Traditional Vs Creative Thinking
Traditional thinking refers to the thinking that has traditionally permeated the mindsets, models, decisions, and analyses of Western management. Its basis is in analysis and analytical thinking.
If we added to traditional thinking the abstract idea of change our world becomes tremendously complex. The way we manage the complexity is that we create; we create by introducing generalizations plus other abstractions.
Philosopher, tycoon, philanthropist, author, and international political activist George Soros says in his book “The Age of Fallibility” that “Once it comes to generalizations, the more general they are, the more they simplify matters. This world is best conceived as a general equation in which the present is represented by one set of constants. Change the constants and the same equation will apply to all past and future situations…I shall call this the critical mode of thinking.”
Soros identifies the traditional mode of thinking with an ‘organic society’. He further identifies the critical mode of thinking with the ‘open society’. Each society must find a means to deal with factors that do not conform to the will of the members of that society. In a traditional society, even though it focuses primarily on phenomena that are generally static, nature can be obdurate.
In the traditional mode of thinking the central tenet is that things are as they have always been and the future will be likewise thus they cannot be any other way. The status quo is fate and all we need do is learn that fate and to organize our lives in accordance. In such a world logic and argumentation has no place because there exists no alternatives.
When we examine the nature of epistemology what can we know and how can we know it in such a mode of thinking we quickly illuminate the advantages and drawbacks. In such a society there is no bifurcation between thought and concrete reality. There exists only the objective relationship between knower and known. The validity of traditional truth is unquestioned; there can be no distinction between ideas and reality.
The traditional mode of thinking does not explain the world by cause and effect but everything performs in accordance with its nature.
Because there is no distinction between the natural and supernatural and between reality and thought there arise no contradictions. The spirit of the tree is as real as the branch of the tree; past, present, and future melt into one time. Thinking fails to distinguish between thought and reality, truth and falsehood, social and naturals laws. Such is the world of traditional thought and the world of mythological thought.
The traditional mode is very flexible as long as no alternatives are voiced, any new thing quickly becomes the traditional and as long as such a situation meets the needs of the people such a situation will continue to prevail.
To comprehend the traditional mode we must hold in abeyance our ingrained habits of thought, especially our abstract concept of the individual. In a changeless society all is the Whole, the individual does not exist.
The term “organic society” is used often to label this form of culture. When all is peaceful with no significant voices placing forth an alternative then this organic society exists in peace. In this organic society a human slave is no different from any other chattel. In a feudal society the land is more important than the landlord who derives his privileges from the fact that he holds the land.
For 3000 years Egypt was an example such a society. This Egyptian society remained essentially unchanged until 50BC when Western society was led into a different mode of thinking by the Greeks and by Roman conquest.
Creative Thinking
Creative thinking is the ability to look at things differently and find new ways of solving problems. Creative thinking skills are definitely not just for ‘creative types’ like artists and musicians. Everyone can benefit from creative thinking from time to time.
Creative thinking is a way of looking at problems or situations from a fresh perspective that suggests unorthodox solutions (which may look unsettling at first). Creative thinking can be stimulated both by an unstructured process such as brainstorming, and by a structured process such as lateral thinking.
The need for creative thinking arises because our brains naturally tend to fall into certain ‘short cuts’. Once we have a piece of information, we tend to use it again: that’s how we learn. This has huge advantages for example, it means that we don’t have to learn how to use a knife and fork every time we eat but it also has some disadvantages, in that we tend to stop thinking about things that we do, see or say regularly.
Formal Creative Thinking
Of course, it is possible to think creatively all the time. There are some people who simply fizz with new ideas and seem to see everything slightly differently from those around them.
These are the people who are always asking ‘Why?’, and ‘Why not?’.
They are natural problem-solvers and innovators.
However, for most people, creative thinking requires more effort. They prefer to save their creative thinking for when it is really necessary.
Typical examples of times when you might take the time to use creative thinking techniques include:
- When you are facing a major problem or issue, and you cannot see an obvious way forward.
- At times of change, when it is hard to see what might lie ahead, and you want to think about possible scenarios.
- When there is a lot of disagreement about what needs to happen next, and no compromise seems possible without a lot of effort.
- When you need something new, that hasn’t been tried before, but you are not sure what.
On occasions like this, it may be worth doing some ‘formal’ creative thinking and using a trained facilitator to help the group get the most out of the session.