Creative Skills Magazine

SKILLs
Zoë van der Woude
581791

FIND INSIDE
08 11 14 20
CONTENT
03 Introduction
04 Creative Model
05 Creative Model Explanation
06 Creative Thinking Process
07 Goal Orientation
08 Wishful Thinking
10 Ladder Of Abstraction
11 Post It Brainstorming
12 Flexible Association
13 Association/Biassociation
14 Draw Your Figure
15 Targeting
16 Energizers
17 Mascot Vis
18 Logistics Plan
19 Evaluation Lesson
20 Evaluation
21 Bibliography
02

INTRODUCTION
Most people associate creative thinking with “thinking outside of the box.” They are right, because it means
thinking about new things and/or thinking in new ways. Though, creativity is something where you are thinking of thing
that are not the obvious way to go (Doyle, 2017).
Nowadays you don’t have to just be creative, you also have to make sure that whatever you make is relevant to
whoever you are targeting. Being creative and relevant is the key to success. Creativity can be something that you learn,
but it does take patience (Sandu, n.d.).
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty,
because they didn’t really do it, the just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while” (Jobs, n.d.).
Even though that some people are just the creative type and are able to generate new ideas very easily, some others
just struggle with being creative. No matter what, there are some useful skills and techniques to get the creativity
flowing (SkillsYouNeed, n.d.).
This magazine explains the following creative techniques to use for several things to bring in a whole new
perspective into managing your employee and making sure they are as creative as possible.
Goal orientation;
Wishful thinking;
Ladder of abstraction;
Post it brainstorming;
Flexible association;
Association/Biassociation;
Draw your figure;
Targeting;
Energizers.
03

CREATIVE MODEL
04

CREATIVE MODEL expla
1 2 3
There are four different areas in the creative model, each area has one or more stages and also has one or more
creative techniques.
Problem area;
Idea area;
Evaluation area;
Selection area.
The creative model has actually seven stages/steps, instead of six steps that is visualised in the creative model.
The stages/steps are identifying the problem, doing research, formulating the creative challenges, generating ideas,
evaluating the ideas, drawing up an action plan and the last one is doing it (implementing the ideas). The creative model
is mainly focussed on problem solving and that is why there are seven stages/steps. Though, the creative model that has
been used during class has six steps, problem orientation, collecting information, problem definition, generating ideas,
developing ideas and developing an action plan. Most people don’t have creative ideas popping up in their mind all of a
sudden, they are mostly the result of trying to solve something (either a problem or goal). A lot of famous geniuses,
such as Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci and Thomas Edison all have worked in the same way, they don’t just wait
for the creativity to hit them. They all focussed on solving a clear problem that they had (Baumgartner, n.d.).
05

CREATIVE THINKING PROCESS
Step 1: Creative Perception
This is the first step of the creative
thinking process. It basically means that
everyone has a different perspective.
People will see different things in an
unclear drawing and that is part of the
creative thinking process.
Step 2: Postponement of judgement
This is the second step of the creative
thinking process. It basically means that
an idea will be judged before it can even
be properly evaluated. It learn you to say
“yes, and..” instead of the judgemental
“yes, but..”
Step 3: Flexible association
This is the third step of the creative
thinking process. It basically means that
your brain makes association with things
you see, words you write and so on. For
example, water drinks food
warm summer seasons.
Step 4: Divergent
This is the fourth step of the creative
thinking process. It basically means that
you do not stop after you have floated
some ideas. You just continue after the
first idea came up and arise things in
your mind that are innovative.
Step 5: Develop your imagination
This is the fifth and last step of the
creative thinking process. It basically
means that you stimulate your
imagination to visualise problems and
ideas. That is where images come in to
play.
06

ORIENTATION
Goal orientation is one of the creative techniques of the creative model that is part of the problem area. This
technique is all about writing a goal you would like to achieve, what could prevent you from achieving this goal and one
or more ways to solve that what is preventing you. This technique has been used in class for multiple times, NM3 and
AM3 both have used this technique in their lesson.
NM3 was one of the first groups and made people sit in their NEWb teams, within their teams they had to come
up with a goal for their team or a goal they all have in common. After that, the teams were supposed to come up with
what could be preventing them from achieving this goal and solve it in a realistic way.
AM3 used it in a different way, they used the wheel of fortune and made everyone come up with at least four
goals. With a spin of your pencil on the wheel of fortune, it picked a goal for you to say what is preventing you from
achieving this goal and switch it with your neighbour. The neighbour would try to come up with a solution to achieve
the goal with the usage of the thing that is preventing you.
Makes you think of goals you want to achieve;
Makes you think realistically;
Makes you think of solutions to achieve a goal.
Might be hard to come up with goals within a
limited amount of time;
People might be unrealistic.
07

Wouldn’t it be amazing if…? That is one of the main questions you have to ask everyone if
you do something with the technique wishful thinking. You just think of the most ideal situation and
wish for that to come true. Everyone has their wishes and that could mean creativity.
Wishful thinking is one of the techniques that is a part of the problem area in the creative
model. This technique is all about thinking of what you would like to do if you are a world leader
for example. How you would realise it and then to throw everyone off, you would come up with
how you would realise the same wish as a student. This technique has been used in the lessons of
NM3 and AV3.
AV3 asked the questions what has been used as an example in the paragraph above. The first
question was “What would you do if you were a world leader?” The second question was “How
would you realise this as a world leader?” The third and last question was “How would you realise
this as a student at InHolland?”
NM3 had once again placed everyone in their NEWb teams to have them do their task together
with their NEWb team. They asked what everyone wished for to make the world a better
place together as a group, then discuss with each other why their wish is better and then asked how
they would realise that realistically.
WISHFUL THINKING
08

Makes you think out of the box;
Creativity will flow;
Makes you think realistically.
Limits your creativity;
Big questions might be asked which you never
thought of;
Hard to come up with answers.
WISHFUL THINKING
09

Ladder of abstraction is one of the three techniques that belongs in the problem area of the creative model. This
technique is used to describe and define how something evolves from concrete to abstract. Ladder of abstraction should be
done in a way where the simple concrete concept should be put on the bottom of the ladder, while the abstract concepts
should be at the top. The number of steps/rungs can be different from case to case (Hughes, n.d.).
This technique has been used in second week of class where the problem area of the creative model was being
discussed. The description this technique had was that at the top of the ladder it should say “with what goal?” and at the
bottom of the ladder it should say “using which manner?” Though, this description was still a bit vague, that is why an
example is below.
As an example, the ladder could have a teacher with the name Zachary McDonald on the bottom, since it is the best
way to concretely identify him. Moving one rung up is the job title Zachary has which is an elementary school teacher. That
is slightly more abstract, but still quite concrete. One rung above that, says teaching profession as a whole. At the top it finally
is the broad/abstract concept of education (Hughes, n.d.).
EM3 used this technique in their lesson, they said that the goal of the ladder of abstraction was that it would lead to a
complete analysis of a general subject. Aside from that, they also said it would be one of the vaguest things people will ever
get in class.
AV4 used this technique together with the targeting technique with the usage of a
dartboard. At first, the goal needed to be put in the middle (which is the bullseye in the
dartboard) and everyone needed to think of things that could stop them from achieving that goal.
How the situation could be improved and then everyone had to put in order (according to
effectiveness) how the goal would be achieved.
Visualises the difference between concrete and
abstract;
Makes you think of things in more than one way.
Hard to understand with a vague description;
Hard to come up with a concrete concept without
receiving a direction to go in.
LADDER OF ABSTRACTION
10

POST IT BRAINSTORMING
Post it brainstorming is one of the techniques that belongs in the idea area of the creative model. This technique
is all about coming up with ideas for something specific and you would have to write it on sticky notes. All the separate
ideas will be put on a wall, mirror or window for example and eventually you will be able to see all the ideas you have
come up with. AV4 and EM3 used this as one of their techniques for their lesson.
In the first class of creative skills, everyone had to come up with ideas of how a zebra could stand out from all of
the other zebras. With all the ideas on sticky notes and on the window, a couple of minutes later everyone was stopped
and was allowed to steal sticky notes from other teams. After stealing sticky notes/ideas, there needed to be decided
which ideas were the best and those were presented to the ‘zebra.’
EM3 wanted everyone to write down something that makes them really happy and nothing too general,
afterwards those post it notes were the key to creating an event of happiness.
Creativity will flow;
Nonsense ideas will come
Makes you decide which
up;
idea is better.
Bad for the environment
(all the paper).
11

FLEXIBLE ASSOCIATION
Flexible association is a technique that has one of the easiest
descriptions. It is easy to understand and you can’t go wrong, no matter
what you do. It makes everyone notice what they associate with one
another, while it being extremely flexible.
This technique is where someone or you start with one word. For
example, water. The first word that pops up in your mind is the next
word, because that is the word that you associated with water after
reading ‘water.’ The word you had written behind water is the next word
you will use to associate another word with, that is how you go on and
on. After a limited amount of time you stop, when you stopped writing
things down you can see what the last word was where you came up
with. This way you can see how flexible human nature is when it comes
to associating things with one another.
Easy to understand;
Whatever you end up with it is never wrong;
Creativity will flow.
People might come/end up with bad words;
People might make a joke out of it;
Hard to control everyone.
Sport
12

ASSOCIATION BIASSOcATION
In combination with the post it brainstorming technique in the first
class of creative skills, the technique association/biassociation was
introduced. At first, a zebra needed to stand out from all of the other zebras.
That was the association part of the task, eventually it got changed around
and the biassociation part of the technique took a part in the task. With the
post it notes that were used before for the zebra, it now needed to be used in a
way how a brand new event agency should position itself in the market.
AM3 had used this technique in their lesson as well. They used this
technique in a pointing game, where the whole class was supposed to stand in
a circle and one student comes up with a word point to another student. The
other student has to say a word associated with that of the previous and so on.
The technique association/biassociation basically means that you
brainstorm about real life ideas in a creative way. That way the zebra task
that was used in the first class was very appropriate, because it showed how
something so different can still be used to brainstorm about real life ideas in a
creative way.
Easy to use together with the post it brainstorming
technique;
Creative way of brainstorming.
Might get unrealistic;
Hard to put boundaries on the assignments/tasks,
without limiting creativity.
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The technique draw your figure has been used by the SMT and AV3, they both had different ways of using this
particular technique. Though, it had still the same kind of idea and it ended up being very fun by both their lessons.
SMT made everyone pick out a film which then everyone had to badly explain in one sentence, afterwards a shape
needed to be drawn on the same paper. Drawn the shape? That is when everyone had to switch their paper with each other
and draw out with the shape the badly explained film.
AV3 did it a bit differently, they wanted everyone to sit in their NEWb team and each write a sentence on a post it.
Wrote the sentence? Pass it to the person next to you from your NEWb team, that person had to draw what went with the
sentence on a new post it note and put that post it on top of the old one. Did that? Pass the post it notes with the drawing on
top to the next person in your NEWb team and they had to come up with a sentence that went with the drawing on a new
post it note that was supposed to be put on top of the old one again. That went so on until your original post it note
sentence was back to you.
Draw your figure is a fun technique to see how different people interpret something that is all based on another
sentence or drawing. It shows how creative people can get and are with just a sentence or a drawing.
Creativity will flow;
It will show different interpretations of the same
thing.
People might not take the task for this technique
seriously;
Hard to control the seriousness.
DRAW YOUR FIGURE
14

TARGETING
The targeting technique is part of the selection area
of the creative model, it basically means that the goal you
have you have to define how to get closer to achieving that
particular goal. Though, you have to keep in mind the
possible negative elements and how you would overcome
those negative elements.
AV4 used the targeting technique with the usage of a
dartboard. At first, the goal needed to be put in the middle
(which is the bullseye in the dartboard) and everyone
needed to think of things that could stop them from
achieving that goal. How the situation could be improved
and then everyone had to put in order (according to
effectiveness) how the goal would be achieved.
Great way to get your thought process going;
Makes you think realistically;
Makes you check negative elements too.
One of the hardest techniques to understand;
Takes a bit more time than other techniques;
Might need props to understand better.
15

ENERGIZER
Every group had their own unique energizer, energizers are there to make everyone get energized, active, enthusiastic
and so on. This technique can be used everywhere, anywhere and anytime. A lot of businesses actually use energizers
to make sure their employees are enthusiastic and energized while doing their jobs.
SMT had an energizers where you had to say “zip, zap, zop” and stand in a circle. With the usage of hand movement
and eye contact you were supposed to quickly pass the zip, zap or zop around the circle. If you said the wrong
word, because it needed to be in that order, you were out.
NM3 had an energizer where everyone was supposed to count to 20, but nobody was allowed to say the same
number at the same time. Someone starts with 1 and then someone needs to say 2, but it should be only one person who
says that specific number. If more than one person said a number, they had to start all over again.
EM3 had an energizers where people had to play human rock paper scissors, so with the usages of your body instead
of your hands you had to play rock paper scissors. This needed to be done in pairs.
AV4 had an energizer which involved James Bond, a toaster and a laundry mat. Everybody had to stand in a circle
and whenever someone said you were James Bond you had to pose as him and the two people next to you had to
pose as the bond girls. With the toaster the two people next to you had to spread their arms towards each other while you
are in the middle and had to jump out like a toast. With the laundry mat the two people next to you once again had to
spread their arms, but now the person in the middle had to turn like you are in a washing machine.
AM3 had an energizer where you had to make groups of four people, each group got assigned a film and had to
perform a scene from the film you picked with your group (without any speaking) and other groups have to guess which
film you got.
AV3 had an energizer where the class was split in half and with the people who was in your half of the class, you
had to play the human knot game. Grab each other’s hands randomly and then try to untie yourselves and get rid of the
“knot.”
Fun;
Makes you energized;
Makes you enthusiastic.
People might not take it seriously;
People might make fun of it;
People might not participate.
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MASCOT VIS
Creating the mascot of NM3/Laser Media “Vis,” we have used three techniques.
The three techniques we have used are all not from the problem area, this is
because we already knew the problem. The problem was that we needed a new
mascot, so we didn’t need to use one of the techniques from the problem area.
Brainstorming;
Flexible association;
Draw your figure.
To create Vis we have used the three creative techniques that are stated above. We used flexible association,
because at first we wanted to create something very differently, something that really was us and something relatable to
our company name. Though, when we thought of Laser Media, we thought of Lasers, then we thought of when we
introduced ourselves and eventually came back to Vis (Isabelle her pet fish) which has been our inside joke for the past
couple of months. We used draw your figure, because we had to figure out how to create our mascot: Vis. How would it
look like? With the technique of draw your figure, we figured it out and knew how we wanted Vis to look like. We used
brainstorming with how we wanted to create Vis, because we knew we wanted to create Vis but how was our main
question. Luckily with a little bit of brainstorming, the orange colour of some fabrics and the wire gauze helped us out.
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LOGISTICS PLAN
Energizer: Everyone can sit wherever they want to sit, they do not have to stand up. It is mainly an
energizer for the brain. Everyone should count up to 20 without anyone saying the
same number at the same time. Only one person is allowed to start, only one person is
allowed to say the second number and only one person is allowed to end. For example,
if two people say the number 6 at the same time, then everyone has to start over.
Technique #1: The first technique is GOAL ORIENTATION, first we give them an example of the
technique and how it should be used. With this technique we would like everyone to sit
in their NEWb groups and work together on a goal, which we give them 2 minutes for.
After that, people have to discuss what problem prevents their team from achieving that
goal, which we will give them 5 minutes for. Last but not least, they have to redefine
their problem and tell us their new goal, which we will also give them 5 minutes for.
Technique #2: The second technique is WISHFUL THINKING, they still have to sit in their NEWb
teams. Even though they sit in their groups, we want them to all write down their
separate wish, which we will give them a maximum of 3 minutes for. Then we make
them discuss within their groups why their own wish is better than theirs, which we
will give them 5 minutes for. Then we are going to let them see if they can realistically
let their wish come true, this is where they should come up with a realistic solution to
fulfil their wish within a maximum of 10 minutes.
Scenario/dynamics: We are going to use chairs and tables for the students to sit and work on during our
presentation in the classroom. We will not be using any music during the PowerPoint or
during the activities. The material we prepared for the class were pieces of paper and a
timer to know how much time we have left for each activity. They have to bring their
own pens to write with for our exercises.
Time allocation: We have around 40 minutes for our presentation.
Class composition: We all stand in front the of the classroom during our presentation. Three in the middle,
two on the sides. During the activities we individually walk around in the classroom
to each group of students to answer questions.
Roles: Daphne, Daniel and Olcay: presenting the techniques.
Isabelle and Zoë:
in charge of the PowerPoint, in charge of the timer.
We expect everyone to participate and we are planning on doing this by walking around the class, to
help them, ask questions and/or see how far they have gotten so far.
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EVALUATION LEssON
Since we were one of the two NEWb teams who had to do
their creative skills lessons, so we were still a bit confused as of
what we needed to do and how the lesson should look like. But in
my opinion I think we have done our best and our lesson was
actually quite good. We explained the techniques we were going to
use before making the class do it, so they kind of knew what was
expected from them instead of leaving them in the dark with just an
assignment.
The energizer was a bit chaotic, but that is actually normal
for the energizer we decided to do. It should be a bit chaotic,
because that makes it fun. At first, Daphne, Olcay and I were doing
the energizer first to show the group how it should be done. After
that, they started to do the energizer. People were anxious to say a
number out loud and they thought of ways to make it to 20. Though,
it still is hard to get up to 20 and people laughed whenever they
failed, but were still determined to make it to 20. Eventually, when
we felt like they were energetic enough we stopped them and
continued with the next thing of our lesson.
The goal orientation task, people didn’t quite understand it at
first. After explaining what we expected from them, they managed
to do it very well. They were done sooner than we expected, I think
it is mainly because people know very well what their goal is, what
the problem is that is preventing them from achieving their goal and
how they want to actually achieve that goal. We made people say
the things they had written down out loud, so everyone could listen
to whatever everyone wrote down and create a discussion.
19

EVALUATION LEssON
The wishful thinking task, they didn’t quite understand every single one of them
had to write down their own wish. They kind of all did it together, which wasn’t really our
intention. Yet, we let them do however they wanted to do this task, because eventually
they came to an agreement and decided on a wish all together. This does make it better for
the team to know that they can make agreements on things, while being creative and
considering each other’s wishes. Once again, they were done way sooner than we
expected them to be done. Though, their wishes were super creative and they creatively
thought of a realistic way to make their wish come true.
Overall, I think we did a good job. Of course, we had our things that weren’t going
as planned but that happens. I was a bit like unsure what to do with myself, but eventually
I walked around to help people during the tasks and to make sure they are doing it the
correct way. Sure, I could have participated more with presenting, but I feel like I have
done my thing.
20

EVALUATION
I believe that during all the lessons of creative skills that I followed I participated very well, the
lessons were actually really fun, while I was a bit sceptic at the start of it. Mainly, because I am not the type
of person to just do something without thinking of what everyone will think of me. Though, during this
lessons I have learned to just do whatever I want and act however I want, because we were not allowed to
laugh at each other.
The actual lessons with tasks to do taught me that creativity is in everyone, but with just a little help
the creativity comes out and so will everyone else. They will come out of their shell and be creative. I knew I
had a creative side, but I was mainly worried about what people thought of me instead of letting that
creativity free.
With the lesson we had to give to the class, I had noticed that no matter what you do, how creative,
weird and crazy something is, it is a good thing to let your creativity out. It is a good thing to sometimes let
go of the thought of ‘what will people think of me when I do this… or that….?”
Now I know that I shouldn’t worry during projects to let everyone hear my creative ideas, whenever
we are stuck and have no idea what to do creativity-wise just use one of these techniques and get the
creativity flowing.
No matter what, be yourself and let the crazy out from time to time. It will help yourself, your
business/company and/or the people who are around you on so many different levels. Continue being
creative, because being creative has become a big part of owning a company or making sure you do the best
you can within your job.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baumgartner, J. (n.d.). The Basics of Creative Problem Solving – CPS | Innocation Management. Retrieved from Innocation
Management: http://www.innovationmanagement.se/imtool-articles/the-basics-of-creative-problemsolving-cps/
Doyle, A. (2017, March 2). Creative Thinking Definition, Skills, and Examples. Retrieved from The Balance: https://
www.thebalance.com/creative-thinking-definition-with-examples-2063744
Hughes, D. (n.d.). Ladder of Abstraction: Definition & Example - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com. Retrieved
from Study.com: http://study.com/academy/lesson/ladder-of-abstraction-definition-example.html
Jobs, S. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved from BrainyQuote: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/
stevejobs416925.html
Sandu, B. (n.d.). What Is Creativity And The Importance Of Creative Thinking. Retrieved from Design your way: http://
www.designyourway.net/blog/design/what-is-creativity-and-the-importance-of-creative-thinking/
SkillsYouNeed. (n.d.). Creative Thinking Skills | SkillsYouNeed. Retrieved from SkillsYouNeed: https://
www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/creative-thinking.html
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