What are some ways to improve creative problem solving skills?
It's important to be creative if you want to be accomplished in engineering and I'd like to really start developing the mindset. The other day my teacher showed me a game she used called Disruptus in which you look at cards with ideas or object and try to innovate something new based off of them after rolling a die. I was wondering what strategies others were using to keep themselves inventive. What gets your creative juices flowing?
Thanks! #engineering
3 answers
Sean’s Answer
Highly recommend you read some of the design thinking and innovation books. Read and learn about IDEO, Frog Design, Clayton Christensen, Agile...these insights/learning will make you well-rounded innovator. You can also participate innovation challenges, code-a-thons and practice the art of ideations, rapid-prototyping and field observations. Always practice immersive empathy so you can see your clients, colleagues, and friends perspectives and understand their needs so you can develop better products/solutions. Innovation process is important but I also value serendipity, spontaneity, and random collision of ideas. Read gamestorming.
Ken’s Answer
Hi Sierra!
You asked a very important and interesting question. I did not have an answer, but here are some very interesting sites that you could visit to help you with your creativity:
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/6-ways-to-enhance-your-problem-solving-skills.html
http://www.innovationmanagement.se/imtool-articles/the-basics-of-creative-problem-solving-cps/
http://www.creativecorporateculture.com/11-useful-tricks-to-improve-creative-thinking/
Best of luck. Please let me know if and how this is of help to you.
Nicole’s Answer
Love this question for so many reasons...mostly because it shows a desire to keep your mind open, which is a bedrock to innovation and creativity. As to what 'gets' (and I will add 'keeps') my creative juices flowing...my top three 1) reading almost anything (technical news, local news, books on personal stories, fiction/non fiction essays), 2) talking with colleagues who work in my field 3) taking in visual /graphic arts (movies, online games, puzzles). In short, I don't think there is a shortage of easy-to-find ways to stay creative as long as a person is interested in staying creative.
Hope you find this answer helpful and best of luck to you!