[MUSIC] Before we begin, what do you think creativity is? These days it seems like creative and creativity are either buzz words for corporate business and innovation or something that kids do in art class. It's either something that is owned. A commodity that can be bought and paid for or childish play. But creativity also has a place in academic study. This is what we will look at in this lesson. Pope defines creativity as the capacity to make, do or become something fresh and valuable with respect to others as well as to ourselves. Now, because universities are not simply places where knowledge is taught, but places where knowledge is created and shared, we can see that creativity can be a central part. Manuel explains this further by saying the distinction between the critical and creative is a false one, since to imagine, express, shape or produce something new, relies on creativity and often, on collaboration. Creativity best becomes something which not only fits within academic culture but forms an integral part of it. Indeed as Bargar and Duncan suggest, if we look carefully at how creative, eminent scientist describe their own work, we find a world which uses logical analysis as a critical tool in the refinement of ideas, but which often begins in a very different place where imagery, metaphor, analogy, intuitive hunches, kinesthetic feeling states, and even dreams or dream-like states are prepotent. However, as the bonoaugnologist, creativity is often the name we give to a process after a result has been produced. Furthermore, creative strategies will work differently for different people, and at different times, or even not at all, therefore, we need some strategies that will give us more consistent results. Luckily, there are a number of different ways that we can be creative when problem solving. Some of them, such as using analogies, brainstorming, talking things over with other people, or concentrating on anomalies, we have already discussed. Another way of using creative techniques, to solve problems, is a Random Juxtaposition. This strategy is simple. You pick a random word from the dictionary and apply it to your topic or problem. The more different the word and the problem the better. This works, especially when you are stuck for new ideas or feel like you are in a rut. As de Bono says, if you look at the situation only from within your established way of looking at it, no amount of will power is going to take you to a new way of looking at it. A similar strategy, again from de Bono, is to use an intermediate impossible. This is sometimes called negative brainstorming. This strategy involves taking a solution or idea that you know is wrong and looking for all of the positives within that idea. These seemingly wrong ideas can often prove to be stepping stones that lead you to something better. Or point our assumptions that you may not have noticed. Of course, sometimes this idea is actually just wrong. But putting effort into considering it, can often help you to understand the problem itself better. In addition, practicing not rejecting an idea immediately is invaluable, when it comes in working with other people. Other strategy along this line are things like doing the opposite or working backwards. Doing the exact opposite of what you are doing helps to break down boundaries that you may have imposed upon a problem without realizing it. And sometimes, if you know the goal of the problem but not the solution path. Working backwards from the goal to your initial state, can help you understand the problem better. In the next few lessons, we will demonstrate some examples of how these strategies work, and the kinds of ideas they can generate. [MUSIC]