Edward Prince Furniture Design - Creativity - How to be more creative - Patterns
Creativity - Pattern Disruption
“A wonderful Harmony arises from joining together the seemingly unconnected.” Heraclitus
It has been estimated that the human brain has approximately 60,000 thoughts a day. This is quite a lot and the scary thing is 95% of those thoughts you had today, you will have tomorrow. So stretch this out further and ask yourself how many of those thoughts are the same a week, a month or even a year later? Now that really is scary especially if those thoughts are not very productive.
Pattern Disruption is exactly what it says – disrupting the normal thought, emotional and behavioural patterns that you typically have. The creative person uses tools and techniques to disrupt their normal patterns of behaviour and thinking in order to perceive new ways of doing things and have new thoughts.
What are patterns
Patterns give us the power to understand the world and consequently, they rule our thinking and become the rules according to which we live our lives. The mind is very good at forming patterns; we recognise sequences, cycles, shapes, processes, similarities and probabilities. A common problem is becoming locked into one particular approach, method or strategy without acknowledging that other approaches may be more appropriate
Rodger von Oech the creativity guru would go for a daily run, after years of stopping to cool down at the same place to pat a neighbours dog called ‘Aslan’ he continued to stop in the same place even after the dog had moved. This action he recognised as a pattern of behaviour through which he invented a law called the “Aslan phenomenon” this states:
1. We make rules based upon reasons that make a lot of sense
2. We follow the rules
3. Time passes and things change.
4. The original reasons for creating these rules no longer exist yet we still to follow them.
We must acknowledge that creative thinking involves not only generating new ideas but escaping from obsolete ones as well. Periodically inspect your ideas, assumptions and beliefs to see if they are habit bound and contributing to the effectiveness of your thinking. Firstly ask “Why did this concept, project, idea come to exist” Then “Do these reasons still exist”?
"To think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted." George Kneller
Pattern seeking
Developing your perceptive abilities lies at the core of becoming a creative thinker. Perception is an active pattern seeking process. This involves the mind trying to close an incomplete picture by finding a desired pattern embedded in its surrounding.
This is easily demonstrated by gestalt theory through the Rorschach inkblot test commonly by psychotherapists to discover the subconscious interests of their patients, by analysing how visual patterns are interpreted for meaning.
Creative thinking is a process of identifying relationships and reorganising them until a new idea is perceived. The majority of the popular creativity tools are based on this process for example random words, analogies, alternative viewpoints and combining concepts.
The pattern, or gestalt, that you perceive in a problem is strongly influenced by the way you attempt to solve the problem. The stereotyped thinker works with the first pattern that he sees, almost invariably a conventional one and does not recognise this assumption. The creative thinker re-centres his perception of the same problem by disrupting the original pattern and regrouping it into a variety of patterns. This is a three-stage process:
- Look at a problem to analyse its content, structure and possibilities
- Form a pattern of what it looks like and how you will approach solving it.
- Re-patterning your thoughts and perceptions.
When you are focusing on patterns, the eye or mind (depending whether the patterns are visual, auditory or conceptual) is more apt to catch changes, differences, and the unexpected.
You have a highly developed ability to find meaning in the world around you and the capacity to analyse, to divide wholes into parts. In order to perceive fully and creatively develop the ability to analyse and form new patterns. If you normally develop details, then try to see the bigger picture in which the parts form a unified whole or pattern or visa versa.
"Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way." Edward de Bono
Types of Pattern Formation
Perception is an active pattern-seeking process that works in two ways. Firstly by filling in incomplete patterns and secondly by finding a desired pattern embedded in distracting surroundings.
The pattern-seeking nature of perception is so active because the mind instinctively tries to find meaningful patterns. This pattern matching can proceed either through detail-by-detail comparison, or through seeing a desired pattern in a whole. The world we create is invented through this visual spatial operation. Looked at on a rudimentary level we discover everything in our environment by recognising common features. On a rigorous level visual categorisation is at the core of much scientific discovery, as well as the ability to complete patterns.
These patterns can have a low impact or a high impact on your life. Not all patterns are bad as you may have good patterns that bring you success. However chances are, there are patterns you have that are unhelpful. These thought and behavioural patterns are a result of your values and beliefs. The following are examples of high and low patterns and behaviours.
A. Low Impact Thought Patterns:
1. You think a little bit of chocolate won’t harm you
2. You think the given their current performance the All Blacks rugby team will win their next cup.
3. You think Georgian furniture is the most elegantB. High Impact Thought Patterns:
1. You think you are uncreative because you are not good at art.
2. You think people should recognise you are a brilliant person with out question.
3. You think people are always in it for themselves and will rip you off.C. Low Impact Behavioural Patterns:
1. You drive the same way to work everyday
2. You sleep on the same side of the bed every night
3. You put the sock on your left foot firstD. High Impact Behavioural Patterns:
1. You smoke a cigarette after you eat and drink
2. You always base your art on standard sizes of paper and follow the same procedure to execute your idea
3. You get defensive when your partner criticizes you.
By challenging the status quo and disrupting your thought and behavioural patterns you may start to develop new beliefs, which results in new thoughts and behaviours. Challenging the status quo is something you must actively do.
“Man's mind once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimension.” Oliver Wendell Holmes
Useful Tools:
1. Organised random search.
A very simple way to come up with a new idea is to pick up a dictionary and open it at a random page and then to use the word that stands out from the page to stimulate new ideas (this is easiest with words that refer to people, places or things). You don’t have to use a dictionary it could be any book, catalogue or magazine. You don’t even have to stick to words as images can be just as if not more informative. This technique can be performed in two ways firstly, picking a word and making associations with the word and the problem. Alternatively, use a two-column matrix one column with the attributes of the words you have found with the other column with the qualities of the problem or object.
You are organising a theme for your next conference and have picked the word INFANT. You are reminded of kindergarten with lots of images on the wall, bold words, lots of activities. multiple forms of expression, colourful toys, exploration, curiosity, sitting around the teacher listening with rapt attention to theatrically told stories. You think of your brother’s child and their laughter, love of bob the builder and plying hide and seek, you think of infant food and the simple, healthy, balanced diet encouraged in school. You are reminded of children’s cloths, Father Christmas, the tooth fairy and fantasy stories. In the end pick out of these ideas key themes like: bold simple statements, colour, fun and laughter, curiosity, exploration and free communication, multi-sensory diverse activities for learning etc then you design the conference with these themes as appropriate to your business.
2. Reversal.
This pattern disruption technique takes a situation as it is and turns it around, inside out, backwards, or upside down. The problem can be "reversed" in several ways; there is no set procedure.
Example: how can management improve the retail business?
· How can the store improve management?
· How can management make the store worse?
· How can the store make itself worse?
· How can the store prevent improvements?
In some reversals, ideas are generated which then can be reversed into an idea applicable to the original problem. Example from reversal, "How can management make the store worse?" charge high prices on low quality goods, Make it dirty, arrange goods in disorganised fashion, Staff are rude to customers, hire lazy employees, encourage shoplifting, fail to price goods, charge what you feel like. These negative things can then be reversed for example: be knowledgeable and helpful to customers, make sure products are logically and attractively displayed etc. Occasionally thinking negatively first can be easier and then reverse the negatives.
The value of reversal is the way in which reversed information provokes new responses. Looking at a familiar problem or situation in a fresh way can suggest new solutions or approaches. It doesn't matter whether the reversal makes sense or not.
3. Trigger Concepts.
A trigger concept is an idea generating technique that works by bringing an unrelated idea into the problem and forcing connections or similarities between the two. This may sound strange however it works well. And, oddly enough, any random seed will be fruitful if you are patient and energetic.
2 + 2 = 5 or more! When you combine two ideas to make a third, two plus two can equal five.
Someone put a trolley and a suitcase together and got a suitcase with wheels.
Someone put copier and a telephone together and got a fax machine.
Someone put a bell and a clock together and got an alarm clock.
Someone put a coin punch and a wine press together and we got books.
In his book, 'The Care and Feeding of Ideas', James Adams gives the following problem and random seed as an exercise: "Assume that you have been hired as a consultant by a restaurant that is having business problems. See how many ways you can think of to improve the business of the restaurant using the concept of a dead cat that has been run over."
I think of cat guts, flat cat, who killed the cat, cats the musical, nine lives
Cat guts, catgut, squash racket-Turn the restaurant into sports club and or decorate it with a sports theme, install game machines or traditional games or put in a giant screen TV and show sporting events.
Flat cat, tire tread marks, cartoons--add an art gallery with modern art on the walls, design the interior with art themes or encourage art at the tables, attract creative types.
Who killed the cat? Offer surprise menu items that guests won't know what they are until the food arrives. Run murder mystery evenings
Cats the musical, Have staff dress up as cats, promote restaurant as a cat lovers haven, Do song and dance routines as entertainment.
Nine lives, build repeat business by giving a free meal, drink, gift after nine visits.
An important rule in creative thinking is that wild ideas are valuable because the normal forces of life will tend to convert them rapidly into practicality.
Exercises
Trigger Concepts.
Choose one of the following items and use its assigned trigger concept to stimulate ideas for improving the item. On the first part of a page, write down the ideas and associations that first occur to you when using the trigger concept. Then on the last part of the page, list at least five improvements, each described in a sentence or two that resulted from your thinking.
1. Improve a garden blower using the trigger concept of a yoyo.
2. Improve a hair dressers salon using the trigger concept of tractor
3. Improve a library using the trigger concept of spy
Reversals.
Choose on of the following situations and suggest at least five reversals for it. And then see if any new perspectives and approaches reveal themselves.
1. How to be enthusiastic about exercise
2. How to get a salary increase.
3. Making the holidays fun
4. How can a student improve his ability to remember information?
5. How can society solve the homeless problem?
Daily Disruptions
Below is a list of tools that you can do on a regular basis that helps you introduce variety into your daily routine. Practising on small activities gives you the confidence to introduce the principle of pattern disruption to bigger and more important areas of your life. Pick any activity and do one a day till you’ve done them all. Add more to the list and repeat at will.
1. Sleep on the other side of the bed
2. Have a shower with your eyes closed
3. Brush your teeth using your non-dominant hand
4. Change the way you brush your teeth
5. Change the order you get dressed
6. Write out shopping lists with your non-dominant hand
7. Buy a breakfast cereal you’ve never tried before
8. Drive a different way to work
9. Listen to a different radio station or musical style on CD
10. Watch the news on a different TV channel
11. Practise your signature with your non-dominant hand
12. Practise saying the alphabet backwards till you can do it at speed
13. Wear your watch on the other arm
14. Don’t wear a watch (or wear one if you don’t normally)
15. Change the ring tone on your mobile
16. Use your knife and fork in opposite hands
17. Turn the sound down during a TV show and do the dialogue/commentary
18. Start up a conversation with a stranger next time you’re in an elevator
19. Read a magazine that you have no interest in
20. Pick a suburb you’ve never explored and go shopping there