Creative Thinking for Dummies

There is a lot being written these days about the role of creativity in business and ministry. I get the feeling that creativity is viewed as the Holy Grail of skills.

The truth is that everyone is capable of being creative. Yes, there are those who are extremely gifted, but these people are hardly worthy of being idolized.

Here are three principles for effective creative thinking that any individual or organization can follow:

1. Separate Ideation from Evaluation

It Depends

I’ve noticed that there are two types of strategic thinkers out there:

There are strategic thinkers who hold on very tightly to a preferred approach.

When these strategists are asked their opinion on what a business or church should do, they launch in with the same answer again and again. They are the ones who flood the Internet with tweets and articles chocked full of words like “every”, “should”, and “must”. The act as if their universal truths are the secret to unlocking the potential of the universe. Occasionally they will attempt to justify their approach, drawing weak conclusions from even weaker evidence.

Strategy Principles – Picking The Right Tool

The other day I was cooking a quick dinner for my family. We have two small children (a one year old and a two year old), so “quick” is critical to our dinner preparation. I needed to cut up some chicken so I reached over to our knife block to grab the necessary tool. Instead of grabbing the 7″ Santoku or the 8″ chef’s knife, I grabbed a steak knife. As I was doing so, the following conversation occurred in my head:

Me: “That’s not the best knife for cutting chicken.” Also me: “We’re using the steak knife.” Me: “Bad idea.” Also me: “We’re using the steak knife.” *Kid yells and our attention refocuses on getting dinner ready.