written by Đào Khánh Huyền

In a world where every limit is being broken, tradition is being challenged, creativity is an invaluable asset that we need to cherish, nurture and preserve. Creativity will be the only thing that will differentiate human and machine in the upcoming decade. However, our daily repetitive schedule tends to kill our creativity with its own steady and boring rhythm. During a lesson with Mr. Patrice in the Master Program of Innovation, I was surprised to realize that my daily life was following an old path, which made me lose interest in trying new things. For example, I go to work, to school and back home on the same route every day. I am bored with this but ironically, I am too lazy to change. This afraid-to-change mindset is actually a warning signal to creativity. 

In this article, I would like to introduce 5 easy ways to nurture and maintain creativity in our daily life. 

• Talk to a kid

Kids are very imaginative and curious. They can think of something you have never thought of. Next time, when you encounter a problem, try asking a kid. Listening to their responses, you might be surprised by their different way of thinking. Even in case this does not work out with your problem, you can still have a good laugh. 

• Make something on your own

The best way to nurture creativity is through art. You should take up some form of art such as painting, filming, photography, which will wake up your artistic instinct, thus boost your creativity. Remember that Steve Jobs learned calligraphy at his young age, which seems to have nothing related to the innovation of Macbook. 

• Go somewhere you’ve never been

You can go and explore new places apart from your holiday. For example, you can try the nearby museums, parks, or simply just change your daily route to school/office. When exposed to a new environment or circumstances, your brain will be stimulated to feel, to observe and to be creative.

• Do something that scares you

When you can overcome any of your fear, this achievement will make you feel more confident in yourself. This allows you to be more creative in your thinking and actions.

Starting random conversations with strangers is also a way to learn because everyone has their unique perspectives – different ways to see things. 

• Read more and step away from electronics. 

Books are worlds beyond barriers of reality, allowing us to roam on creative space. There, we can connect existing knowledge with our dreams. Instead of hugging phones and computers, we should spend time reading and reflecting on ourselves.

Gaëlle BRAYER

by Đào Khánh Huyền

One of the best decisions I made last year was to enroll in this Master Program of Innovation by University of Nantes, currently being offered at FTU campus. The Program brought me a wind of change in the mindset. Previously, I have always believed that creativity, let alone innovative ideas, has not been and will not be my thing.  However, this started to change since my first subject: “Creativity and Design management” facilitated by Mr. Patrice BONNEAU and followed by many other useful and interesting subjects providing tools and guidance to help me turn my ideas into reality. 

“Creativity is a process, not an event”. As the saying goes, if you want be more creative and innovative, you have to spend time and efforts to practice. In this article, I would love to share with you some of the tools and techniques that I gained throughout Program to practice and improve creativity. 

• Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a method for generating ideas to solve a design problem. It usually involves a group, under the direction of a facilitator. The strength of brainstorming is the potential participants have in drawing associations between their ideas in a free-thinking environment, thereby broadening the solution space.

One of the effective brainstorming methods introduced by Mr. Stéphane JAOUEN that I found extremely useful is Ishikawa diagram method. This method is a 6-step method to find out the root cause of a problem from which we can come up with a well-rounded solution.  

• Mind-mapping

This method must sound much more very familiar to you compared to the abovementioned. It is a highly effective way of getting information in and out of your brain, a creative and logical means of note-taking and note-making that literally “maps out” your ideas. Mind-mapping is an extremely useful visual thinking tool to structure information to help analyze and create new ideas.

One example of mind-mapping for the MPIE program:  

• The six thinking hats 

Often, the best decisions come from changing the way that you think about problems, and examining them from different viewpoints. “Six Thinking Hats” can help you to look at problems from different perspectives, but one at a time, to avoid confusion from too many angles crowding your thinking. It forces you to move outside your habitual thinking style, and to look at things from a number of different perspectives. This allows you to get a more rounded view of your situation.

Each “Thinking Hat” is a different style of thinking. These are briefly explained below:

Managing Blue – what is the subject? what are we thinking about? what is the goal? look at the big picture.

Information White – considering purely what information is available, what are the facts?

Emotions Red – intuitive or instinctive, reactions or statements of emotional feeling (but not any justification).

Discernment Black – logic applied to identifying reasons to be cautious and conservative. Practical, realistic.

Optimistic response Yellow – logic applied to identifying benefits, seeking harmony. Sees the brighter, sunny side of situations.

 Creativity Green – statements of provocation and investigation, seeing where a thought goes. Thinks creatively, outside the box. 

• SWOT analysis

To understand well yourself and the surrounding environment means you already win the half way. This SWOT analysis helps you to do this. What makes SWOT particularly powerful is that, with a little thought, it can help you uncover opportunities that you are well-placed to exploit with your strengths. And by understanding the weaknesses of your business, you can manage and eliminate threats that would otherwise catch you unawares.

I believe that the tools and techniques introduced in this article will be very useful for you to brainstorm, structure, shape and reflect your ideas in a clear and logical way. Should you spend time to practice with the tools, your creative mind will be fostered and improved gradually.

Gaëlle BRAYER