Creative thinking can be learned.    It is not a black or white, ‘born with it’ skill. It can be practiced, developed and exercised.  Creativity is not just about art and music. Creative thinking is useful for everything, from cooking, to business, to relationships.

Steve Jobs looked at two random objects, a portable phone and a computer.  In his mind, he made the connection between the two, et voila. We have the smart phone.  Seems simple now, doesn’t it.

I am partial to Ted.com talks on creativity and watched one recently that inspired this week’s ‘random words’ topic.

One of the exercises suggested to develop creative thinking is to think of three random words.  Go ahead, close your eyes and think of three random words.  We’ll pause here…

…And we’re back.  Think about the words you chose.  Chances are they really are not that random.  They were inspired by something you just read about, something in your line of vision, or something you’ve been thinking of.  Not really random at all.  My three when I first tried this were ‘tree, grass and rock’.  Hardly random, or particularly creative.

By ‘random’ the idea is to come up with words that are unrelated to what is directly in front of us, and unrelated to each other.  Like, ‘elephant, pluto, and frame’.  Not easy to do, but with practice anybody can think like Steve Jobs.

A random act of creativity has occurred over at  Contentment is for Cows.   

Your comments are always welcome.  You can choose between Facebook, Twitter, or the contact button.  

If you haven’t already, you can make your Sundays just that much more fun by signing up for this weekly blog, or invite someone else to sign up.

Enjoy!