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Whether you’re trying to solve a tough problem, start a business, get attention for that business or write an interesting article, creative thinking is crucial. The process boils down to（归结于）changing your perspective and seeing things differently than you currently do. People like to call this “thinking outside of the box,” which is the wrong way to look at it. Just like Neo needed to understand that “there is no spoon” in the film The Matrix, you need to realize “there is no box” to step outside of. You create your own imaginary boxes simply by living life and accepting certain things as “real” when they are just as illusory as the beliefs of a paranoid delusional. The difference is, enough people agree that certain man-made concepts are “real,” so you’re viewed as “normal.” This is good for society overall, but it’s that sort of（那种）unquestioning consensus that inhibits your natural creative abilities. So, rather than looking for ways to inspire creativity, you should just realize the truth. You’re already capable of creative thinking at all times, but you have to strip away（去掉）.I like to keep this list of 10 common ways we suppress our natural creative abilities nearby when I get stuck（受骗）. It helps me realize that the barriers to a good idea are truly all in my head. 1. Trying to Find the “Right” Answer One of the worst aspects of formal education is the focus on(集中） the correct answer to a particular question or problem. While this approach helps us function in society, it hurts creative thinking because real-life issues are ambiguous. There’s often more than one “correct” answer, and the second one you come up with might be better than the first. Many of the following mental blocks(心里障碍） can be turned around to reveal ways to find more than one answer to any given problem. Try reframing the issue in several different ways in order to prompt different answers, and embrace answering inherently ambiguous questions in several different ways. 2. Logical Thinking(逻辑思维） Not only is real life ambiguous, it’s often illogical to the point of madness. While critical thinking skills based on logic are one of our main strengths in evaluating the feasibility of a creative idea, it’s often the enemy of truly innovative thoughts in the first place. One of the best ways to escape the constraints of your own logical mind is to think metaphorically. One of the reasons why metaphors work so well in communications is that we accept them as true without thinking about it. When you realize that “truth” is often symbolic, you’ll often find that you are actually free to come up with alternatives. 3. Following Rules One way to view creative thinking is to look at it as a destructive force. You’re tearing away the often arbitrary rules that others have set for you, and asking either “why” or “why not” whenever confronted with the way “everyone” does things. This is easier said than done, since people will often defend the rules they follow even in the face of evidence that the rule doesn’t work. People love to celebrate rebels like Richard Branson, but few seem brave enough to emulate him. Quit worshipping rule breakers and start breaking some rules. 4. Being Practical Like logic, practicality is hugely important when it comes to execution, but often stifles innovative ideas before they can properly blossom. Don’t allow the editor into the same room with your inner artist. Try not to evaluate the actual feasibility of an approach until you’ve allowed it to exist on its own for a bit. Spend time asking “what if” as often as possible, and simply allow your imagination to go where it wants. You might just find yourself discovering a crazy idea that’s so insanely practical that no one’s thought of it before. 5. Play is Not Work Allowing your mind to be at play is perhaps the most effective way to stimulate creative thinking, and yet many people disassociate play from work. These days, the people who can come up with great ideas and solutions are the most economically rewarded, while worker bees are often employed for the benefit of the creative thinkers. You’ve heard the expression “work hard and play hard.” All you have to realize is that they’re the same thing to a creative thinker. 6. That’s Not My Job In an era of hyper-specialization, it’s those who happily explore completely unrelated areas of life and knowledge who best see that everything is related. This goes back to what ad man Carl Ally said about creative persons—they want to be know-it-alls. Sure, you’ve got to know the specialized stuff in your field, but if you view yourself as an explorer rather than a highly-specialized cog in the machine, you’ll run circles around the technical master in the success department. 7. Being a “Serious” Person Most of what keeps us civilized boils down to conformity, consistency, shared values, and yes, thinking about things the same way everyone else does. There’s nothing wrong with that necessarily, but if you can mentally accept that it’s actually nothing more than groupthink that helps a society function, you can then give yourself permission to turn everything that’s accepted upside down and shake out the illusions. Leaders from Egyptian pharaohs to Chinese emperors and European royalty have consulted with fools, or court jesters, when faced with tough problems. The persona of the fool allowed the truth to be told, without the usual ramifications that might come with speaking blasphemy or challenging ingrained social conventions. Give yourself permission to be a fool and see things for what they really are. 8. Avoiding Ambiguity We rationally realize that most every situation is ambiguous to some degree. And although dividing complex situations into black and white boxes can lead to disaster, we still do it. It’s an innate characteristic of human psychology to desire certainty, but it’s the creative thinker who rejects the false comfort of clarity when it’s not really appropriate. Ambiguity is your friend if you’re looking to innovate. The fact that most people are uncomfortable exploring uncertainty gives you an advantage, as long as you can embrace ambiguity rather than run from it. 9. Being Wrong is Bad We hate being wrong, and yet mistakes often teach us the most. Thomas Edison was wrong 1,800 times before getting the light bulb right. Edison’s greatest strength was that he was not afraid to be wrong. The best thing we do is learn from our mistakes, but we have to free ourselves to make mistakes in the first place. Just try out your ideas and see what happens, take what you learn, and try something else. Ask yourself, what’s the worst that can happen if I’m wrong? You’ll often find the benefits of being wrong greatly outweigh the ramifications. 10. I’m Not Creative Denying your own creativity is like denying you’re a human being. We’re all limitlessly creative, but only to the extent that we realize that we create our own limits with the way we think. If you tell yourself you’re not creative, it becomes true. Stop that. In that sense, awakening your own creativity is similar to the path reported by those who seek spiritual enlightenment. You’re already enlightened, just like you’re already creative, but you have to strip away all of your delusions before you can see it. Acknowledge that you’re inherently creative, and then start tearing down the other barriers you’ve allowed to be created in your mind.
不管你试图解决一道难题，创建一家公司，为（这个）公司做宣传或者写一篇有趣的文章，创造性思维都起着关键作用。做这些事的过程可归结为：改变思考角度，学着用不同于你现有思维的方式看问题。 人们喜欢把这（创造性思维）称为“在盒子以外思考”，然而这种叫法并不科学。就像（The Matrix 1999，黑客帝国)中的主角Neo（尼奥）需要认识到“没有汤勺”一样，你得知道你不需要走出“盒子”（因为这样的“盒子”不存在）。 生活当中，你把某些事物当作“真实”接受，拒绝那些多疑的错觉。然而，这样的话（接受前者，拒绝后者），你实际上已经（给思维）做了一个假想的“盒子”——因为前者可能恰恰就像后者一样虚无。很多人认为约定俗成的观点是“真实”，所以视其为“正常”。这有利于社会整体的运作，但它是不加质疑地肯定，可能阻止你创新思维的天性。 所以，与其四处寻找激活灵感的方法，你应该知道事实。任何条件下你都有创造性思维的能力，但是你得剥去长期生活以来积累的一些假想的思想障碍（或者“盒子”）。 我喜欢收藏这么一份清单。这是抑制我们创新思维天性的10种常见方式。我自己也曾在这些方面栽过跟头。它（清单）让我认识到这些因素阻止我头脑中已有好主意的蹦出。 1 试图寻找“正确”答案 正规教育的最大毛病是着重于寻找一个问题的“正确”答案。这种处理问题的方式对社会整体运作有好处，却损害了创造性思维，因为实际问题往往是模糊的。（实际问题）经常有多个“正确”答案，下一个答案说不定比你之前想到的那个更好。 推翻下面所述的思想障碍，我们会发现一个问题有多个答案。为了得到不同的答案，可尝试用不同的方法重新思考问题。用不同的方式思考那些本来就模糊不清的问题。 2 逻辑思维 实际问题不但是模糊的，而且它经常显得极其不合逻辑。基于逻辑的判断思维是我们衡量一个创新见解的有力工具，但是它通常也是后者的最大敌人。 避开逻辑思维的最好办法是用类比的方式进行思考。打比方非常有助于交流，原因是我们无需仔细思考（比方的逻辑性）就领会了对方的意思。如果你认识到“真相”往往只是一个标志，你就会发现大脑中涌出很多见解。 3 遵循规则 从某个角度看，创造性思维有一股破坏性的冲劲。你把大家制定的规则撕破，在面临“大家”都这么做的抉择时，（敢于）问“为什么”或“为什么不”。 这一点，说起容易，做来难。因为即使有证据表明规则行不通时，人们通常会维护（他们的）规则。人们喜欢赞美像Richard Branson（理查德.布兰森）一样的叛逆（传统）者，但是很少有人去效仿他们。不要再崇拜（规则）叛逆者，你也开始打破一些规则吧。 4 讲求实用 如同逻辑，实用性也是衡量一种见解可行性的重要标准，但是（实用性）通常在见解成形之前就将其扼杀。不要让编辑（比喻实用性）和艺术家（比喻创新见解）同处一室。 等你的见解成形之后再考虑它的实用性。尽量多问“当怎样做....,会怎样”的问题，干脆任你的想象驰骋。你可能会发现一个极好的主意：它是如此之实用，没人能想到！ 5 玩不是工作 让思想处于“玩”的状态，这是激发创造性思维最有效的方法。但是，很多人把玩跟工作分开。近年来，有好点子和解决方案的人收入颇丰，而“工蜂”们（比喻只忙于做事的人）只是为这些创造性的思考者（前者）忙碌。 你听到过“努力工作，然后尽情玩”。你需要注意的是，对于一个创造性的思考者来说，两者是统一的。 6 那不是我的任务 在高度专业化的时代，有些人乐此不疲的探索那些（与自己专业）不相关的生活、知识领域，就是他们才能把事物广泛地联系起来。广告大佬Carl Ally（卡尔.阿奈）曾经说到创造性的思考者——他们想成为万事通。 诚然，你必须了解你涉足的专业领域，但是你应该把自己看成是一个探索者，而不是机器上一个特定的齿轮——永远只围绕中心旋转。 7 做“严肃”的人 维持人类行为文明的准则可归纳为：（遵守）规则，（坚持）原则，共同的价值观，及按大家的思维方式想问题。这些（准则）并非有错，但是你在思想上应该知道这些无非是有助于社会运转的大众想法。在此基础上，你要允许自己把所有准则推翻，去除幻觉。 从古埃及法老，到中国皇帝，到欧洲皇室，这些决策者在面对棘手难题时都曾问策于愚人或弄臣。愚人不担心亵渎（权势者）或忤逆既定社会习俗，从会道出真相。允许自己变成愚人，看事物的本来面目。 8 避免模糊性 我们清醒地知道几乎所有事情都有一定的模糊性。虽然把事物划分为非黑即白的做法可能造成灾难性的后果，我们仍然这样做。人类心理有一种追求确定性的本质。但是，创造性的思考者会拒绝接受牵强的确定性作为慰藉。 模糊性是你寻求创新过程中的朋友。事实上，大多数人在探索未知时都会感到不安，因此只要你敢于拥抱模糊性而不是避开，那么你就占据了（相对大多数人的）优势。 9 犯错是不好的 我们讨厌犯错，然而错误往往最能教导我们。Thomas Edison（托马斯?爱迪生）在实验电灯泡成功之前失败了1800次。爱迪生最大的优点是不畏惧犯错。 最好的事莫过于从自身的错误中学习，但是首先我们得允许自己犯错。尝试你的各种想法，观察（效果），记下你学到的知识，然后试别的想法。问自己：如果犯错了，最糟的结果是什么？你将发现犯错带来的收获远胜于其坏处。 10 我没有创造力 否认自己的创造力就像否认自己属于人类一样。我们都有无穷的创造力，但是前提是必须认识到我们可能为自己的思维加限。如果你告诉自己没有创造力，你将变得那样（失去创造力）。所以，别这样做。 因此，唤醒你自己创造力的过程与那些寻求精神觉悟的人相似。你已经觉悟了，已经有创造力了，但是你得先剥去所有背离事实的错觉。相信创造力是你与生俱来就拥有的，然后推倒你在思想当中树立的其他障 |
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