Think Out Of The Box

Thinking out of the box (sometimes erroneously called "thinking outside of the box" or "thinking outside the square") is to think differently, unconventionally or from a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel, creative and smart thinking.

This is sometimes called a process of lateral thought. The catchphrase, or cliché, has become widely used in business environments, especially by management consultants and executive coaches, and has spawned a number of advertising slogans. To think outside the box is to look further and try not to think of the obvious things, but try and think beyond that.

Example Of For Problem Solving

 

The "nine dots" puzzle. The goal of the puzzle is to link all 9 dots using four straight lines or less, without lifting the pen and without tracing the same line more than once. One solution appears below.

One of many solutions to the puzzle at the beginning of this article is to go beyond the boundaries to link all dots in 4 straight lines.

“Mind Map”! What is it?

            A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid to studying and organizing information, solving problems, making decisions, and writing.

The elements of a given mind map are arranged intuitively according to the importance of the concepts, and are classified into groupings, branches, or areas, with the goal of representing semantic or other connections between portions of information. Mind maps may also aid recall of existing memories.

By presenting ideas in a radial, graphical, non-linear manner, mind maps encourage a brainstorming approach to planning and organizational tasks. Though the branches of a mindmap represent hierarchical tree structures, their radial arrangement disrupts the prioritizing of concepts typically associated with hierarchies presented with more linear visual cues. This orientation towards brainstorming encourages users to enumerate and connect concepts without a tendency to begin within a particular conceptual framework.

The mind map can be contrasted with the similar idea of concept mapping. The former is based on radial hierarchies and tree structures denoting relationships with a central governing concept, whereas concept maps are based on connections between concepts in more diverse patterns.

 

How Many Types Of Mind Map Are There?

There are several different types of mind map and the most commonly are :-

·         Problem Solving Mind Map

·         Project Mind Map

·         Associated Mind Map

·         Knowledge Mind Map

·         Logical Mind Map

Wow, That Is Interesting. How Can I Set My Own Mind Map?

• Take a sheet of plain paper and turn it sideways (if using flipchart paper you don't need to turn it sideways - it is large enough);
• Using colored felt pens, draw a small picture (or write a phrase) in the centre of the paper representing the issue you want to solve;
• Draw lines out from the main problem (it helps to use different colors for each line).
• Each line should represent a different aspect of your problem or issue;
• Write down what each line represents either on top of or on the line;
• Add other lines flowing off these main lines;
• Write a word or short phrase on the smaller lines indicating what each new line represents (you may find that mind mapping works best for you if you write down the phrases or draw the images first and then connect them with the lines); and
• If you want, add images next to your main line that illustrate what each line means to you (some people think better with pictures, others with words).

Black Mind Map ( Example Of Mind Map Formate) 

Example Of Mind Map

Bill Gates (William Henry Gates III): Microsoft Founder

Bill Gates is one of the most influential people in the world. He is cofounder of one of the most recognized brands in the computer industry with nearly every desk top computer using at least one software program from Microsoft.

            After dropping out of Harvard Bill Gates and his partner Paul Allen set about revolutionizing the computer industry. Gates believed there should be a computer on every office desk and in every home. 

            In 1975 the company Micro-soft was formed, which was an abbreviation of microcomputer software. It soon became simply "Microsoft"® and went on to completely change the way people use computers.

            Microsoft helped to make the computer easier to use with its developed and purchased software, and made it a commercial success. The success of Microsoft began with the MS-DOS computer operating system that Gates licensed to IBM. Bill Gates is truly a creative person with his novelty, invention and innovation.

"To enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential." Microsoft Mission Statement.

Google Guys

Google company was found by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, often dubbed the "Google Guys"while the two were attending Stanford University as Ph.D. candidates. It was first incorporated as a privately held company on September 4, 1998, and its initial public offering followed on August 19, 2004.

Google runs over one million servers in data centers around the world, and processes over one billion search requests  and about twenty-four petabytes of user-generated data every day.  Google's rapid growth since its incorporation has triggered a chain of products, acquisitions, and partnerships beyond the company's core search engine. The company offers online productivity software, such as its Gmail e-mail software, and social networking tools, including Orkut and, more recently, Google Buzz and their first own applications such as the web browser Google Chrome. They are creative thinkers and inventive and innovative.

Invention vs Innovation

Invention

An invention is the discovery or creation of a new material (either a new manufactured product or a new composition or matter), a new process, a new use for an existing material, or any improvements of any of these.

An invention is a new composition, device, or process. An invention may be derived from a pre-existing model or idea, or it could be independently conceived in which case it may be a radical breakthrough. In addition, there is cultural invention, which is an innovative set of useful social behaviors adopted by people and passed on to others. Inventions often extend the boundaries of human knowledge or experience. An invention that is novel and not obvious to others skilled in the same field may be able to obtain the legal protection of a patent.

    New Ideas                                              2 Wheel Car

Innovation

An invention is useful only to the inventor unless it is offered to the public, however niche that public may be. If the invention improves some product, process or service for the public, then that invention transforms into an innovation.

An innovation can be big or small. Brand-new or just a bit different, it doesn't matter. An innovation can be clearly complex or seemingly simple. Innovations are often thought of in terms of technical achievement, but can also be a design. The type, industry and style of innovation are irrelevant; an innovation's impact determines its qualification.

The presence of a genius can help with innovation – it may speed up the end result by having a person who can see and make the future happen. However, innovation is more than the work of any one "Einstein." Innovation involves the taking of the work of an individual (or team) of inventors and taking it to a broader audience.

iPhone + Coffin = iPhone Coffin

Scanner + Printer = Scanner Printer

Difference between Innovation and Invention

Invention often concerns a single product or process

Innovation often involves a combination of products and processes 

Creativity

Referring back to my older post about what is creativity, here I am going to talk more about creativity.

Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new (a product, a solution, a work of art etc.) which has some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs. What counts as "valuable" is similarly defined in a variety of ways.

Scholarly interest in creativity ranges widely: the relationship between creativity and general intelligence; the mental and neurological processes associated with creative activity; personality type and creative ability; creativity and mental health; creativity in education; and ways of fostering creativity through training and technology.

There Are 4 Types Of Creativity

* Boundary Pushing 

(the rules are too constraining)  

* Boundary Pushing 

(the rules are too constraining)  

* Boundary Breaking   

(the rules are the problem) 

* Aesthetic Organizing 

(order and beauty from chaos) 

Note : In Creativity, Rules Are Meant To Be Broken. Otherwise there will not be any new creation.

Can Creativity Be Learned? Yes.

How? This is How It’s Made.

You Are Creative!

Creativity is not about inventing something totally new, it is about making new – synergistic! – connections. You don't have to be a special kind of person to be creative – everyone can do it. It's not about who are, it's about what you do. You just need to start looking for multiple solutions rather than settling for just one, and give yourself permission to be playful and inquisitive, flexible and versatile.

Be Different and Make a Difference!

·        An Important Pre-Condition

Although creative people come from varied backgrounds, they all seem to have one thing in common – they love what they are doing.

The Power of Passion

·         Practice Every Day

·         Take a Different View

·         Ask Searching Questions and Solve Problems

·         Never Say No

·         Always Pop-Up New Ideas In Your Mind

Think Differently

 Innovation-friendly Organization

·         Be the Best Possible

 Leonardo Da Vinci Helicopter and Lifting Wings

 Always Draw Your Ideas

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."

– Albert Einstein

 

What Is Novelty?

Novelty (derived from Latin word novus for "new") is the quality of being new. Although it may be said to have an objective dimension (such as abstract art or impressionism) it essentially exists in the subjective perceptions of individuals.

It also refers to something novel; that which is striking, original or unusual. The term can have pejorative sense and refer to a mere innovation. Novelty is something that has not been seen and has elements of surprise and originality without being predicted and comes so differently with anything exist.

Dart Clock

A Hamburger Corded Table Phone

Pictured Toilet Roll

Electrical Pistol Gun Hairdryer

Why Is Novelty Important

For an invention, a lack of novelty matters for two main reasons:

• You are unlikely to be able to obtain any worthwhile intellectual property rights for an idea that is not novel. In most cases this means that your idea will have little or no commercial value.
• An idea that is not novel cannot legally belong to you. If someone else owns the rights to it, you risk having legal action taken against you if you try to exploit it without their permission. Nor can you claim the idea as yours even if it has no legal owner.

But even if an idea is novel, novelty on its own may not mean much. For an invention to have good commercial potential, it needs to be a significant improvement on prior art.

On the other hand, it is possible for a commercially successful idea to be novel but not particularly inventive.

For example, electric toothbrushes used to be too expensive to sell well. Then someone discovered that it was possible to use a much cheaper motor. Prices fell and sales soared. This new type of electric toothbrush simply included a well known motor, and functioned in a well known way, so there was no invention - but the novelty of combining motor and toothbrush gave it a large commercial advantage.

 

What is creativity?

Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others.

Three reasons why people are motivated to be creative:

1. need for novel, varied, and complex stimulation
2. need to communicate ideas and values
3. need to solve problems

In order to be creative, you need to be able to view things in new ways or from a different perspective. Among other things, you need to be able to generate new possibilities or new alternatives. Tests of creativity measure not only the number of alternatives that people can generate but the uniqueness of those alternatives. the ability to generate alternatives or to see things uniquely does not occur by change; it is linked to other, more fundamental qualities of thinking, such as flexibility, tolerance of ambiguity or unpredictability, and the enjoyment of things heretofore unknown

http://www.csun.edu/~vcpsy00h/creativity/define.htm

What is My Understanding About Creativity

I define creativity as the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. Creativity involves two processes: thinking, then producing. Innovation is the production or implementation of an idea. If you have ideas, but don't act on them, you are imaginative but not creative.

What Does Others Says About Creativity

"Creativity is the process of bringing something new into being...creativity requires passion and commitment. Out of the creative act is born symbols and myths. It brings to our awareness what was previously hidden and points to new life. The experience is one of heightened consciousness-ecstasy."

- Rollo May, The Courage to Create

"A product is creative when it is (a) novel and (b) appropriate. A novel product is original not predictable. The bigger the concept, and the more the product stimulates further work and ideas, the more the product is creative."
- Sternberg & Lubart, Defying the Crowd

Can Creativity Be Learned

Creativity is a skill that can be developed and a process that can be managed. Learning to be creative is akin to learning a sport. It requires practice to develop the right muscles, and a supportive environment in which to flourish. Business leaders are increasingly adopting the principles and practices of art and design to help build creative muscle in their organizations.

How Does A Creative Mind Works