Creativity concerns the development of new ideas. Throughout human history, the application of ideas has led to transformations of our daily lives and society. Modern business activity thrives on recently developed ideas, and it is through creativity that we address both challenges and opportunities. In this module, we will help you develop your implicit understanding and skills in creativity. You will be introduced to a series of creativity tools that can be used to augment the ideas you might come up with independently. Specifically, we will develop your skills in list, sticky-note, grid and alphabet brainstorming through an introduction to the principles of the tool, along with examples and an opportunity for you to have a go. A framework called the creativity diamond is used throughout the course to guide which approach to creativity to use and when.
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Introduction to Creative Thinking: Tools for Success
This course is part of Creative Thinking Tools for Success and Leadership Specialization
Instructor: Peter Childs
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There are 6 modules in this course
In the first week, we focus on the basic principles of creativity and highlight its importance in tackling global challenges. A framework called the Creativity Diamond is introduced that will be used throughout the course to help identify which approach to use for creativity and when.
What's included
6 videos7 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts1 plugin
Creativity exists on many levels. There are examples of creativity that influence and transform society. There are also instances in our everyday lives when we come up with an idea to address a challenge or opportunity. This week we will explore some of the definitions and types of creativity, along with an introduction to assessing creativity.
What's included
5 videos1 reading1 assignment3 discussion prompts4 plugins
This week we will look at an introduction to the brain, the mind, thoughts and memory, thinking and cognition. Consideration of thinking is important as ideas encapsulate a fundamental outcome in creativity. Some approaches to thinking have been identified as helpful in augmenting creativity, and some of these tools and the associated principles are introduced.
What's included
5 videos4 readings3 assignments
In this week, we will look at how we can augment our creativity using different methods of brainstorming, a creativity approach that aids the generation of ideas in solving a stated problem. We particularly focus on the application of brainstorming tools, with the aim of enabling you to understand, evaluate and apply different types of brainstorming techniques in your own context.
What's included
1 video2 readings5 assignments
There are a wide range of types of brainstorming. All are based on the principles of quantity breeds quality and suspending judgement of ideas. This week we will introduce two distinctive forms of brainstorming, grid and alphabet. In grid ideas are developed building from an initial concept. In alphabet brainstorming each letter of the alphabet is used as a prompt to illicit several ideas.
What's included
4 videos3 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts
This week we will consider additional views on creativity and the importance of the person, physiological aspects, process, the environment and the application in creativity. We will explore the divergent and convergent phases common to many creative processes whereby many ideas are explored in a divergent phase, prior to their refinement and filtering in a convergent phase. We will then draw this course to a close with consideration of some general guidance on creativity and illustrating how your learning so far can be applied within the creativity diamond framework.
What's included
5 videos4 readings1 assignment
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The Open University
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