Anyone can learn creativity using these five steps. This does not mean that it is easy to be creative. It takes courage and a lot of practice to unleash your creative talent. However, this five-step approach helps to understand the creative process and illuminate the path to more innovative thinking.
To illustrate how this process works, I will tell you a short story.
A problem that requires a creative solution
Newspapers and printers faced a very specific and very expensive problem in the 1870s. Photography was a new and exciting medium at the time. Readers wanted to see more photos, but no one could figure out how to print images quickly and cheaply.
For example, if a newspaper wanted to print a picture in the 1870s, they would have to hire a sculptor to engrave a copy of the picture on a steel plate by hand. These plates are used to press the image on the page, but they often break after a few uses. This process of photo engraving, you can imagine, is very time-consuming and expensive.
The man who invented the solution to this problem was named Frederick Eugene Eves. He was a pioneer in the field of photography and received over 70 patents by the end of his career. The story of his creativity and innovation, which I will now share, is a useful case study to understand the 5 key steps of the creative process.
Flash of insight
Yves got his start as a printer apprentice in Ithaca, New York. After learning about the printing process for two years, he started running a photographic laboratory at the nearby Cornell University. He spent the rest of the decade experimenting with new photography techniques and learning about cameras, printers and optics.
In 1881, Ives had an insight into an improved printing technique.
While performing my photosterotype process in Ithaca, I studied the problem of the halftone process," Eves said. "Because of the problem I slept in a foggy state one night, and the moment I woke up in the morning he saw in front of me, apparently on the roof, fully functioning process and equipment in operation."
Eves quickly translated his vision into reality and in 1881 patented his printing system. He spent the rest of the decade improving it. By 1885, he had developed a simpler approach that would provide even better results. The Ives process, as it is known, reduced the cost of printing images by 15x and remained the standard printing technology for the next 80 years.
Okay, now let’s discuss what we can learn from Eves about the creative process.
The printing process developed by Frederick Eugene Eves is a fine example of a proper creative process.
The printing process developed by Frederick Eugene Eves used a technique called "halftone printing" to divide the photograph into a series of small dots. The image looks like a collection of close-up points, but when viewed from a normal distance, the points combine with each other to form an image with shades of gray. (Source: unknown.)
5 steps of the creative process
In 1940, James Webb Young, an advertising executive, published a brief guide entitled A Technique for Creating Ideas. In this guide, he made a simple, yet profound statement about creating creative ideas.
According to Young, innovative ideas come when you develop new combinations of old elements. In other words, the creative idea is not to create something new from a blank slate, but to take the existing ones and combine those bits and pieces in a way that has never been done before.
Most importantly, the ability to create new combinations depends on your ability to see the relationships between concepts. If you could create a new link between two old ideas, you would have done something creative.
Young believes that this process of creative engagement always takes place in five stages.
1) Collect new material. First, you learn. At this stage you will focus on 1) learning specific things that are directly related to your work and 2) learning general things by being fascinated by a wide range of concepts.
2) Work fully on the material in your mind. At this stage, you will examine what you have learned by looking at the facts from different angles and experimenting with aligning different ideas with each other.
3) Walk away from the problem. After that, you completely remove the problem from your mind and do something else that will excite you and energize you.
4) Let your thoughts come back to you. At some point, but only when you stop thinking about it, your thinking will come back to you with insight and new energy.
5) Design and develop your idea based on feedback. For any idea to be successful, you need to release it to the world, submit it to criticism and change it as needed.
Thought in practice
Frederick provides a perfect example of these five steps in the creative process action used by Eugene Eves.
First, Eves collected new material. He worked as a printer apprentice for two years and ran a photographic laboratory at Cornell University for four years. These experiences gave him a lot to explore and do about the relationship between photography and printing.
Second, Ives began to work mentally on what he had learned. By 1878, Yves had spent most of his time experimenting with new technologies. He is constantly tinkering and experimenting in various ways to bring ideas together.
Third, Eves overcame the problem. In this case, he slept for a few hours before his insight came to light. Letting creative challenges last longer can work *
Fourth, his idea came back to him. Eves woke up as the solution to his problem was put in front of him. (On a personal note, I'm often with creative thoughts like I'm asleep. Once my mind stops working all day, the solution is instantaneous.)
Eventually, Eves continued to modify his thinking over the years. In fact, he improved many aspects of the process, he filed a second patent. This is an important topic and is often overlooked. It is easy to fall in love with an early version of your idea, but great ideas always develop.
Brief creative process
"An idea is a practice of connection, and its height is a good metaphor."
- Robert Frosto
The creative process is the process of forming new relationships between old ideas. Thus, creative thinking is the act of recognizing the relationships between concepts.
One way to approach creative challenges is to (1) gather material, 2) work hard on the things in your mind, 3) walk away from the problem, 4) the idea must come back to you naturally. , And 5) testing your thinking in the real world and adjusting based on opinion.
Being creative does not mean being the first (or only) person to come up with an idea. Most often, creativity is about connecting ideas.
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