Being creative in today’s competitive world is an added advantage and most of the organizations today seek and prefer individuals who are capable of being creative. A creative individual is someone who can come up with new ideas and make those imaginative ideas turn to reality. A creative individual sees the world with a different perspective.
Being creative means generating new ideas that would help in problem-solving. Problem-solving is a skill that not all of us possess and in order to emerge as a better problem solver one needs to be a creative thinker.
From the SSB point of view, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), the Picture Perception and Discussion Test (PPDT), the Situation Reaction Test (SRT) and the Word Association Test (WAT) all require some degree of creative thinking.
Download eBooks:
Everyone will be shown the same photo/words in the above-mentioned tests, yet it’s only handfuls that excel in them. The whole difference lies in the content of your story. As we all are aware, life in the Armed Forces is very challenging. With challenging lifestyle come unpredictable and uncertain situations and in such situations creativity is needed to solve problems. A solution that might have worked well in one situation may not necessarily work well in the other situation.
Considering the importance of creative thinking, following are some of the psychological tips that you can use to improve your creative thinking and to become a better problem solver:
- Reconceptualise the problem. Mostly what happens is that we take the problem as it is and start working towards a solution without taking into account all of the aspects of the problem. Right when a problem arises or a situation comes where the commonly known solution won’t work, sit back and try to see and analyse the problem from all sides rather than how it seems to you.
- Day dream first and then work. A lot of studies have shown that daydreaming and napping is helpful for generating creative thoughts but a recent study shows that the less you have worked on a problem the less daydreaming will help you. In the simplest of words, daydreaming is most beneficial when you’ve already invested a lot of brains and time into the problem at hand.
- Create when you’re high on extreme emotions. In the past it was thought that creativity comes best when an individual is happy but recent studies have shown that creativity is high when both positive and negative emotions run high. Whenever you’re in a strong emotional state, you are more likely to come up with better and creative ideas.
- Create psychological distance. Thinking the source of problem as being distinct from oneself can help boost creative thinking of a person. In a study the subjects were able to solve twice as many insight problems when asked to think about the source of the task as distant, rather than it being close in proximity.
- Exercise more. Everyone is aware of the enumerable benefits of exercising. When it comes to creative thinking, exercising too proves to be beneficial. It puts you in a good and a positive mood and helps in coming up with more ideas. So the next time you find yourself stuck, you might as well go out for a jog!
- Be willing to take risks. When it comes to building your creative thinking skills, you need to be willing to take risks in order to advance your abilities. Your ideas and abilities might not always prove to be helpful but in taking risks you’ll be tearing down all boundaries and thinking one step forward than those who are too afraid of failure or taking risks.
- Be confident. Insecurities can suppress your ability. Come out of your shell and believe in your capabilities. Believing in yourself and having confidence will stop you from doubting yourself and encourage you to think out of the box.
Also Read:
- 8 Powerful Tricks To Boost Your Confidence Before The Interview
- 10 Ways To Maintain A Positive Attitude
- 13 Psychological Life Hacks To Clear The Interview
