Creative thinking - how to get out of the box and generate ideas: Giovanni Corazza at TEDxRoma

Creative Thinking: How to Get Out of the Box and Generate Ideas - Giovanni Corazza at TEDxRoma

Introduction

Sometimes, what seems easy can confront us with immense difficulty. Have you ever been given an ostensibly simple task that turns out to be quite challenging, possibly even harder for you than it would be for others? This often leads to frustration, an experience I myself encountered when I began taking singing lessons, and my teacher instructed me to breathe with my diaphragm—a natural yet challenging skill, intrinsic to great singers. It’s akin to when a boss demands innovative, out-of-the-box thinking, simple in concept but demanding in practice. The message here underscores the need for practice and understanding in surpassing conventional thought—a journey I explore in this article.

The Necessity of Thinking Outside the Box

Why should we think outside of the box? Inside the box, we feel secure, aligning with others' thoughts and avoiding risks to our hard-earned reputations. But in today’s interconnected world, we’re part of networks sharing the same information. Our individuality and dignity hinge on what we create with this shared knowledge. Thus, thinking creatively isn’t a luxury but a necessity.

Defining the Box

The box isn’t our mind per se but the boundary between our known concepts and unexplored ideas. Our knowledge structure emerges from our genetic heritage, environmental boundaries, indirect learning, and personal experiences—building the “ant hill” in which we live safely. What lies beyond this boundary is unknown and risky, but essential for growth.

Mechanisms for Exiting the Box

Breaking out of the box involves more than waiting for an epiphany. While reality offers convergent information—dominant ideas and established norms—we must embrace divergent information. This includes absurd, irrelevant, or incorrect thoughts to transcend mental boundaries. Employing techniques such as idea association, principle extraction, and applying these principles to new areas promotes creative thinking.

Long Thinking vs. Fast Thinking

Once outside the box, we face uncertainty with no clear direction. This exploratory phase compels us to resist the urge to return to familiar territory. Eschewing immediate judgment, we must value “long thinking”—letting concepts take us far, akin to experiencing poetry or music. Long thinking fosters open-mindedness, fluency, and the pursuit of alternatives over correct answers.

Evaluating New Ideas

Assessing new ideas' value is challenging; skepticism often arises, doubting our worth as innovators or assuming others thought these ideas first. Yet, new ideas’ potential or their serendipitous application to other problems can reveal their worth. Recognition of such value requires resisting natural idea-killing tendencies.

Nurturing a Creative Environment

Creativity flourishes in an environment that tolerates mistakes and integrates divergent information. Diverse disciplines, metaphors, and irrelevant elements should blend, fostering innovation. Conversely, punitive surroundings stifle creativity.

Practical Example: Innovating TEDx Conferences

An interactive experiment on TEDx conference ideas illustrates out-of-the-box thinking's practical applications. Conventional elements include brilliant speakers, excellent themes, fast transitions, and grand settings. Applying divergent thinking to these aspects generates novel concepts:

Grand Settings: Moving a TEDx conference to a stadium, though impractical, inspires ideas like halftime speeches at football matches.
Speakers: Eliminating brilliant speakers leads to scenarios where speakers deliver others’ scripts, fostering collaboration and humility, reducing ego involvement.

Such exercises reflect broader creative processes, encouraging us to think differently and generate innovative solutions.

Conclusion

Thinking outside the box is essential and achievable. This article’s journey aims to inspire and equip readers to embrace and practice creative thinking. Thank you for your time.

Keywords

Creative Thinking
Out-of-the-Box
Divergent Information
Long Thinking
Idea Evaluation
Innovation Environment
Metaphorical Integration
Practical Example
TEDx Conference

FAQ

Q1: Why is it necessary to think outside the box? A1: In a world where information is ubiquitously shared, our distinctiveness and human dignity depend on what we create from this common knowledge. Thus, creative thinking becomes a necessity, not just a luxury.

Q2: What defines the 'box' in creative thinking? A2: The box represents the boundary between our existing knowledge and unexplored ideas. It’s formed by our genetic and environmental factors, indirect learning, and personal experiences.

Q3: What methods can help in thinking outside the box? A3: Utilizing divergent information, embracing absurd or irrelevant ideas, associating and combining different ideas, and extracting and applying principles to new areas can effectively aid in out-of-the-box thinking.

Q4: What is 'long thinking'? A4: Long thinking involves allowing ideas and concepts to mature without immediate judgment, similar to experiencing poetry or music as a whole rather than evaluating individual words or notes.

Q5: How can you evaluate the value of a new idea? A5: Evaluating new ideas involves recognizing their potential, resisting the urge to dismiss them prematurely, and possibly finding serendipitous applications for unrelated problems.

Q6: What type of environment nurtures creativity? A6: A creativity-friendly environment tolerates mistakes, incorporates divergent information, and blends various disciplines and irrelevant elements to foster innovative thinking.