The root word for creativity, ‘creation’, means to bring into existence something which did not previously exist.

But what is creativity, when do we exercise it, and how can we become more creative?

Researchers tend towards defining creative thinking – or lateral thinking – as the combining of previous ideas into new and innovative combinations, discarding the possibility that creative thought can come “out of nothing”. While this limits the definition to a certain extent, it does allow a more objective analysis of the creative process and forms the basis of many psychometric tests for creativity.

Originality is generally accepted as one of the key aspects of creativity. For example, the tool of language is available to all, but it takes a mind to arrange the words in that certain different way to create a poem or a verse. Similarly, we all know that wood floats on water and that metal sinks. And yet the wheels of industry are oiled by steel tankers criss-crossing the ocean at this very moment. Why? Because someone realised that it was not the wood that kept the ships of his time afloat…

Another common association with creativity is intelligence. While studies have shown that highly creative people are usually considered intelligent by general standards, a person with a high IQ does not necessarily demonstrate a similarly high level of creativity. This leads us to the possible conclusion that while the analytical, logical methods of thinking measured by IQ tests may be a factor in creative thought, they are not themselves the basis for it.

Creativity is a Way of Thinking

Creativity does not neccesarily mean bringing something new into the world. It also means to bring something new within oneself. A creative person looks at things differently, and creativity can come into play any number of times in our everyday lives. But only if we let it.

Beyond the music, pictures and other works of art, besides the inventions and formulas of science, to be creative also means to be able to find a solution to a problem, to think up a new idea, to find a better way of doing things. In this sense, most riddles (or at least the good ones) exercise creative thinking in order to be answered.

Many different methods have been suggested to help one enhance one’s creative thinking, such as practising visualisation, keeping a written journal, taking part in brainstorming sessions and practising creative associations (such as thinking of new uses for everyday items). Ultimately, creative thinking is enhanced, like any muscle of the body, through frequent use, through asking oneself, when confronted with a problem, “that’s the obvious way it should be done, but is it the best way?”