CREATIVIDAD Y DISEÑO

DIGITAL

Creativity & lateral

thinking
Module 2
Phil Hansen
At art school, Phil Hansen developed a tremor in his hand that prevented him
from creating the pointillist drawings he loved. Hansen was devastated, living
without meaning or purpose. Until a neurologist made a simple suggestion:
embrace that limitation ... and make it transcend.

http://www.ted.com/talks/phil_hansen_embrace_the_shake#t-30296
Creativity
● "The use of imagination or original ideas to create
something“ (E-book definition)

● “The ability to produce original and unusual ideas, or

to do something new or imaginative“ (Cambridge
Dictionary)

“You can´t be creative unless you do

something they haven´t done before. The
idea also has to work, or be adaptable, or be
functional in some way; it has to meet some
useful criteria” (Simonton, 2003).
Transform reality

Renew an idea or project

Invent posible solutions

To discover new elements and

how they interact with each
other
What it is for?
To collaborate

Improvise

Elvolve
MYTHS ABOUT CREATIVITY

THE CREATIVE GENIUS

Believing that only a few gifted

human beings are capable of
generating brilliant ideas.

Creative confidence is related to our perception of

the quality of our ideas.

If my ideas are good, then I recognize myself as

creative; If my ideas are "bad", then I prefer not to
generate them.
Creativity is limited by the linear or traditional
thinking that has been imposed on us.

Sometimes this process is no longer useful to us.

We are presented with limits that we can only
overcome by setting aside our basic assumptions
and approaching the problema from a whole new
angle.
 Ways of thinking

Linear or Vertical Thinking: The belief that each action has a

specific response. It is considered as logical, organized and
based on experience.

Lateral Thinking: allows us to make a new interpretation by

thinking about things that are not obvious, or in a different way.
 LATERAL
THINKING
● It was conceived by
Edward de Bono (writer
and psychologist at Oxford
University) in
1933 to
describe a type of
thinking different from
conventional or logical
thinking.
 BENEFITS

● It provides the confidence and essential tools

that will lead us to find better alternatives in
any given situation.

● It is a skill that can allow us to solve problems

at home or at work.

● It may be the only way to overcome the

apparently insoluble problems of our society.
LATERAL THINKING CAN BE LEARNED

● It can be developed by:

○ The training
○ Change of mental attitude
○ Open approach to problem solving.
● Lateral thinking is a skill that each of us can practice
and master.
● Like any skill, lateral thinking requies a los of PRACTICE.
 EXERCISES TO
STIMULATE LATERAL
THINKIG
What is the half of 2 plus 3?

Traditional thinking would be 2.5

Lateral thinking would be 4 (half of 2 is 1 + 3 = 4)

Both answers are correct, the difference is the way to

solve it.
A piece of coal, a carrot and
a scarf belong to:
 In a dark room there are 2
candles and 3 torches, but
only one match. What would
you light first?
THE MATCH
Albatross Soup
 Teams of 3
¡Let’s
practice!
Solve these 3
riddles…you have
10 minutes!
 A woman had a ped goldfish she loved very
dearly. One day she noticed that it was
swimming feebly in its bowl and it looked
very unwell. She rushed to the vet with her
prized pet and he told her to come back in an
hour. When she returned she found the
goldfish swimming strongly and looking
healthy again
Little Billy was four years old and both
his parents were dead. His guardian put
him on a train to send him to a new
home in the country. Billy could neither
read nor write nor remember the
address, so a large label on a string was
secured around his neck clearly
indicating Billy’s name and
destination. However, despite the best
efforts and kindness of the railway
staff, Billy never arrived at his new
home…WHY?
A woman walked up to a man behind a
counter and handed him a book. He
looked at it and said: “That will be four
dollars”. She paid the man and the
walked out without the book. He saw her
leave without it but did not call her
back. How come?
 CLUES
Did the vet change the water?
No

Did he give the fish any

medication, foor or tonic?
No

Had the woman had the goldfish

for a long time?
Yes
 CLUES
Did deliberately harm or abduct Billy?
No

Was his label removed in some way?

Yes

Was Billy a little boy?

No

Did Billy destroy the name tag?

Yes (he ate it!).
 CLUES
Was he surprised that she left without
the book?
No

Did she pay the money to buy the book?

No

When she gave him the money, did she

receive something in return?
Not really, she was quite happy to
pay it.
 ANSWER

The vet could see that the goldfish

was dying of old age so to spare
the old lady’s feelings he dashed
out and bought a young but
identical fish and disposed the old
one.
 ANSWER

Little Billy, as his name suggests,

was a goat who unfortunately ate
his label, so no one knew where he
was supposed to go!
 ANSWER

She was returning an overdue

library book.
MORE EXERCISES:
To start, here is one of the oldest and most well
known lateral thinking problems:

A man lives in the tenth floor of a building. Every day

takes the elevator to go to work or go shopping. When
he returns, he always goes up the elevator to the
seventh floor and then up the stairs the remaining
three floors to his apartment. Why does he do this?
● Five men were walking together on a path in the field. It
starts to rain. Four of them speed up. The fifth makes no
effort to hurry. However, he stays dry while the other four
get wet. The five arrive at destination together. How
could it be?

● Note: they only had their feet to move.

 ¡Let´s
https://www.playfactile.com/plateral
practice!
JEOPARDY