Wily Walnut’s Blog 2.0

I really enjoyed reading this interview with the now 75-year-old, Edward de Bono: http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2009/01/04/interview.html

In it he calls for an Embassy or “Palace of Thinking”, a grand edifice building that would visually impress the importance and regard we choose to give to the thinking arts in the new millenia.  

This Palace of Thinking would be situated in his homeland of Malta, the tiny Mediterranean island which would be rebranded the Creative Think Tank of the world!

Check out some of Edward de Bono’s other provactive ideas in this article, namely:

1. That he goes to America, as a ‘gift’ from the EU, to teach Presidential elect Obama how to think creatively!

2. The invention of a new spending currency “the Bon”. He explains how that would work.

3. The development of a currency for buying and selling property with a managed exchange rate mechanism to stabilise property markets in times of bubble/bust.

4. What a fat female cross-eyed hunchback can expect if she ever crosses paths with Mr de BONO!

It’s very waffo and you can read it here: The Embassy of Thinking

Reminiscent of Thomas Edison’s Invention Factory at Menlo Park, New Jersey, Proctor and Gamble have their own creative thinking think tank over at Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati.

It sounds like a Disneyland for the creative mind. Check out this cool news item to learn about what those folks are doing over there:

Clay St Project lets P&G Think Outside of the Pyramid

I love the firestarter question that sparks a lot of creativity over there:

“If you were going to come to Earth and see things for the first time, what would they look like?”

A great question to take with you into 2009 — so you can see with fresh eyes… and thus see what others miss.

Wishing you happy new year and creative days,

Wily

I like Mitesh’s post on How To Choose The Best Idea After Brainstorming

His three little categories for sorting your ideas into make perfect sense.

Of course, once you’ve done your brainstorming, and made your own choice as to the best ideas, you need some feedback.

Trouble is… when you ask for criticism you get it. People automatically go into “what’s wrong?” mode and that can savage a perfectly good idea and perhaps stop you in your tracks.

Fortunately, Mitesh has a way round that, by getting the feedback group to apply the same categorization process to the ideas and see which ones triumph overall.

Loving the post about citta slow in Ludlow over at: Readers write — New lifestyle trends

Shows what a few beers and a playful attitude with a focus on strengths can do to unleash creative thinking.

See how one place inspires another place to adopt town and city planning with a focus on relaxation and quality of life — surely the way towns and cities should be designed — to enhance the experience of the peoples living and visiting there?

Stacie gets it. Check out her post over at: Doing Your Best or Just Doing?

Too much trying, feel like crying. Just get doing, ‘tivity’s a shoe-in.

Possibly worst rhyme you’ve ever heard.

Don’t care.

Not the point.

Have fun. Be creative. Chillax about the quality.

Let yourself be free… and you throw wide open the doorway to your deepest creative thinking.

Great article from Marelisa: Lateral Thinking: Think Out of the Box

Her articles are always so nicely weighted, clear and useful.

Here she explains Edward de Bono’s lateral thinking in an easy to understand and apply way. You’ll enjoy the lateral thinking puzzles she includes too.

‘Lateral Thinking’ by Edward de Bono was first published in 1970. It’s a landmark book in the creativity field. It was the first book on creative thinking that I ever got. It had an impact at 15 years of age and I’m still learning from it 25 years later.

Love, love, love this quote over at “On Creative Thinking …and Being”.

It encapsulates the struggle that we sometimes feel to reach for that free, beautiful, peak performance part of ourselves… when we are locked up in the tight, restrictive, controlling parts of our mind.

The call for the whirlwind to blast away our limitations.

Edward de Bono’s article Creative solutions: how creativity can help with decision making and analysis made for uncomfortable reading.

Why?

Because it exposed a few hidden home truths that most self-confessed ‘creative types’ hide even from themselves.

And what is that?

That we enjoy creative thinking while it is fun, but often bail out when it starts to feel like hard work.

But as Edward de Bono points out in this article, “the disciplined use of creative thinking often turns up ideas way beyond those that arise from the habit of creative thinking.”

Becoming a disciplined creative thinker is a whole different ball game.

Are you up to it?

I picked up on a Twitter thread and found Dean Hunt’s brilliant site and specifically this post: The Power Of Creative Thinking in which he shows how one little idea he came up with generated massive practical value for him.

You should look at Dean’s site just for a masterclass in original quirky thinking, unique presentation, and living creatively in your life, work and business.

Love the whole killer rabbit theme going on… simple little thing and yet it makes the whole experience memorable and fun.

I like this article over at BusinessWeek on How to Produce Big Ideas on Demand by G. Michael Maddock and Raphael Louis Vitón  of Maddock Douglas, a company that invents, brands, and markets products “for companies driven by innovation.”

Here are their tips:

1. Shower your way to creativity.

This is fairly old hat. You relax in the shower and that frees up your mind. But they add a note that there may be some scientific basis to it… that the water may stimulate synapses in the brain. There is also the diving reflex to consider. Splash cold water in your face and it triggers the diving reflex which in turn oxygenates your brain.

See The Brain Bubbles technique to permanently boost your IQ in just 3 weeks!

2. Sleep on it!

See: Sleep to succeed! Sleep and dream your way to brilliant ideas!

3. Engage in Mind-Mapping!

See: Mind Mapping: the visual creative thinking process

4. Schedule Your Day Dreaming

This is a good point. They say that many people are most creative in the morning, just at the point where they start checking and replying emails, wasting that time. I took a tip from internet marketer Michael Campbell about this, he does all his creative work first thing and leaves email till later in the day. It’s still a hard habit to break though.

5. Yuk it Up!

See: Enhance Your Intelligence With Jokes, Wit and Humor!

And: Gay Think - think pink your way to creativity, genius and wit!