services, list all the ways you could make customer services bad.

1. Waiting customer for a long time
2. Not answering customer
3. Swearing to customer
4. Saying you will do what customer has asked, and not to do it.
5. ...

In this way, you will understand and come up with new ideas how to improve the customer services.

Example:
Imagine your goal is to have a tidy bedroom, list all you can do to have an untidy bedroom e.g.

1. Not hanging the shirts immidiately after you take them off
2. Not cleaning your desk at all
3. Putting your clothes on the floor
4. Not assigning time per week to clean your room

The result is, you will understand what easy ways are there that you can avoid doing or do to keep the bedroom tidy.

Example:
Imagine you went to a job interview and they didn't give you an offer, think about the positive aspects e.g. I gained more experience that will help me in my next interview.