CREATIVE AND CRITICAL THINKING (CCT)
Critical thinking is the ability to clearly and logically consider information that is presented to us. Creative thinking is about generating new, novel, or useful ideas. The great innovators combine critical thinking and creative thinking.
Creative thinking (a companion to critical thinking) is an invaluable skill for college students. It’s important because it helps you look at problems and situations from a fresh perspective. You see problems as interesting opportunities, and you challenge assumptions and suspend judgment. You don’t give up easily. Some of the best examples of creative thinking skills may include lateral thinking, visual reading, out-of-the-box thinking, copywriting, artistic creativity, problem-solving, analytical mind, and divergent thinking. By practicing critical thinking, we are allowing ourselves not only to solve problems but also to come up with new and creative ideas to do so. Critical thinking allows us to analyse these ideas and adjust them accordingly Generally speaking, creativity is associated with generating ideas, while critical thinking is associated with judging them. … It is fundamentally creative in the sense that its aim is to produce something new: an insight, an argument, a new synthesis of ideas or information, a new level of understanding.
Creative Thinking vs Critical Thinking
Creative Thinking is a way of looking at problems or situations from a fresh perspective to conceive of something new or original Critical Thinking is the logical, sequential disciplined process of rationalizing, analysing, evaluating and interpreting information to make informed judgements and/or decisions.
Creative Thinking and Critical Thinking are two expressions that show the difference between them when it comes to their inner meanings. Creative Thinking is going beyond the limitations and being original and fresh in one’s ideas. Critical Thinking, on the other hand, is more evaluative in nature and analyses a particular thing. Hence, one can conclude that while Creative thinking is generative in purpose, Critical Thinking is analytical in purpose. This is one of the main differences between creative thinking and critical thinking.
No matter what process you chose, the ultimate goal is to generate ideas that are unique, useful and worthy of further elaboration. Oftentimes, critical thinking is performed after creative thinking has generated various possibilities. Critical thinking is used to vet those ideas to determine if they are practical
Creativity goes hand in hand with innovation. … Creativity improves the process of solving problems. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about developing a new strategy or an innovative way to stay ahead of the competition. Creative problem solving gives that competitive edge that any business is striving to achieve.
Both creative and critical thinking are essential in the success of a business. … Both ways of thinking require elaboration on the problem, which leads to problem-solving. Creative thinking can be used to elaborate on the initial problem in order to come up with new solutions.
By applying creative and critical thinking approaches to your subject area you will enrich and deepen your learning experiences. Furthermore, creative and critical thinking skills can benefit many other areas of your life from problem solutions to decision making.
The reason why innovation benefits from critical thinking is simple; critical thinking is used when judgment is needed to produce the desired set of valued outcomes. That is why the majority of innovation outcomes reflect incremental improvements built on a foundation of critically thought-out solutions.
How to Improve Critical Thinking Skills
(i) What would happen if I change it (the object/ system/ social relationship, etc)?
(ii)What would I change or improve about this object if I wanted to use it in 10 years?
(iii) What would I do if I had a one-million-dollar investment to improve it?
Practice dreaming: The greatest paradox is that creative thinking is not necessarily the product of IQ or enlightenment via the proverbial apple falling on your head. It is a matter of regularly training your imagination, practicing your powers of observation and dreaming, big or small.
Make time for cohesive creative thinking: Every textbook on creativity affirms to the importance of setting aside clearly defined time for creative thinking and innovation. Allocate time – it might be an hour per day or per week – in which to exercise creative thinking about something specific.
Learn to pitch your ideas: One of the most important innovation skills is the ability to present a very short and clear description of a new idea (two to three sentences – like shouting through the closing door of an elevator) and to make a short presentation (two to three minutes – what is called an “elevator pitch”).
Bounce ideas off others: Even a great innovator needs people around her or him to discuss – or “bounce” – new creative ideas and innovations. The important asset to add to your innovation skillset, is the ability to be a valuable team player, capable of bouncing ideas to the next level.
Critical and creative thinkings are two inseparable sides and educational goals everywhere. Both are necessary skills in everyday life. To be applied depends on the ability and confidence of the lecturer to apply in the form lab in the laboratory. They both play an important role in every aspect of our life and as we learn to implement them for solving problems and stay focused in what we do.
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