New Training Approach Claims Anyone Can Become More Creative

Is there a distinction between creative and non-creative types? If they are given the right methods, anyone can tap into their creativity.

The new method hones in on narrative cognitive skills like our natural ability to think in terms of action, cause, and outcome, like we do when we make up stories.

A different set of neural processes are used compared to the current method of creative training, which is a more computational, logical approach to fostering creativity.

Young children who engage in story-based play are more imaginatively creative than adults, yet their thinking is not compatible with how kids operate.

We as a society are obsessed with the idea that some people are more creative than others, and that's why we undervalue the creativity of kids and many others.

The reality is that we are not training creativity in the right way.

The authors have come up with a narrative theory of creativity, which is a method for analyzing story based art, but it has been applied to creativity training in a new way.

The approach consists of world building, perspective shifting, and action generating.

This approach could be used in the business world. If every customer was like their most unusual customer, employees would be asked to imagine how the business would change. The company staff might be asked to imagine a day in the life of someone at a different level in the business, or they might be asked to combine two ideas together, such as two people with different motives.

In the words of the researchers, taking creativity to be the ability to generate novel ideas that are useful has potential benefits for companies, artistic groups and society as a whole.

Trying to hire creative people causes problems because the people that leaders identify as creative are almost always people just like themselves.

It is better to hire a diverse group of people and then train them to be creative. That creates a culture that recognizes that there are already creative people in your organization.

The US Army, the University of Chicago, and several Fortune 50 companies are some of the groups that have been tested by the creativity training of the group of colleagues. There is no scientific analysis of how effective the new approach is, but it has found some early success with those who have tried it.

One of the ways we remain distinct from artificial intelligence systems is by being able to be original and craft.

The researchers acknowledge that it has been shown to improve working memory, critical thinking, and other brain skills, but it hasn't led to the innovation and growth we might expect.

According to the authors, narrative theory could be used with both techniques.

"Creativity isn't about guessing the future correctly."

Making yourself open to imagining different possibilities is what it is about. You can respond more quickly and nimbly to the changes that occur when you do that.

The research was published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.