Soft skills are non-technical skills that impact your performance in the workplace.
They include how you interact with colleagues, how you solve problems, and how
you manage your work. Soft skills include interpersonal (people) skills,
communication skills, listening skills, time management, and empathy, among
others. They are among the top skills employers seek in the candidates they hire,
because soft skills are important for just about every job. You likely already have
soft skills from your school and work experience. Usually soft skills can be
developed at work, school, volunteer activities, and by participating in training
programs and classes.
What Is Creative Thinking?
Creative thinking means thinking outside the box. Often, creativity involves lateral
thinking, which is the ability to perceive patterns that are not obvious.
Creative thinking might mean devising new ways to carry out tasks, solve
problems, and meet challenges. It means bringing a fresh, and sometimes
unorthodox, perspective to your work. This way of thinking can help departments
and organizations to be more productive.
Many people believe that creativity is a gift from the mother-nature, it’s the
greatest paradox.
5 Ways to Improve Your Creative Thinking
1. Create your own “Three Ifs”
Many good innovators take an existing object and ask clever questions to twist the
very concept of it and make it new. Steve Jobs didn’t start with the idea of a
smartphone. He just took an existing cell phone and asked a very simple question:
how can we improve it to make it better – or the best?
Let’s be clear about this – there are no universal recipes for innovation, and each
person should develop her or his own approach depending on specialty, interest,
type of thinking, or even the type of team s/he is participating in.
Create questions with “If”, for example:
(1) What would happen if I change it (the object/ system/ social relationship, etc)?
(2) What would I change or improve about this object if I wanted to use it in 10
years?
(3) What would I do if I had a one-million-dollar investment to improve it?
These questions can become powerful tools that can help you to think differently.
It is important to exercise these skills by repeatedly using the “three ifs” formula
(or designing your own set of questions) about all sorts of things. And many new
ideas will pop up.
2. Practice dreaming
It sounds so simple, and yet in this era of information overload and highly charged
urban life, this important element is often missing from our everyday lives. Often
we stay focused on the main task at hand, devoting our mental powers to routine
actions, so that at the end of the day the most creative idea we can come up with is
just to finally take a break in front of the TV or computer screen. Whatever you’re
doing – whether it’s work or leisure – practice spending time applying the “three
ifs” formula to anything you see or imagine. This will help you get into the habit of
making space in your mind for dreaming – essential for creative thinking and
innovation.
3. Make time for cohesive creative thinking
Every textbook on creativity affirms to the importance of setting aside clearly
defined time for creative thinking and innovation. But often, even if we show up
ready to innovate, still something doesn’t work and fresh ideas fail to pop up. The
reason is that we don’t practice dreaming, and focusing on cohesive ideas.
Therefore, the next rule of creative thinking is very simple: allocate time – it might
be an hour per day or per week – in which to exercise creative thinking about
something specific.
4. Learn to pitch your ideas (in an elevator)
There is simple truth in the fact that Steve Jobs of Apple was great at exploring and
explaining innovations based on existing products – laptops, cell phones, music
players. He didn’t invent those products, but he made them better and he was great
at explaining why his version was superior to other competing goods.
We should learn to talk to others and explain them our ideas. Our ideas will not
work, if you do not express yourself clearly and excitingly enough to grab people’s
attention.
There is an old saying, “If you cannot express your idea in three sentences – you
don’t have an idea!” One of the most important innovation skills is the ability to
present a very short and clear description of a new idea (two to three sentences –
like shouting through the closing door of an elevator) and to make a short
presentation (two to three minutes – what is called an “elevator pitch”). Like any
other skill, the ability to articulate in this way can only come through much
practice.
5. Bounce ideas off others
Even a great innovator needs people around her or him to discuss – or “bounce” –
new creative ideas and innovations. You should create team and be the part of it.
Share your idea with others, they can help you develop it.
Therefore, a final important asset to add to your innovation skillset, is the ability to
be a valuable team player, capable of bouncing ideas to the next level. For some
young people this is very natural, while for others it does not come so easily to be a
team player. But it is never too late to train yourself in this mode of interacting.
Key Takeaways
Creative thinking is the ability to consider something in a new way.
Creative thinking includes analysis, open-mindedness, problem-solving,
organization, and communication.
Many employers value creative thinkers, so consider highlighting your creative
thinking skills on your resume and in interviews.
