Edward de Bono - discusses Lateral Thinking video reflection

In this video, de Bono tells us how creativity is not a talent, but a skill that can be acquired through practice. One of the skill of creativity is Lateral Thinking. It requires one to think beyond the usual routine. I feel that it is true how Lateral Thinking takes practice to improve it. Having first properly introduced to the term in class, I was unsure how it worked. Eventually, through small activities in class, I was able to grasp the concept much better. Lateral thinking, unlike brainstorming, follows a much more logical path. While working on the Bee activity from the previous post titled "Lateral Thinking", I realised I constantly asked myself "So what other logical reasoning could there be for the bee to favour a painting of flowers over a real fresh rose?" The ideas that are produced through Lateral Thinking are much more feasible and organised compared to those from brainstorming. This does not mean that brainstorming is not important though, they are different skills to be used at different times. I feel that it is good to start with brainstorming, followed by Lateral Thinking of the ideas from brainstorming to further sieve out better ones.

Lateral Thinking exercise: The bee, a rose and the painting of flowers

The Exercise:
Imagine this room: the window at the back is open. In front of the window there is a table with a vase, in which a fresh rose stands. A painting of flowers hangs on the opposite wall (at the whiteboard area). A bee flies into the room through the open window, straight to the painting and not the rose. Why?!?!?!

1) The bee was not interested in any flowers in the first place. It just happened to fly into the room and the painting of flowers just happened to be opposite of the window. Hence, people assumed that the bee is heading straight for the painting of flowers.

2) The painting is painted with a special pigment of paint that smells better then the fresh rose.

3) The bee has an impaired sense of smell, thus it naturally goes for quantity rather than quality.

4) The fresh rose is white in colour, hence it was camouflaged within the whiteboard, making the painting more appealing to the bee.

5) The vase is too big for the rose, hence the bee could not see it.

6) There was another bee, a very attractive one, on the painting of flowers. The bee decided to fly over and greet it.

7) The bee is simply just greedy.

8) It is a special bee who appreciates good art.

9) The bee had a bet with his friends that he could fly through the rows of humans, touch the furthest wall of the room (which the painting happened to be at), and fly back out the window without being smacked dead by a human.

10) The rose had more thorns than usual, which deterred the bee.

Mindmapping

Being tasked to mindmap what we think make up a happy life, my group set out on a colourful journey. Taking inspiration from the Game of Life boardgame, we even had a die as part of our presentation! We tried to make the presentation fun, just like when playing the Game of Life itself. This group activity really got me thinking rationally about what I think a happy life is all about. I have realised that everyone has their own different opinions on a happy life; some are content with just having a simple life with basic necessities fulfilled, while some are more ambitious. Nevertheless, the most important lesson to keep close to heart from this activity is that what matters most is that we know what we want and need to stay happy. It does not matter if it is different from others, because we know ourselves more than others do. Not everyone can find happiness in the same place, but if we keep looking, happiness is out there for us to find.

The Journey - Week 6 (Lateral Thinking)

Class activity 1: Draw pattern above in one stroke without lifting the pen. No tracing back on an existing line either.

Class activity 2: Shift 3 balls to make the upwards triangle point downwards.

I remembered doing this experiment back in secondary school for physics class. It is amazing how two solid metal forks could balance on a single toothpick.

Challenge: Rearrange this star totally so that it still has the same meaning.

Result: The Chinese character for "star". 

Challenge: Move 2 match sticks to scoop up the marble.

A dog went on a walk but unfortunately met with an accident. Move 2 match sticks to show how it looks like now.

Survival skills are forms of Lateral Thinking. Using resources from nature to create fire.

A thief's guide to Lateral Thinking: If you can't breakthrough the door, breakthrough the flimsy ceiling. 

Makeshift house for kittens.

A good way to keep track of the stationery. 

Plastic barrels could be used as floats. 

Amy Tan: Where does creativity hide? video reflection

Amy Tan's TED talk allowed me to see how experiences, be it trauma or happy times, can shape how a person think and feel about their surroundings. Everyone has different experiences in life, and hence everyone will have different opinions on matters. She talks about uncertainty, and how uncertainty fuels her creativity. From uncertainties, we begin to question, to make sense of what is around us. We start to imagine the concepts that we have in mind and that would lead to a creation. I like how she said that there are no absolute truths. I believe that if that is true, there is a lot of potential for creativity. That is because when there is absolute truth, people start to give up finding different ways, because they know that whatever they do, it will not work. Hence if there is an absolute truth out there, I would rather not know it. Another thing Tan touched on is the uncanny coincidences in life. I have had times of dilemma, and sometimes something happens that allowed me to see what I really want. Those moments are unexplainable, but at least I know they help bring me one step forward.

Seth Godin: How to get your ideas to spread video reflection

Seth Godin tells us that in order for ideas to spread, it must be remarkable. He told us to find the people who really care about the product that we are making, and not to design our product to fit majority of the population. While his opinion holds water, I feel that it only works to spread the word about the product, but getting people to purchase the product is another story. He forgets that friends of those particular type of people are usually those of similar interest. For example, a new game was just released. The gamers are raving about it, they tell their friends, but those who fully understand why they are raving about it are most probably their gamer friends. Yes, their non-gamer friends will at least know a little about the game from listening to the raves, and maybe they will mention a little about it when their other friends happen to talk about it, but that is all it will be. Just knowing it exists. Will they buy it? We do not know for certain. Hence, the success will only be apparent within the circle of similar interest.

The Journey - Week 5 (Mind mapping)

After doing the mind mapping activity of what makes a happy life, I decided to do one for my Guinea Pigs as well.

Meet my adorable Guinea Pigs, Gin-chan(left) and R(right)!

A simple mind map of what makes a happy life for them. 

Fresh pellets packed with all the vitamins and minerals to give them a healthy and long life.

Fresh Timothy Hay for them to constantly chew on. It keeps their ever-growing incisors trimmed, maintains a healthy digestive system and keeps them from getting bored.

Their favourite snack: Carrots.

Water to keep them hydrated.

Occasional trip outdoors for them to explore and experience life outside their cage.

Cuddling sessions to socialize with them.

R loves head scratches.

Toys to keep them entertained. Sadly he punctured this ball with his incisors...

Begging for carrots.

Gets carrots.

It is nice to know that there is always a best friend to lean on.

Sleep is important after a tiring day. 

Will do ANYTHING for Carrots. Carrots motivate them like nothing else.

Isaac Mizrahi: Fashion and creativity video reflection

Isaac Mizrahi's TED talk video had this unorthodox style to it compared to the other TED talks I have seen so far. Unlike others, he does not express his thoughts clearly in distinct points. Instead, he talks briefly about how and where he draws his inspirations before jumping off to the next topic mid-way through. Nevertheless, the way he speaks and how he delivered himself is what I feel, the very representation of creativity. Creativity does not need to always have clear and distinct points. It can be a train of thought, from one random thought to another. Mizrahi draws his inspirations from his everyday life and that includes his problem: Insomnia. This reminds me about the Julie Burstein video where she talked about how we should embrace our limitations and turn it around to favour us, and that was what he did. He thought about a lot of things from sitting up at night. He also mentioned how he gets bored easily, which allowed him to try a lot of things and come up with better ideas. However, I feel that conversely, boredom works for me too because it allows my mind to wander and find things to do.

Tony Fadell: The first secret of design is ... noticing video reflection

Tony Fadell was very clear in delivering his points across to the audience about designing. He touched upon the topic of "Habituation", something that our brains do to reduce brain power used to do everyday actions, hence allowing us to be more efficient in learning new things. He spoke of how it is a road block in coming up with a solution to a design problem because it causes us to accept those problems as everyday life. The feelings of frustration when we first encounter the problem were gradually diluted as we got used to it. It reminds me of how we carry out everyday routines without thinking twice, such as when brushing our teeth every morning and wearing our shoes before going out. Fadell advised that we should look broader, look closer and last but not least, think younger. This links back to the very first video reflection on Tim Brown's "Tale of creativity and play". Both of them stressed on how it is important to think like a child, to keep questioning how things work. Only then will we be able to see the problem in a different perspective and come up with a good solution.

The Journey - Week 4 (Brainstorming)

Flyers are always ignored or chucked away in the bin. In an attempt to make them seem more useful, here are 10 ways to use a flyer. I timed myself and made all of them in under 5 minutes because brainstorming is suppose to be a quick process.

The flyer I gladly took off the hands of the distributor.

The classic paper plane for young ones to play. I remember having hours of fun with this as a child.

My family make boxes like this to put fish and chicken bones so we do not dirty the table during dinner.

For flyers that have a blank side, use it to scribble notes or a shopping list!

A makeshift coaster.

Turn it into a decoration. Fold a few of these cranes and hang them up.

Shred into pieces and make a collage.

Roll it into the stick and give your arms the extra length to reach for higher areas.

Use it as a sleeve for hot drinks on the go.

The solution to a rocky table/chair.

Use it as a fan and stay cool in the hot and humid weather of Singapore.

Brainstorming group exercise - 101 ways to wear a shirt

We did a group activity on brainstorming 101 ways to wear a shirt. Eventually, we picked out the top twenty that we thought was feasible and easy to present to the class. It was a very fun experience figuring out how we could manipulate a single shirt into different forms, some of which I initially thought was not even possible. It all started out with a brainstorming session where each and every one of us just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. The first 50 were pretty ordinary ideas, but as it got towards the second half of the 101 ways, the ideas got more and more ridiculous and we had a great laugh about it. I guess that is how designers come up with brilliant ideas. They try to exhaust as many possibilities as they can think of possible, and eventually they will arrive at very creative ones. Each step towards the 101th way is one level more challenging to come up with something that outshines the last. Though some of the 101 ways we came up with were unfeasible, at least we had an idea that we can work with.

Steven Johnson: Where good ideas come from video reflection

Steven Johnson discussed about how an idea is not a single thing on its own but a "chain reaction". He points out that a gathering of people is where innovation usually happens. There must be a connection between people from different backgrounds, voicing their opinions and clashing of views for the spark to happen. I believe this is true because one single person has a limit to the amount of knowledge he/she knows and a limited perspective. By combining two perspective, we can then see a new horizon. However, just sitting in a group and exchanging views is not enough. There is a certain element called "Chance". It is a pretty vague concept. For example, in the series of events that lead to the creation of the GPS, had Frank McClure not suggested a different perspective, the group would not have pondered about the possibility and worked on it. No one knew McClure was going to step in. This chance happened, and what catalyzed for it to happen is an environment where ideas meet. That environment gave the highest possibility for this chance to happen as opposed to working alone, and that is what lead to a Eureka moment.

The Journey - Week 3

Diagonal cuts made on the rubber tree to collect latex. They really look like bruises on skin.

Poor little guy taking shelter from the rain under the small awning outside the window. It is looking at me with pleading eyes, hoping to get into the warmth comfort of my home. 

Three pots of plant. Just kidding. These are Oreo cheesecake topped with Oreo bits and garnished with mint on top. They make the perfect prank.

Light and Darkness.

Cable cars hanging precariously high above ground. They look like beads on a necklace.

Remnants of a fallen temple from the 921 Taiwan earthquake. There is a certain beauty in this destruction.

From this...

to this. A good alternative from the usual plastic bag because this uses far less material to make. Just make sure the item is big enough to not fall through the holes.

It feels as if the colours are constantly flowing.

Cracks.

Face and bath towel folded and put together to make an Elephant.

Stealing the spotlight, and is pretty happy about it.

Right-angled tree branches. Shaped by the numerous lorries and cargo trucks that drove past them. 

Teamwork - the rat repellent and the rat catcher.