3 Tips for Developing Creative Intelligence
“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got,” said Henry Ford. It’s human nature to always want something else, something more, better, different. And yet, so many of us carry on doing things the same old way. Thinking the same old thoughts. Being the same as we always were. Then we get something new in our lives. And wonder what has happened when it turns out to be just another version of the same old thing.
That is why it is so important to develop our creative intelligence (CQ). Because then we are more easily able to not only recognize the same old patterns, but to shift them.
The greater our CQ, or the more of a creative mindset we have, the more likely we are to think in a different way, to approach problems and life in general from a fresh perspective.
This will help us to actually get those different results we so desire.
1. Add the word yet into your vocabulary.
Creativity thrives when you are open to possibility. So, next time you find yourself thinking “I can’t do that”, or “I don’t know how to do it” or something similar, change it to “I can’t do that, yet”; “I don’t know how to do it, yet”.
2. Creativity does not like routine. So change up yours.
It doesn’t have to be in a big way. Change your route to work. If you usually put your pants on before your shirt, do it the other way around. Try a cup of tea in the morning instead of coffee every day. Go and eat your lunchtime sandwich on a park bench instead of the common area in the office. And so on.
3. Put your phone away and pay attention to your surroundings.
When you are standing in a queue or at the station waiting, instead of scrolling through social media, or even answering emails, put your phone away. Look at your surroundings.
What do you notice about the people and things around you? What do you hear? Smell? What are you reminded of?
Make up a story about the woman sitting opposite you on the train. Imagine how that little boy will look when he is your age. Just play by exploring ideas about the people and things in your world for a while.
. . .
Start doing little things in different ways from how you have always done them.
Play with the idea of changing your actions, and you will find that you start changing the way you think too.
You will begin to develop that creative “muscle”, and find yourself more open to new possibilities. This is the starting point of developing your CQ.
