By Jerry Wolgemuth, Director of Communications
Life is not linear;
it does not follow a straight line.
Life happens laterally,
from many sides.
We must learn to address
life’s perplexities laterally,
to think in many directions.
On the human brain: If we look at the human brain as a computer, then we can assume that the manner in which we think is the software. The software, at least of Western Civilization, was developed by the Greek philosophers Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates twenty-four hundred years ago. We have done very little thinking about thinking since then.
On progress: Progress in any kind of endeavor has suffered from a lack of understanding of this thing called creativity. Creativity in the interest of solving problems with new ideas, was stifled by the belief that one must rely on moving from certainty to certainty. There was no development of a possibility system with three important things: hypothesis as data that has never been proven to be true or false; speculation as opinion based on incomplete evidence, and imagination as the ability to form a mental image that is not perceived as real.
On creative thinking: A new, unique, creative idea must have value. Unfortunately, many people who believe they are creative, think that just being different for the sake of being different is being creative. That is what gives creativity a bad name.
Sir Ken Robinson says that our schools educate us away from creativity. Researcher George Land provided some science to this phenomenon. Land was hired by NASA in 1968 to design a creativity test to be used to select innovative engineers and scientists. He tested 1,600 5-year-olds with a creativity test. He re-tested the same 5-year-olds at the ages of 10 and 15. “The test results were staggering! Ninety-eight percent at age 5 registered genius level creativity, 30% at 10 years and 12% at 15 years of age. The same test given to 280,000 adults placed their genius level creativity at 2%. In his book ‘Breakpoint and Beyond’, co-authored by Beth Jarman, Land concluded that non-creative behavior is learned.
On making mistakes: One of the reasons some people may be reluctant to be creative is that, if you try out an idea and it doesn’t work, that will be regarded as a mistake. We have a grave deficiency in our language. We do not have a word which means, “fully justified venture which, for reasons beyond our control did not succeed.” So, anything which does not succeed is called a mistake and we just don’t like mistakes. Think like an Edison: celebrate experiments that don’t work. That’s one more of the necessary failures out of the way toward that one single and elusive experiment that works.
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| CHANGE our confining thinking patterns Creative thinking is a skill; it is not a matter of individual talent. It’s not a matter of waiting and hoping to get inspired. Creativity is a skill that can be learned. It is habitual activity that displaces the dated thinking patterns learned early in our lives. |
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| RECLAIM the creative capacity of our youth Research attests to the fact that we tend to loose our powers of imagination and creativity. Popular education guru, Sir Ken Robinson, and others claim that we can recapture our capacity to imagine and create new ways of doing. |
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EQUIP for a new conceptual age
Author Daniel Pink claims that we have moved from a society that is built on logical, linear, computer-like capabilities. The new conceptual age is animated by a new form of thinking that involves the capacity to detect patterns and opportunities.
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| APPLY creativity to challenges of our time Nothing fails like success. George Land reveals that the progression of an enterprise can be charted as a bell curve. Topping the list of what interrupts the downward side is “unleashing the creative capacity of employees,” thereby re-inventing the enterprise and a new bell curve. |
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THRIVE in the midst of modern complexity
Henry Adams is quoted as saying that “chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit.” Creativity is a process, not an event. Learning to approach modern complexity by using structured thinking methods can make any endeavor exciting and exhilarating.
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EXPERIENCE the gift of collaboration
According to Harrisburg native Carmen Finestra, producer and creator of network sitcoms, collaboration is the key to a successful writing team. No episode, no joke, no scene can be attributed to any single member of the team. No single writer gets the credit; the team is listed in the credits.
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“A mind that is stretched to a new idea, never returns to its original dimension.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)
“Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit.”
Henry Adams (1838-1918)
“Don’t be conformed to the patterns of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is.”
Romans 12:2 (CEB)
LEARN MORE ABOUT THINKING METHODS BY REGISTERING FOR
UNLEASH YOUR CREATIVITY: THINKING METHODS AND COMMUNICATION
ONE OF SEVERAL MINISTRY TRACKS FOR E-TOUR - THE NEXT GENERATION.
FOR AGENDA AND MORE INFORMATION:
WEB: susumc.org/etour
BLOG: thinkanewsusumc.blogspot.com
FACEBOOK: like the fan page, join the group at
facebook.com/groups/thinkanew
QUESTIONS: E-mail jerry@susumc.org; Call 717-903-5881
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