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Unit Outline Increasing Creativity Increasing Creativity through Innocence 1. How does innocence affect goal setting and decision making? 2. How can I determine my innocence? 3. How can I increase my innocence? Increasing Creativity through Intuition 1. Why is intuition an important part of creativity? 2. How does intuition affect goal setting and decision making? 3. How can I increase my powers of intuition? * Consume information * Flip a coin * Listen to your body Increasing Creativity through Adventure 1. How does a sense of adventure affect goal setting and decision making? 2. How can I determine whether I am adventurous? * Malcontent with status quo * Spontaneity * Risk calculation and the ability to move forward * Liberal attitudes * High self-esteem 3. How can I be more adventurous? Unit Content Increasing Creativity Increasing Creativity through Innocence

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How does innocence affect goal setting and decision making? Innocence is a determination of your perspective on a topic. Your perspective in looking at a situation often determines the outcome you choose. If you are an expert on the topic, you may choose a path that has been tested and proven effective. While this may be a perfectly acceptable option, your experience and expertise may cause you to overlook or exclude options that could have an even greater result. For example, suppose you are an executive with Icon International. You have been asked to make an important decision-to choose a software package for your firm's intranet. You are presented with two choices that would both meet your needs. Training, technical support, and all other concerns are equal. The only difference is a moderate price variation. Package A costs approximately $500 more than Package B. However, you have been approved to spend the additional money if you think it is necessary. In addition, you have personally worked with Package A for several years, while you have no experience with Package B. From a purely innocent standpoint, it would seem that, all other things being equal, Package B would be a more cost-effective purchase. However, if you are drawing on your own experience and expertise, you may choose Package A. If you choose Package A, not only have you spent more of your company's money, but you have missed the opportunity to expand your personal experiences and knowledge. Similarly, taking an innocent perspective rather than an expert perspective can increase your creativity when setting goals. An innocent perspective will encourage you to reach beyond the ordinary and mundane and set new and exciting goals. How can I determine my innocence? As your education about a topic increases, your level of innocence decreases. You can determine your innocence on a topic by evaluating your experience and knowledge about it. For example, if you are asked to think of a creative solution to a budget problem, consider your reaction to the problem. Is it to go with a tried-and-true method, or are you willing to go back to the basics and examine all sides of the problem before considering any solutions? If your first reaction is to choose a proven solution, you have a low level of innocence. If you are willing to consider the facts before coming up with new ideas, you have a high level of innocence, which is an advantage whenever you think creatively. How can I increase my innocence? If you find yourself looking only for the proven solutions to problems or situations, you may need to go back to the basics. It may be difficult to force an innocent perspective but the results are worth it. First, set aside any notions that you already have all the facts, and approach the situation as a beginner would by learning as much as possible about the topic. Then, as you think of new ideas, be sure to write each of them down without passing judgement on the plausibility of the ideas. Remember that a beginner does not have past experiences to draw on, so his or her thought process would not be hindered by mental judgements of ideas. Only once you have come up with several solutions or scenarios should you consider your experience and expertise to determine what will and will not work.

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Increasing Creativity through Intuition Why is intuition an important part of creativity? Intuition is an abstract quality that, if listened to, can guide our choices and decisions. Intuition is sometimes called the ''inner voice'' and it can indicate your truest feelings. It is often considered to be based on the subconscious level of thought processes. This ''inner voice'' gathers facts, data, and impressions that your conscious mind may not deem important and compiles these thoughts and feelings to guide you in directions that you otherwise may not consider. How does intuition affect goal setting and decision making? Intuition can affect activities such as goal setting and decision making by giving a fresh perspective to your thoughts, which encourages creativity. For example, imagine you are a new salesperson in a large manufacturing firm. Your supervisor has asked you to set a goal for your expected sales production for the upcoming quarter. Since you are a new employee, you do not have any prior experiences to consider when setting your goal. Consciously, you may not have a good idea of what is attainable in your first quarter. However, your intuition may have gathered impressions from your conversations with other salespeople and may suggest a number that just ''feels right.'' Suggesting this goal to your supervisor can confirm that your intuition is on target. How can I increase my powers of intuition? Intuition is a tool that must be sharpened, and you must learn to listen to your intuition. The following are some exercises that will help you sharpen your intuition:
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Consume information Flip a coin Listen to your body

Consume information The more information your brain has stored, the more information your intuition has to rely on. Read books, magazines, and newspapers, watch educational television shows, and ask questions whenever you do not understand something. This knowledge base will become a reservoir that your intuition can draw from whenever you need to be creative. Flip a coin Although it may seem silly to base a major decision on the flip of a coin, it is not actually the coin flip that is important. Rather, it is your reaction to the result of the coin flip that warrants your attention. Imagine that you are a human resources manager who has to decide between two fully qualified candidates for a position in your company. Both resumes are spectacular and both candidates seem to be good fits for the culture of your organization. Assign one side of the coin to each candidate. Candidate A is ''heads'' and candidate B is ''tails.'' Flip the coin in the air, telling yourself that you will hire whichever candidate corresponds with the side of the coin that is facing up. If the coin lands ''heads'' up, examine your reaction to the prospect of hiring candidate A. Perhaps you experience disappointment, or maybe you feel a sense of relief. If you feel

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disappointment or any other negative emotions, your intuition is telling you that candidate B should have been your choice and is giving you the opportunity to act accordingly. If you feel relief or other positive emotions, your intuition is telling you that candidate A was the right choice. By practicing this exercise with smaller decisions, you will learn to trust your intuition when you have more important decisions to make. Listen to your body When people experience a flash of intuition, it might be accompanied by a physical sensation such as a flushing of the cheeks or a mild jolt, such as you might receive from static electricity. Should you experience a physical sensation such as this, pay close attention to what your body, and your intuition, are trying to tell you. It could be the creative idea or solution you have been searching for. Increasing Creativity through Adventure How does a sense of adventure affect goal setting and decision making? A sense of adventure is an important aspect of creativity because people who are adventurous are not afraid to move forward with ideas and solutions. This spirit of adventure gets and keeps the creative juices flowing and promotes imagination and a desire to succeed. A sense of adventure can positively affect goal setting and decision making by breaking you out of your normal pattern. A sense of adventure can encourage you to take some calculated risks and explore areas that you may not have considered. For example, suppose you are an account executive who is setting goals for the future. Without a sense of adventure, you may be inclined to only expand on the prior year's goals. With a sense of adventure, however, you may be inclined to branch out to new goals that you had not previously considered. A sense of adventure will give you a can-do attitude and the motivation to expand your experiences, which will be beneficial to creative thinking. How can I determine whether I am adventurous? Although there is no specific level of adventure required to think creatively, the greater your sense of adventure, the greater your creative output will be. Consider the following characteristics of an adventurous personality to determine whether you are comfortable with your own level of adventure:
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Malcontent with status quo Spontaneity Risk calculation and the ability to move forward Liberal attitudes High self-esteem

Malcontent with status quo Adventurers are often dissatisfied with the status quo. These people see life as a journey rather than a destination. They are always looking to improve on the current situation. Spontaneity Adventurers are also often very spontaneous. Rather than being stuck in the same pattern, they are

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always trying something new. Change is a constant in these people's lives. Risk calculation and the ability to move forward Adventurers are not daredevils. Instead, adventurers carefully observe a situation and calculate the risk involved before taking action. When an adventurer does move forward, it is with eyes wide open. Liberal attitudes Adventurers usually have very liberal attitudes toward life. They accept and enjoy diversity. Adventurers celebrate differences between people and places and are equally at home on a deserted island or at an elaborate party for high-ranking heads of state. High self-esteem Adventurers believe in themselves and do not let fear or worry hold them back from new experiences. Adventurers see failures as lessons rather than setbacks. It is this type of positive attitude that gives the adventurer the fortitude to press on when others might quit. How can I be more adventurous? Because a sense of adventure is important to a creative mindset, it is necessary to encourage and nurture your sense of adventure. The following are some ways to become more adventurous:
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Take a different route. If you take the same route to and from work each day, try something new. Take a road or route you have never traveled before. Give yourself time to look at the scenery and pay attention to the people who live along that route. Consider the similarities and differences between the route you usually take and this new route. Read books or magazines. Although you may regularly read a few favorite books or magazines, develop your sense of adventure by reading books and magazines on topics you know nothing about. Learn about photography, art, interior design, tropical fish-the topic does not matter as much as the opportunity to expand your mind. Listen to music. It is also possible to increase your sense of adventure simply by listening to a new radio station. Discover a new type of music and consider how the foundation of your favorite music is similar to other types of music. Randomly choose entertainment. An adventurer will not let him- or herself get stuck in a rut by always attending the same types of movies, plays, sports events, or other activities. To increase your sense of adventure, randomly choose entertainment by blindly pointing to a name in the phone book or drawing names out of a hat. You could also decide to watch the movie with the most letters in the title. Think of other random ways to determine your entertainment. Cook or eat new foods. Become more adventurous by trying a restaurant or by preparing a new food. Learn about spices, meats, and vegetables that are common in other parts of the world, and incorporate those into your everyday meals. Make new friends. Get to know co-workers better, take your children's babysitter out to a movie, or invite your neighbors over for dinner. Seek out new friends and make yourself available for invitations. Watch television. If you typically watch comedies, turn on a political debate. If you usually watch educational television, watch some cartoons. Turn on any television show that is out of the ordinary for you and watch for at least half an hour.

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