For a more creative brain, follow these 5 steps
Almost all great ideas follow a similar creative process, and this article explains how this process works. Understanding this is important because creative thinking is one of the most useful skills you can possess. Almost every problem you face at work and in life can benefit from innovative solutions, lateral thinking, and creative ideas.
Anyone can learn to be creative by following these five steps. That is not to say that being creative is easy. Discovering your creative genius takes courage and a lot of practice. However, this five-step approach should help demystify the creative process and light the way to more innovative thinking.
To explain how this process works, let me tell you a short story.
A problem that needs a creative solution
In the 1870s, newspapers and printers faced a very specific and very costly problem. Photography was an exciting new medium at the time. Readers wanted to see more images, but no one knew how to print images quickly and inexpensively.
For example, if a newspaper wanted to print an image in the 1870s, it had to commission an engraver to hand-engrave a copy of the photograph onto steel plate. These plates were used to press the image onto the page, but would often break after just a few uses. This gravure process, you can imagine, was time consuming and very expensive.
The man who invented a solution to this problem was named Frederic Eugene Ives. He then became a pioneer in the field of photography and had more than 70 patents by the end of his career. His story of creativity and innovation, which I will share now, is a useful case study for understanding the 5 key steps of the creative process.
A flash of insight
Ives started out as a printer's apprentice in Ithaca, New York. After two years of learning the ins and outs of the printing process, he began managing the photo lab at nearby Cornell University. He spent the rest of the decade experimenting with new photography techniques and learning about cameras, printers, and optics.
In 1881, Ives had a flash of understanding about better printing technique.
“While operating my photostereotyping process in Ithaca, I studied the problem of the halftone process,” said Ives. "I went to bed one night in a state of mental fog because of the problem, and the moment I woke up in the morning I saw before me, apparently projected on the ceiling, the completely elaborated process and the equipment in operation ".
Ives quickly translated his vision into reality and patented his printing approach in 1881. He spent the rest of the decade improving it. By 1885, he had developed a simplified process that offered even better results. The Ives Process, as it came to be known, reduced the cost of printing images by 15x and remained the standard printing technique for the next 80 years.
Okay, now let's discuss what lessons we can learn from Ives about the creative process.
The 5 stages of the creative process
In 1940, an advertising executive named James Webb Young published a short guide titled A Technique for Producing Ideas. In this guide, you made a simple yet profound statement about generating creative ideas.
According to Young, innovative ideas arise when new combinations of old elements are developed. In other words, creative thinking is not about generating something new from a blank slate, but about taking what is already present and combining those bits and pieces in a way that has not been done before.
Most importantly, the ability to generate new combinations depends on your ability to see the relationships between concepts. If you can form a new link between two old ideas, you have done something creative.
Young believed that this process of creative connection always occurred in five steps.
Gather new material. In the beginning, you learn. During this stage, you focus on 1) learning specific material directly related to your task and 2) learning general material by becoming fascinated with a wide range of concepts.
Work through the materials in your mind. During this stage, you will examine what you have learned by looking at the facts from different angles and experimenting with fitting various ideas together.
Get away from the problem. Then you put the problem completely out of your mind and do something else that excites you and energizes you.
Let your idea come back to you. At some point, but only after you've stopped thinking about it, your idea will come back to you with a flash of insight and renewed energy.
Shape and develop your idea based on feedback. For any idea to be successful, you must launch it out into the world, subject it to criticism, and adapt as needed.
The idea in practice
The creative process used by Frederic Eugene Ives provides a perfect example of these five steps in action.
First, Ives gathered new material. He spent two years working as a printer apprentice and then four years running the photo lab at Cornell University. These experiences gave him a lot of material on which to draw and make associations between photography and printing.
Second, Ives began to mentally work on everything he learned. In 1878, Ives spent most of his time experimenting with new techniques. He was constantly playing with and experimenting with different ways of putting ideas together.
Third, Ives walked away from the problem. In this case, he went to sleep a few hours before his flash of intuition. Letting creative challenges sit for longer periods of time can also work. Regardless of how long you are away, you need to do something that interests you and takes your mind off the problem.
Fourth, his idea came back to him. Ives woke up with the solution to his problem before him. (On a personal note, I often find creative ideas hitting me right when I'm lying down to sleep. Once I give my brain permission to stop working for the day, the solution comes easily.)
Finally, Ives continued to review his idea for years. In fact, he improved so many aspects of the process that he filed a second patent. This is a critical point and is often overlooked. It can be easy to fall in love with the initial version of your idea, but great ideas always evolve.
The creative process in brief
"An idea is a feat of association, and its height is a good metaphor."
—Robert Frost
The creative process is the act of making new connections between old ideas. Thus, we can say that creative thinking is the task of recognizing relationships between concepts.
One way to tackle creative challenges is by following the five-step process of 1) gathering material, 2) working intensively on the material in your mind, 3) stepping away from the problem, 4) allowing the idea to come back to you naturally, and 5) test your idea in the real world and adjust it based on feedback.
Being creative is not about being the first (or only) person to come up with an idea. More often, creativity is about connecting ideas.
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