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My Creative Genius Project

The Creative Genius Semester 2018-2019

Aalborg University

Bozhil Georgiev

Culture Communication and Globalization

20172332

17 January 2019

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Signature

Important Notice to the Reader

The Creative Genius Semester is an interdisciplinary semester offered as an

opportunity to all students at their 9. Semester at Aalborg University. The purpose is

to teach the student how to be more creative in general and how to add creative

methods to any kind of project in any field of knowledge. Find more about the

program on (www.creativegeniussemester.aau.dk)

This document is a collection of all my written work conducted on the Creative

Genius Semester at Aalborg University. It consists of:

Chapter (1-3) describes the projects introduction, results and possible impacts.

Chapter (4-10) is a documentation of selected parts of a creative genius project. It demonstrates the ability to use specific creative methods for working creatively within a field or profession.

Chapter (11) demonstrates the ability to reflect, analyse and develop a conceptual model that explains how my creativity works in relation to develop as a creative genius. This is my own theory about how I can use my creativity in future work and projects.

Chapter (12) demonstrates the ability to design and execute a creative process.

Chapter (13) demonstrates the ability to design and execute a creativity training programs for myself and others

Chapter (14) My final reflections on becoming a Creative Genius

The document is structured so that all written in italic is pre-printed by the Creative

Genius study board, while all that is non-italic has been is written by the student.

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Table of Contents

0. Summary ……. .......................................................................................................... 3

Introduction and results

1. Introduction (what is the main idea with the project) ...………………………………3

2. Results and possible impacts… ...............................................................................4

3. Next step if I had more time……….………………………………………………………4

My work as a Creative Genius within my own field

4. This is how I prepare being creative while working on a task (T0)………………..5

5. This is how I find the focus for my work (T1) ......................................................... 10

6. This is how I look for blind spots (T2) .................................................................... 11

7. This is how I work with ideation (T3) ..................................................................... 13

8. This is how I use horizontal knowledge in my work (T4) ....................................... 16

9. This is how I persuade gatekeepers to involve in the project (T5).. ....................... 19

10. This is how I prototype with my gatekeepers (T6) ................................................ 22

My Training and Conceptual understanding preparing me for

Working as a Creative Genius

11. A Theory Explaining My Own Creativity, (Assignment D+E) ............................. 25

12. Creative Methods and Creative Processes, (Assignment H) ................................ 31

13. My Creativity Training and Facilitation of others………….……………………….32

14. Final reflections on my journey towards a Creative Genius……………………….33

15. List of reference…………………………………………………….……………………34

16. Appendix, ............................................................................................................. .36

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0. Summary

Here I give a short description (max 1 page) of my project explaining the main idea in what I have been working on. I also give a short description of the impact I made/tried to make with my idea

The topic of my project is gang related youth in Denmark and their life choice in contrast to the well-

developed welfare system in the researched country. The focuses of creativity nature are ones related

to integration sampling approaches and applicable questions towards the respondents, representatives

of the mentioned youth. The two sub questions, representing the focus of this project are derived from

a possible problem formulation, a part of a sociological project for which the creative solutions on

the image of the approaching researcher and interviewer will be applicable. The creativity project

navigates the process throughout several stages from creativity settings and models to generation,

categorizing, challenging, and persuading a gatekeeper, to finally prototype the generated solution.

The project contains data about the processes I have been involved in with my Creative Genius

colleagues and external participants. It contains reflections form other studies, articles and books by

researchers, dealing with the subject of unlimited knowledge implementation, with the purpose to

theoretically support the undertaken actions.

1. Introduction

Here I describe (max 10 pages) my project explaining my focus and the main idea I have

been working on during the project

As a student in the Master program of Culture, Communication and Globalization, I had been

acquainted to various types of sociological projects and methods of sampling, so as the researcher is

able to progress with the inquiries to gather data. One of the sampling that really intrigued me was

the method of snowball sampling, because it is related to disguising and entering closed groups and

subcultures. Since that moment, I have always been thinking of such a project, which investigates

crime societies or such activities, to be fulfilled even as a hobby. The Creative Genius semester

provides me with the opportunity to design the tools for the initiation and completion of the desired

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project and at the same time, the sociological topic reinforces the creativity practices, because in this

case no physical object is being prototyped.

This creative thesis is structured by different sections, which embody the whole array of activities,

form the variation of my creative approaches through the stages of focusing and spotting of blind

spots to the ideation process which leads to another challenge of the notions to finalize the persuasion

presentation, designed for a gatekeeper and prototyping phase.

Keeping in consideration the essence of the focus and the ongoing process and their influence on the

productivity of my thinking, the final result, prototyped seems not expected, but is functional and

could be considered as a unification of both sub focuses in one more complex and applicable solution.

2. Results and possible impacts

Here I describe (max 3 pages) the results of my project and what possible impact it had/will have/can have

This project deals with troubled teenagers from Denmark, who have chosen the criminal way of life,

instead of the well-developed and functioning welfare system in the country. The final result of the

creativity process, presented has the purpose to affect not only the investigated youth segment in

Denmark, but the whole Danish society, including responsible authorities, municipalities, non-profit

organizations and the troubled youth themselves. The creativity thesis has the goal to assist students

in relevant fields, researchers, writers, filmmakers and each one as a Danish citizen as responsible for

the occurred phenomena.

3. Next step if I had more time

Here I give a short description (max 2 pages) about the next step(s) I would take from here if I had more time for the project

In the case of more time provided for the same task, I will double the procedures, described in this

thesis, enrich them with more challenging games, increase the number of horizontal expert

consultations with at least one more session, following the Sandra Dingli method and try to persuade

a larger array of gatekeepers to finally, add more prototyped ideas, in terms of design and outlook of

the final proposition.

Another segment that would be more elaborated on is the initial focus of the burning question, instead

of the case, presented in this project – more time will also determine more incubation periods, with

more unknown idea formulations.

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Again, considering the specifics of the work in this scheduled creativity process, I would contact

representatives of the investigated youth to share their opinion on such an initiative, but this only

concerns the unexpected decision to prototype a whole online platform, instead of just a set of

questions and attitudes, implemented by the researcher and host of the eventual semi structured

interviews.

In the ideation process, the number of initially generated proposals will be double, which would

provide me with a larger number of categories, to derive concepts for and further challenge them with

a larger number of games, including self-created ones.

4. This is how I prepare being creative while

working on a task (T0)

Here I describe how I prepare myself doing creative work in terms of being more focused and more open minded

My Creative Method

When entering the world of creative idea establishment, the participant in this special process has to

properly control his or her personal focus, should restrain from objects of distraction form the daily

life, topics with different content, numerous task undertaking and should determine his or her

behavior as a one that welcomes new ideas, devoted to the focus, by generating concentration through

focus itself (Hansen S. Byrge Ch., 2014).

In their research on the relationship between creativity and attitudes, the brothers Basadur, emphasize

that modern companies educate their employees in creativity and the desired attitude should be

positive towards ideation and that it brings good instead of negative change (Basadur M. Basadur T.,

2011).

The main feature, essential for me in the beginning of the Creative Genius education and at the time

I was creating my Creative Method is to understand how to suppress the “monkey” mind, or in other

words, restrain from distractive materials and embrace a positive attitude towards the non-standard

activity of creative idea generation.

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Creative places, spots

The creative spaces or spots that I have initially found to be useful for the generation of creative

ideas to any particular task, are the ones that I usually use for my common educational projects,

such as my room, the library or the university facilities.

Further through my participation in the Creative Genius course, I was able to explore and spot other

spots, where I can enhance my ideation processes, these are outdoor places, in the town or in a calm

silent park area, close to a lake, surrounded by birds´ sounds. Both of the outdoor creative spots,

differing according human density and outside noise, are applicable for me, but their usage is

dependent on the project task and its specifics.

The undertaken focus, is presented by the chosen burning question, as it would be used in a

sociological research: What are the responses of the representatives of the Danish youth in the age

range from 13 to 18 years, on the choice of gang related life instead of following the well-developed

Danish welfare system?

The questions, linked to the above stated problem formulation and having direct relation to the

collection and interconnection of horizontal knowledge, crucial for further development of ideas to

their final prototyping of a certain target, or in other words, associated to creativity are:

What sampling, integration techniques could be applied throughout creativity?

What questions could be formulated throughout creativity?

According to the burning question or problem statement and its, related to creativity, subtasks I have

decided to add one more type of creative spots – the chosen focus and desired ideas of the approaches

to it, has to goal to establish as many ways of sampling and questioning for different individuals, so

rooms of different individuals, mostly people that I know, will also be used as places for creativity,

where I connect to the source by suppressing my regular and in a way, programmed way of thinking.

In relation to the places for creativity or creative spots and applicable for the selected focus of the

problem formulation and its creativity tasks, the outdoor places should be with average density of

people and is desired to be in regions where the research respondents will be sampled from, to

represent and remind of the essence of this project.

Best suitable time of the day

My personal, proven to be productive, time space is the night time. According to projects that are not

related to the essence of creativity and its methods of functioning, this part of the day is most suitable

for me, because it minimizes the degree of distraction. Keeping in consideration the specifics of the

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subtasks to the burning question, the appropriate time for creativity work should alter from the one, I

had already determined by using the regular or vertical method of knowledge gaining, so the range

between one to six o clock pm would be relevant. The day time will provide me with more scenery,

reminding the character of the main task, with real life situations, which will trigger various thoughts

of eventual ideas. Also the day time is compulsory, regarding my ambition to try other people´s

rooms, to get more ideas of creativity. The essential part here is that the time and the place should be

influential on my thoughts and further actions, related to the creativity subtasks and last, but not least,

the mentioned spaces and time of day with their influence to my way of thinking, should be combined

with a positive attitude even towards absurd, at first sight, ideas. Another important and needed

feature is the desire to further play with ideas and let go off the standard and vertical way of thinking

and generating ideas and new unconventional conceptions.

How do I suppress the “monkey” mind?

The way of thinking or perceiving the world through the prism of the stocked in patterns personality

is the so called “monkey” mind. Living in a world, where we people have invented and defined

numerous laws according to it, provides us with vertical knowledge about that same world we have

learned to know. The world operates and functions, based on sets of regulations and norms,

predefined or set by us. Another significant aspect is that happenings require in most cases,

programmed reactions and thus people experience habit formation – they perform same or similar

activities in a certain time and this has a repetitive manner. The world and the activities in it with the

knowledge about them predefine certain norms and also affect the status of an idea, weather it is

acceptable, or considered to be effective and it also consumes our energy by keeping us connected to

the daily routines of our lives.

The predefined model of what is achievable and the daily routines, are generally the main laws of the

obstructed or the stocked in patterns way of thinking and thus generating ideas of similar character.

To escape the so called “monkey” mind, I first convince myself that the creative process of idea

generation is a task for my “monkey” and it is equal in terms of priority to the other, already developed

habits, activities and the related way of vertical thinking about the same. The initial step is to limit a

certain range of time, during which the habit activities are shut down and I am concentrated only on

the task of generating ideas, through various approaches, that stimulate horizontal, open minded

thinking, in order to derive as many of them and during this time to be in an open minded state, where

I interpret with horizontal knowledge and enhance my creative vision. Further, except for time

limitation, the patterned way of thinking is blocked or unified with my creative genius by warming

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up creative games by the usage of the stimuli training cards, the creative online platform and

unification of two, at first sight incompatible objects or conceptions of them. The goal with the second

step is to reach a state of mind, which alters form the average one, applied in the already established

and developing world. So, after disconnecting from the “monkey” world, that could obstruct my

creativity, in terms of time and mind setting, I train my mind to restrain from the daily models of life

and attempt to reach a state of thinking that accepts irrational models and is able to interplay with

them. The third step is the actual task concentration, when I feel that I am in charge of a new

“monkey” which stimulates the positive mindset towards generation of ideas through horizontal

conception blending and with the goal to reach ideas, worthy of prototyping.

Incubation Activities

Concerning my personality, the incubation activities are associated with sports, I usually go jogging

or do exercises in the gym. But other incubation activities, such as cleaning my room, doing groceries

or even while I am at work, I work as a kitchen helper and often, during these activities, I think about

other stuff, instead of concentrating on the routine activity, such as sport or work. A part of my

incubation are also conversations with my friends, where I simply explain what I am doing, just to

share and thus incubate and maybe gain some more insights.

Ways of creativity training

My ways, inspired from the Creative Genius semester are the stimuli card games, the drawing games,

without lifting the pen and the unification and blending of objects and their conceptions to form a

new futuristic object. I have also self-researched other techniques, available online, and have found

a dictionary game, intriguing, where I search one random word and then with the previous and next

or two other words on the opened pages of the dictionary, I create a story. The game where one word

is explained by another or the connection between these words, when there is a limited time for the

generation of words, with the purpose to formulate a certain message or speech has also been found

to be effective for the training of my creativity.

Creative method

The creativity training games and exercises, enhance my way of thinking and I start to be open to

new conceptions. The repetitive and persistent training in creativity levels up the brain to a state where

everything is possible and I am not afraid to experiment and thus establish new ideas. The creative

method relies on training and stimulation and further seeks a large variety of numerous ideas and

conceptions.

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Creative ritual

My ritual is deeply related to coffee, because of my obsession with it and the energy it supplies me

with, otherwise a part of my creative ritual are definitely warming up creativity games, which I

explained in the upper section. The surroundings also play a role, but they are not obligatory for a

ritual, they have more cognitive function.

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5. This is how I find the focus

For my work (T1)

Here I describe how I find the focus of my work (problem/task to work on) .

Focusing

The reason for me to choose the below presented burning question and focus I because the topic is

related to my Culture, Communication and Globalization Masters education and deals with an

interesting sociological matter, which inspires me to work with.

The undertaken general focus, is presented by the chosen burning question, as it would be used in a

sociological research:

What are the responses of the representatives of the Danish youth in the age range from 13 to 18

years, on the choice of gang related life instead of following the well-developed Danish welfare

system?

The questions, linked to the above stated problem formulation and having direct relation to the

collection and interconnection of horizontal knowledge, crucial for further development of ideas to

their final prototyping of a certain target are:

What sampling, integration techniques could be applied throughout creativity?

What questions could be formulated throughout creativity?

The sub questions are the ones that carry the main focus, because they are related to creativity and

are supplementing an eventual project on the subject or similar studies on relevant topics and subjects

related. They also narrate and delimitate me as a creative genius, as to where should I point my energy

and resources, to support the initial burning question.

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6. This is how I look for blind spots (T2)

Here I describe how I look for blind spots to avoid being paralysed by old understandings and patters of thinking about the focus I chose for my project.

Identification of blind spots

In one of their labors, dedicated to the process of creativity, the Danish lecturers Soren Hansen and

Christian Byrge, make a comparison and eventually, a differentiation between two types of thinking

and respectfully – knowledge: vertical and horizontal. “Enhancing Creativity for Individuals Groups

and Organizations” by the above stated authors, describes the horizontal subdivision as a

supplementary one to the vertical knowledge, but claim the second as a more limited for the purposes

of creativity, because of its structure and the state of being stocked in patterns and regulations (Hansen

S. Byrge Ch., 2014).

Related to the focus of my project and thinking in an open minded manner, I personally am able to

pin point blind spots, interconnected to vertical knowledge in the spheres of psychology, statistics,

criminology and sociology. The burning question and the two main focuses, related to integrating in

the problematic youth societies and the further established possible inquires to them could have blind

spots, linked to the above mentioned fields. The logic here is that vertical experts from each of the

written areas could have blind spots in fulfilling the focuses of the burning question. Vertical experts

are the ones that have already dealt with the problem from their professional field, they may carry

significant information and in many cases, useful, but they are also believed to bring old

understanding to my focus and its blind spots, because of the structure of their knowledge obtained,

regarding the matter.

According to my buddies form the Creative Genius course some of the possible eventually used,

techniques for integration or sampling could be offensive or provocative, the same blind spot has

been outlined according eventually formulated questions towards the problematic Danish youth.

Blind spots have been discovered according the information, which tends to stay not revealed to the

interviewer, no matter of the techniques and approaches of the researcher and respectively – the

creative genius, creator of the very same approaches.

The gathering with my friends from the Creative course semester has been made in the form of

consultancy, where I set the focus of my burning question and all the members provide ideas without

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elaboration on them and the ideas are about blind spots of my focus. The main rule is that the next

one should just support the idea and elaborate on it, without argumentation. In this way through a

process, similar to ideation – by gathering as many ideas possible and putting them into categories,

we were able to outline the blind spots in the fields of: psychology, moral and ethics, criminology,

human rights, journalistic and sociology.

The identification of essential gatekeepers shapes professions like: social researchers, investigative

reporters, film makers, book writers, psychologists, criminal experts and others. All these possible

gatekeepers could have the use of the created integration techniques and questions. I have been able

to perform a meeting with a vertical expert in the sphere of sociology and blind spots like

repetitiveness in terms of the banality of the questions and situations, has been determined as different

and additional to the already described ones above. The outlining of the blind spots with the vertical

expert has been, similarly to the process of identification of blind spots with the Creative course

members, done in a similar to the ideation process, manner.

The stimuli cards have been used to challenge the blind spots, both mine and from the vertical expert

and the Creative Genius course. The general conclusion of this challenge, lead me to the point that,

no matter of the blind spots, the present is always different and individuals are different. According

to the approaches, the outlined one is the real and helpful one, one that gives hope and cherishes, one

that does not disguises himself and gives freedom for the respondent to express himself, one that

gives hope, a hope for a change to a better perspective.

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7. This is how I work with ideation (T3)

Here I describe how I work with ideation in order to involve more knowledge in my work.

Using more knowledge through Ideation

Description of the process and identification of categories

Ideation is a method used for participants in a group work to focus on the task of idea formation,

which elaborates on the mind consequence of activities, by challenging the existing thoughts with

additional results and conceptions, it: “provides both the fuel and also the source material for building

prototypes and getting innovative solutions into the hands of your users” (Dam R., 2018, p. para. 3).

For the ideation process of finding forty plus ideas on one of the focuses, related to the burning

problem formulation, twenty of the questions were established by me and the other twenty, through

a consultancy model of idea generation with one Creative Genius colleague and a multimedia

designer student. The chosen focus is on the first sub question, related to possible questions to the

respondents of the eventual research thesis. The individually created questions are gathered on the

principle of empty your head and the rest, obtained by ideas in the ideation process with colleagues.

The group was from me and two colleagues more and I was the one setting the idea generation

beginning, by asking them to formulate questions. The ideas were created by using the model - “yes

and?” without argumentations about the chosen question and without a lot of discussing or thinking

about it.

Following the ideation model until its third section, called originality, out of the forty established

inquires, emerged three major themes or categories: “Personality”, “Family and friends”, “Mind state

and society”.

The identification of possible original ideas from the questions, each belonging to a certain category

gave question results for the themes, such as: “Are you an angry person?”, “What is right or wrong?”,

“Do you feel jealousy?” “Who are you?” for “Personality”; “What is a friend for you?”, “Who are

your friends?” “Do you have friends?” for “Family and friends” and “What is your role in society?”,

“What is your message to society?” for “Mind state and society”.

Out of the identification of more alternatives of questions through the usage of the stimuli principle

cards, the found to be applicable is the principle of removal of the main element, which influences

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the question to be more general and not to concern the individual personality, in this case – the semi

structured interview respondents. Instead of involving the respondent in inquires, as: “What would

you change in yourself, in society?” the question alternative, missing the main element is “What

needs to be changed?”

By the usage of the Horizontal triangle, with the purpose to determine more and new categories, the

following new ones were established with a preset problem of revealing as this is the main goal of

the interviewer, to gather as much information. For the theme of “Personality” the new category is

“Life story”, “Family and friends” – “Dependence and dedication” and for the category of “Mind

state and society” – “Contribution to society”.

40 ideas:

The abbreviations after each question, represent the category, to which the question belongs. P for

Personality, FF for Family and friends and MS for Mind state and society.

What are your future plans in life? P

What are the most valuable things for you? P

Who are your friends? FF

What is your role in society? MS

Who are your parents? FF

What is your education? MS

How do you brand yourself? P, MS

Favorite movie or book? P

How would you describe your friends? FF

Are you angry? P, MS

Why are you so? P, MS

Are you alone in this world? FF, P

Where do you see yourself in the world? MS

Favorite subject at school? P, MS

Do you have enemies? P

Do you have a pet? P

How do you define enemy? P

Why have you chosen your way of life? MS

Do you feel yourself superior to others? MS, P

What is competition for you? P, MS

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Are your friends and family Danish? FF

Do you feel yourself Danish? P, FF

What is your message to the others? MS

Is Denmark a good country to live in? MS, FF

What makes you happy? P

Who is your role model? P

What do you believe in? P

Are you proud to be Danish? MS, FF

What would you warn the younger than you? MS

What is loyalty to you? P, MS, FF

Are you religious? MS

Do you feel guilty? P, MS

Are you a dangerous person? P

Do you fear something? P

Why are you important? MS

What would you change? MS, P

Who do you trust? FF, P, MS

Where do you feel safe? MS

In a big room of people, where do you want to be in the center or closer to the walls? P

What is unforgiven? P

The educational background of the participants in this Ideation process is respectfully, Multimedia

Design and Communication and a web developer as horizontal experts to the above described

processes.

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8. This is how I used horizontal knowledge in

my work (T4)

Here I describe how I used horizontal knowledge in my work by working with horizontal experts.

Working with horizontal experts

In an article, devoted to attitudes and types of behavior in a surrounding of creative work force, the

authors Basadur, researchers in the field of creativity, framework the attitude in creative organizations

as a positive one and emphasize the fact that the positive and open to new ideas, behavior is the one

required in the processes of group horizontal knowledge blending (Basadur T. Basadur M., 2011, p.

p. 86).

In the previous assignment the stress was on the first sub question and focus of my creative genius

project, where the generation of ideas and their categorization has been performed on the possible

questions to the problematic youth respondents. The selected three original question ideas in this

assignment are each under the predefined three categories of “Personality”, Mind state and society”

and “Friends and family” and are as followed:

Do you have enemies? P

Why have you chosen this way of life? MS

What is loyalty to you? FF

The transformation of these question ideas into concepts would be suitable to be use in relation to the

second focus of this creativity project – ways of sampling or approaching and integrating into the

investigated societies. As far as the variety of questions is large and there are numerous possibilities

for them, their establishment as ideas and further categorization will be used to navigate the

behavioral roles of the interviewer to initiate and maintain communication with the researched

respondents.

The three different questions, stated above, by the usage of their essence, individually have been

juxtaposed with Horizontal organizations with the purpose to derive concepts from them. The

questions were found out of the many generated ideas as original, because of their voluminous

baggage of meaning into them, considering the audience of interviewed people. The purpose of my

individual challenging the three questions, which represent three different categories also, is to form

conceptions, which further to be analyzed by me and horizontal experts, by usage of stimuli cards in

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the form of Ideation consultancy, so in the end I am able to establish three developed concepts on

how to approach the respondents, integrate and acquire more answers.

The first question I challenge with the company of Canada Goose, as far as it is concerning enemies

and the company has plenty of them in the face animal cruelty fighters, because of its coyote collar

on one of the jacket models. The conception derived here is 1. “Success and strong”. Regarding the

second question, concerned about the way of life and the choice of it, the juxtaposition is with the

horizontal organization of any church and the derived concept is 2. “Adaptability”. The juxtaposition

for the third question is in the face of the horizontal organization of IKEA and the derived conception:

3. “Unity”.

In order to challenge my three resulting concepts with horizontal experts, I have to individually

determine the professions or fields of educational operation of my horizontal experts. They are chosen

by the usage of the Horizontal triangle model, which initially focuses on my profession and the

essence of the problem I am trying to solve. The problem itself points out the vertical knowledge

areas, which should be avoided and thus I have been able to spot five different potential educational

and professional fields, which are applicable for a consultancy process with horizontal experts,

according ways of approaching the researched youth. The areas are Economics, Business

Administration, Art and Technology, Multimedia Design, Civil Engineering and others. The experts

of the five fields are potential and applicable candidates for my Creative Consultancy session.

Further I will present the process of consulting with my two horizontal experts in the fields of

Multimedia design and Art and Technology in the form of Creative Consultancy by the usage of three

different types of stimuli cards to challenge the three conceptions of “Success and strong”,

“Adaptability” and “Unity”.

As the inquirer in the consultancy session I have initially introduced one of my horizontal experts, in

the field of Art and Technology who is not acquainted with the essence of the Creativity to the general

specifics of it. Further, after adding the other one, who is a graduated web developer and a participant

in the Creative Genius Semester I selected the three main concepts and based on them I formulated

my inquires to the two horizontal experts. As matching to the conceptions´ names and their numbers

above, the questions were:

How does the researcher approach, what does he offer?

How does the researcher adapt to make their hearts open?

How do I unite and reach common, but positive goal?

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With the usage of the stimuli cards and specifically the Person, Word and the Principle ones in hands,

the horizontal experts had to try to answer subsequently all three of my questions, agreeing with the

other horizontal expert, no matter how irrational the idea was and that had been performed for

approximately half an hour. The process was long and sometimes, seemed not so efficient, because

of the lack of training in creativity from one of the horizontal experts, who was having trouble to

relate principles, words and persons´ professions with the tasks I was providing her with. Despite of

that I had been able to obtain some interesting results from the associations my horizontal experts

made.

From the person cards, regarding 1. I came up with conceptions for passionate approach as a true and

transparent person, who has a plot and is able to rest and ease people, but at the same time – has

power and is stable.

From the word cards, regarding 1. I established a pattern of an interviewer, who has a pleasing attitude

to a certain extent and stresses on consequences in his questions, but also offers an opportunity for a

new way, ne life.

Again, related to the same problem, the principle cards this time, with the collaboration of my two

horizontal experts outlined solutions like a researcher, who should disguise and pretend to be a

member of the researched societies, although this is not what I had been attempting or desiring to

hear as a proposal to a resolution.

Accordingly, for 2. And 3. In a summarized method I will present the image of the researcher and

how the approach should be performed in order for as much as possible useful and objective

information to be gathered. The image of the researcher and how to integrate with the young Danish

gang members is constructed in association with the answers challenged by the person, word and

principle cards and their sub challenges, with the collaboration of two horizontal experts: “a gentle

and precise, objective, with high persistence, constantly changing sources, against, but understanding

and respecting with desire to shed new light, new options as a common goal” should be the most

effective one.

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9. This is how I persuade gatekeepers to involve

in the project (T5)

Here I describe how I persuade important gatekeepers to involve in my project to make it more

possible to achieve an impact with my work.

Persuading an important gatekeeper to prototype

In the process of working with the two focuses, concerning the way of approaching, integrating and

the types of questions to be asked from social researchers towards gang related youth members in the

age of 13 to 18 years of age, after the formulation of ideas of questions, then further narrating them

into categories and challenging these categories to formulate new concepts and then challenge them

once more with the assistance of horizontal experts, I managed to reach a more finalized, useful and

elaborate prototype to be pushed to gatekeepers for co creation.

In relation to the essence of this particular Creativity project and the fact that no physical product is

being prototyped, but an attempt of a formulation of framework for questions and integration or

sampling techniques is being proposed, the determined idea to be offered to gatekeepers is a Journal

where all types of vertical related experts can contribute, for a better cause – a less troubled youth in

Denmark.

The Journal framework has the mission to gather works form all then country from different

researchers in the field, related authority employees, pedagogues, investigators, universities.

Respectfully, the gatekeepers to be persuaded to co create in this final idea will be representatives

with the needed functions to realize the Journal framework prototype. The contributory style of work

will provide large database and will outline major problems and sub issues according troubled youth

in the relatively well developed country of Denmark. The researches, story materials and experiences

form ones dealing with the problem could serve for improvement of governmental institutions

concerned on how to improve towards the specific issue for the system.

Except the above proposed gatekeepers towards whom my short, appealing for co creation, persuasive

presentation is designed, it targets also web developers and web hosting companies, because of the

second, but most likely, option for this idea is to be realized online, as an online journal for open

anonymous contribution. The functions and its database should be preconditions for reassessing the

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work of Danish authorities on the matter and enrich the material base for researchers, writers and

journalists.

The following images present the proposed by me exemplary persuasive persuasion targeting the

above described array of gatekeepers, who could co assist and further recreate the main idea.

Slide 1

It is presented after a short introductive summary on the particular matter.

Slide 2

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Slide 3

Examples of ultimately hard work related and their average unsuccessfulness.

Slide 4

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Final slide 5

I used a friend of mine who works as a web developer and has ambitions to open his own software

company in Denmark as a gatekeeper for my presentation. This person has long years’ experience in

the field of software products and is acquainted with the latest technological online tendencies in

Denmark, because of his already significant experience in a Danish software company. The

impressions form my presentation are satisfying, because I managed to intrigue my gatekeeper and

catch his attention with the actual scope, ambition and potential of the prospect. The option for even

further co creation from the users of the Journal framework was another important factor that caught

the attention of my listener. In his attempt to give me the most objective feedback, he pointed out the

not very significant length of my presentation, but at the same time, he had to admit that this

characteristic reached its goal – to surprise with the actual, aspiring and useful proposition.

10. This is how I prototype with gatekeepers

(T6)

Here I describe how I prototype with important gatekeepers in my project to make it more possible

to achieve an impact with my work.

Prototyping with gatekeepers

In the prototyping session with the gatekeeper and web developer, the process of meeting the reality

of prototyping and the essence of my actual proposition or concept of the Journal framework for

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dealing with gang related and troubled youth has experienced several stages. The prototyping ideation

process included propositions of outlooks for the online database with an option for registered users,

who enter through relevant institutions and are afterwards permitted to upload materials or discuss

existing ones. Proposals which visualize the framework as a video web site, mostly for the upload of

related video materials, capturing experiences of researchers and employees of the state, dealing with

troubled youth were also made, including ones that envision the Journal framework platform as a

forum web site, providing the opportunity for the mass user to freely discuss related matters and thus

itself to start playing the role of a passive interviewer of the voluntarily registered users, who are

supposedly representatives of the troubled Danish youth.

Through further discussions with the gatekeeper, we reached the conclusion, that, according to latest

tendencies, the platform should answer to the last and should be prototyped and tested as an active

web site with all its up to date functions, for both registered, institution contributors and logged in

users, both with different priorities and privileges in the platform. The website should be linked to

governmental related institutions and their actions will be shown in the Journal in unison with the

actual updated news section and top contribution stories. The same institutions and organizations,

such as the country municipalities and authorities related should be involved in the Journal platform

and this why the prototype contains a special section for that in its design sketch, further to be

presented in this assignment. The Journal platform will also contain all the previously generated with

the web developer and gatekeeper to prototype with, features, which were ideas for the Journal itself

– database upload possibilities for different types of contributors, a forum section for discussions and

burning questions to be solved. A special State section with news and updates on what the government

is doing to prevent youth crime in Denmark with possibilities for the users to comment under the

publications and thus express opinion of satisfaction or dissatisfaction was found also to be

appropriate for the test web site. The platform is planned to be launched as a test product in the online

space, so impressions and opinions after interaction with the site become available and provide me

with more feedback on the further development of the prototyped conception.

The following image is the sketch of the design proposal for the web site online platform:

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Image 1: The Journal

The process of prototyping with the gatekeeper went effortlessly, because the web developer was able

to understand the core of my idea and that gave him opportunity to propose in a more confident

manner and quickly come up with more elaborated suggestions. The practice behind him, combined

with the thorough process from emptying the head of all possible ideas and then challenging them

several times to establish new conceptions and categories, to finally investigate them with the help of

horizontal experts, provided both with an interesting interpretation of a challenging, but at the same

time smooth and I would dare to say, a productive, prototyping session.

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11. A Theory Explaining My Creativity (Assignment D+E+T0)

In this chapter I develop a theory explaining my creativity. This includes an analysis of my own

development towards becoming a creative genius. My theory of my own creativity is primary based

on data from assignment D and E which can be found in the appendix.

The work from assignment D, E and T0 is analysed and theoretically reflected in order to

understand how my creativity works and how I have developed as a creative genius throughout

attending the Creative Genius semester. In this chapter I develop a conceptual model that explains

how my creativity functions when I work individually, in groups, in specific environments, etc.

Finally, I present a strategy including practical examples for how I intend to continue my

development towards becoming a creative genius in the future. The following themes is included in

the theory:

·How do I keep open minded? - What barriers do I face?

·How do I focus my work? - What barriers do I face?

·How do I arrange the right circumstances for incubation of my ideas?

·How do I collaborate with others in a way that fits my creative process?

·Where and when do I get ideas? – Where is my creative spot?

My theory explaining my creativity and how to continue the development towards a Creative

Genius is the described in the following.

How do I keep open minded? - What barriers do I face?

Being open minded could be apprehended as a description, which almost everyone would like to put

as their brand of personality, because it is representing not only effectiveness but ability to be flexible.

Throughout my education at the Creative Genius I have understood that actually the majority of

people are not open minded. As stated in an interesting and randomly chosen definition in an online

dictionary the term is explained from third person and states that “you approve of them because they

are willing to listen to and consider other people`s ideas and suggestions”, because they are open

minded (Collins Dictionary, 2018).

The meaning and many others should be considered to have a positive perspective towards the state

of being open minded and thus it could be assumed as a desired one. As stated before, I have

understood that although a wanted feature, most people are being kept away from it, because of their

lives and their surroundings and the way the last function. We are conscious and aware of the ongoing

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processes of our everyday lives and could assume eventual consequences after certain actions,

because there are regulations that step up, in this way of thinking.

The term implies about knowledge and its flexibility and this is the main element used to connect to

creativity in the book “Enhancing Creativity for Individuals Groups and Organizations” by Soren

Hansen and Christian Byrge – unlimited application of knowledge (Hansen S. Byrge Ch., 2014, s. p.

7).

The authors explain that knowledge and thinking are influenced by the everyday life and the facts it

carries for people, which develops an “intuitive understanding of knowledge as factual” (as cited in

Hansen S. Byrge Ch. p. 9).

Related to similar matter, with the focus of creativity, the book by the assistant professor of

psychology Mark Runco, “Creativity Theories and Themes, Research, Development and Practice” in

an attempt to present the theoretical connection between cognition and creativity, suggest that there

is an advantage and it lies in the unconscious (Runco M., 2014, s. p. 30 - 31).

The last could be considered to have relation with the statement in “Enhancing Creativity for

Individuals Groups and Organizations” that “when we talk about unlimited application of knowledge,

we mean that our application of knowledge in a given context is free from academic, professional,

social and cultural limitations.” (as cited in Hansen S. Byrge Ch. p. 9).

Throughout my course in creativity I was able to understand the notion, the conception of preparing

to be a beginner in being open minded. Beginner, because the stage of being creative should be a step

ahead, a result of being open minded and because of my cognition and my reflections of the outside

world, which obstruct my creativity or my vision for it. Except my cognitive data or consciousness,

loaded with patterned information, the unawareness of the way of thinking and training such

processes had also been a factor for me not to be open minded. After I had been acquainted to several

models for such training and I had actually seen how it has impacted my way of thinking, the barriers

have lowered, but still the obligations and pressure from the outside world sometimes overcome in

terms of time and other factors, which is also a barrier.

The continuous training, the games, the incubation processes and the residual ideas that my brain

eventually produces are in my experience amazing, because in the initial phases of a project I put

efforts in one direction and in the process of work, the same idea changes significantly.

Despite of being surrounded by numerous limitations, blocking me to be creative and open minded,

I have understood the essence of it and am convinced that it will be applicable in my future, because

of my decisions and established way of thinking. A good way for me to block the barriers is to discuss

27

what I have learned at the Creative Genius semester and try to play games with them in attempt to

force their imagination and creativity.

Another important barrier is that except for the so far projects I lack future ones to give me focus, but

I find interesting training my brain with creativity games, especially word ones or drawings and I

plane to cherish and develop what I have learned.

How do I focus my work? - What barriers do I face?

The barriers that I face during my creativity work are numerous and their number depends also on

the particular task. Except the usual digital devices, reminding us of time limitations or leisure

activities, I personally have problems focusing generally and this also plays an important role. Similar

to the methods I use to conquer my attention for regular and not concerning unlimited knowledge

usage, like creativity, I try to focus by following steps of a plan, consequently, until I finish it.

According to the creative processes, concerning a task, I have understood that it is important to warm

up the brain, produce ideas, delimitate, challenge, incubate and proceed, so in my case I regain focus

by warming up game with stimuli cards or a simple object blending. Throughout the last experiment,

I have had moments in which I actually experienced low focus, because of the objects I chose to have

in my creative spot. During the same experiment though I had to chance to follow again my usually

step by step model, because of the planned challenges for the conceptions in mind.

A good example, with relevant disturbing factors for the focus and ways to handle it properly during

a creative process is shown in the book “Enhancing Creativity for Individuals Groups and

Organizations”, where the authors outline features like: personal focus, many in number tasks,

physical stimuli without exclusion, not even a beverage, electronic devices, disruptive thoughts and

ideas of such and rewarding as preventing factors for creativity (Hansen S. Byrge Ch., 2014).

The work on creativity provides a framework on how to better maintain task focus: by clarity in the

task, avoidance of distracting conversational subjects, by erasing all cultural and social elements, no

distracting materials in the space of work, by maintaining the focus, because focus initiates more

focus and by joint focus, because the involvement of many, increases the focus level (Hansen S.

Byrge Ch., 2014).

Nowadays, the field of innovation is a highly valuable sector worldwide, because of the technological

progress and the inventions related and required for the constant ongoing advance. Larger

significance is assigned to these personalities, who have the ability to innovate and establish new

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solutions, which have an impact of cultural, technological and social character, because they are

marked as improvement to our surroundings (M. Karwowski M. Soszynski, 2008, s. p. 163).

Another study points out the tendency for many organizations to try to implement training programs

within and thus enable the employees to be more creative, envisioned, open minded and innovative,

the theory of the resolution of invention-related tasks, TRIZ is one of the examples in this work (Birdi

et al, 2012, s. p. 1).

The relationship of creativity to technology and innovation is particularly interesting and functional

for me and in my everyday life I try to think of gadgets that could ease and change positively our

environment. In my opinion, that also generates focus and the related incubation processes, although

in many cases it is involuntary, unintended, structured or planned.

Although the theoretical work “Creativity Theories and Themes, Research, Development and

Practice” and in many others, the process of unlimited knowledge application is associated with a

voluntary, not regulated activity, which has natural urge as a motivator, the book explains that this

urge should spend effort resources and names it persistence (Runco M., 2014, s. p. 350).

How do I arrange the right circumstances for incubation of my ideas?

A study, dedicated to incubation and its importance for the application of unlimited knowledge states

that: “unconsciousness activation spreads more effectively when the conscious distracting task

involves a different type of knowledge” and suggests that a person should definitely incubate with a

totally altering form the task, activity (Gilhooly et al, 2012, p. p. 148).

Another study stresses on the positive factors of creativity thinking and training, it implies that the

process brings pleasantness, suggests that a positive motivation is needed and it can also be a stress

reliever, by improving the bad mood of a participant (Zenasni F. Lubart T., 2010, pp. 1-2).

Considering the above two features I arrange the circumstances for my incubation process. The most

important for me in the incubation process seems really to be the activity, which differs from the

focus, because this is how I have already discovered that I unintentionally manage to unlock more

ideas or in most cases, elaborations of these ideas. This is why, mostly my incubation activities are

related to sport or walking outside, I tend to focus more on the activity without forcing my mind to

search for resolutions of the problem at stake.

The circumstances are more important in my case, according the creative spot or the place where I

warm up, generate ideas and challenge them, in this place I need many reminders of the focus and

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the ongoing progress of it. Of course a special spot can be designed and can be relying more on the

reminder factor and not the different in essence, incubation activity. Ignoring the fact that this could

overload the brain and thus, decrease creativity, it is an approach, which I could consider testing in

the future.

How do I collaborate with others in a way that fits my creative process?

In the section Collaboration and Creativity of Mark Runco`s “Creativity Theories and Themes,

Research, Development and Practice”, the author argues that there are cases of both positively and

effectively influenced creators by others and at the same time, arguments could occur among strong

personalities applying unlimited knowledge and playing with it. Another interesting aspect is the

competition motive in the collaboration processes, which sometimes is a precondition for positive

results in terms of creative solution establishment (Runco M., 2014, p. p. 152).

In a publication of the European Journal of Engineering Education, the lecturers Soren Hansen and

Christian Byrge, in their “The creative platform: a didactic approach for unlimited application of

knowledge in interdisciplinary and intercultural groups” outline a detailed list of forbidden for the

group process of creativity, objects and thus present a guide for the maintenance of such sessions,

where one of the most essential rules is the rule of no judgement towards ideas (Hansen S. Byrge Ch.,

2009, pp. 241-245).

In the beginning of my Creative Genius course I was assuming my looks, behavior or funny jokes

would

turn me somehow different or why not even outstanding. As a competitive type of personality I was

also looking for eventual competition with the other participants, but in the course of the working

process I realized that the above mentioned could only disrupt the unlimited knowledge application

into reality. I was able also to learn that the preferred by me collaboration method is the one of

Creative Consultancy, where each member challenges the inquirer`s idea, with the goal to help

him/her improve it. An essential rule for the consultancy collaboration process is that during the

challenge of the conception, the participants should not involve any judgement and the model should

be: “yes”, to accept the preceding idea and move to the next one.

As a part of my development at the Creative Genius semester course I also had problems in the

beginning, when working in groups to collaborate, to move on to the next challenge, idea, question,

30

which is the actual next step in the preplanned process, I can state with confidence now that I do not

feel the need to interrupt with elaborations on the same, but instead, state agreement and move on.

Where and when do I get ideas? – Where is my creative spot?

My creative place is my room, where I have my comfort and my privacy and feeling of safety, there

I can hang notes, observe the vision board, and draw additional prospects and all that with the proved

to be disruptive for creative group collaboration, coffee beverage. As far as the most important aspect

of the usage of unlimited lateral knowledge is the mindset, it could be argued that the room, full of

all patterned objects could turn into an obstacle for a creative idea generation, because of its numerous

reminders of the surrounding world. My personal creative place, according to my observations and

time spent on horizontal thinking, I have reached the conclusion, that other private spaces, different

than my room, could also reinforce my idea generation, because of the lack of object, which could

distract me and turn me back to the “monkey” world. So it would be appropriate for different tasks

and focuses, various creative spots to be selected and thus, tested to see which place is characterized

with the highest rate of useful ideas and last, but not least, where do I feel the joy of the creative

process, in which spot. During my Creative Genius education I have managed to understand that

experimenting is a major part of all the stages designed in a creative thinking process, so alterations

in the places is also an option. A rather secondary option is for my room to be redecorated, so its

interior is altered in in this way, does not resemble what I have already got used to.

According to the book, designed for pedagogues, implementing creativity in their studies, by Soren

Hansen and Christian Byrge “The Creative Platform, A Handbook in Creative Processes for

Education and Work life”, the successful teaching atmosphere for creative group work is based on

motivation, concentration and bravery to dare (Hansen S. Byrge Ch. H. , 2015, p. part 1).

Of course in this case, the authors visualize educational process in groups, but I use the three factors

in association with my creative spot, to outline them as leading ones for an effective horizontal

application of unlimited knowledge.

Regarding time, my time is definitely the night one, because even if my computer or mobile phone

are connected to internet, no social media will distract me with messages or other notifications in the

night time. The fact that I tend to put more work into intellectual tasks during night hours does not

indicate that I should not put effort into creative tasks during the day, it matches with my incubation

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activities, related to sports, which I perform during the day, it is healthy and I dare to state that in the

day time, I am able to keep the prolific level of ideas, born throughout horizontal knowledge search.

12. Creative Methods and Creative Processes

(Assignment H) In this chapter I reflect on how I have used creative methods and creative processes throughout the

semester. It is primary based on a creativity process that I took part in designing, preparing and

performing (assignment H). My reflections connect relevant literature, theory and practical

experience. My theoretical reflections on creative methods and processes are described in the following.

Self-facilitated creative process

In the beginning of Wednesday, at nine o clock, both groups gathered for a twenty minutes training

with two energizer games and 3 product improvement ones. For the next hour each one of us,

individually produced ideas, by the usage of stimuli cards. After the break, at ten fifteen, we repeated

the morning warm up training and afterwards each one selected three ideas. The further development

was done by usage of Creative Consultancy method and Sandra Dingli session to challenge the

conceptions. This process has been followed by an incubation break, during which I was concentrated

on Lego parts with the ambition to rest and not think about the task, although I think that I did not

use the incubation properly. After the presentation of ideas, the prototyping on paper took place.

On the next day the ideas have been challenged again by the usage of provocations. The next phase

was the development of persuasion towards the gatekeeper Anders, the task provider.

The process was intriguing and for me, dynamic and with interesting results. All of us managed to

adapt our attitudes and differences, so we effectively challenge our conceptions and reinforce them.

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13. My Creativity Training and Facilitation of

others (Assignment F

and G) In this chapter I reflect on how I have designed and performed my own creativity training programs

and how I have designed and facilitated programs for others (assignment F and G). My reflections

connect relevant literature, theory and practical experience. My theoretical reflections on Creativity Training and Facilitation of others are described in the

following.

The schedule for creativity training includes self-modified games, like singing one, unification of

concepts, by usage of random physical objects, generation of ideas for futuristic objects, persuasion

exercises and creative platform interaction.

The plan played an important role for keeping my creative genius spirit alive and functioning lively,

I found myself open to the world and understanding the huge variety of options it provides.

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14. My Final Reflections on my journey towards

becoming a Creative Genius In this chapter I reflect my understanding of working as a Creative Genius including how I have

developed myself and my way of operating as a professional during the Creative Genius Semester.

In my reflections I consider the following questions?

How is it different to operate as a Creative Genius versus a Professional knowledge worker?

What will I gain from operating as a Creative Genius?

What is the biggest barrier for me to operate as a Creative Genius in the future?

The difference is in the type of knowledge implementation, in a project, where professionals are

participating, the knowledge applied will be vertical, because of the long years of training, but for the

creativity processes, in order for the participant to experience serendipity, blending and implementing

of horizontal type of knowledge is required. In other words, meaning is achieved through accepting

all possibilities, which are not supported by science or any type of discipline where vertical

knowledge is applied, for the process of initial idea generation to the phase of physical prototyping,

where vertical experts could then be involved. The alteration lies also in the predictability of obtained

results, the creative genius work is more intriguing and even adventurous.

Operating as a Creative Genius will provide me with a distinguishable skill to really belong to the

part of the society, whose members at least understand what it is to be open minded is and could give

me the option to work in a niche of experts with rare capabilities.

The biggest barrier is me myself and my attitude towards the world, combined with lack of additional

tasks related to keep my brain active and perceptive towards innovative opportunities, which are right

in front of my eyes.

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15. List of reference

Basadur T. Basadur M. (2011). Attitudes and Creativity. Retrieved from https://ac-els-cdn-

com.zorac.aub.aau.dk/B9780123750389000170/3-s2.0-B9780123750389000170-

main.pdf?_tid=ce43527e-7cb6-43e5-a854-

195a45a20d8c&acdnat=1547641656_1005b7e003d7d7bf6219fb5e18d656ad

Birdi et al. (2012, April 4). Evaluating the impact of TRIZ creativity training:an organizational field

study. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary-wiley-

com.zorac.aub.aau.dk/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1467-9310.2012.00686.x

Collins Dictionary. (2018, August 12). Collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved from collinsdictionary.com:

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/open-minded

Dam R. (2018, February 16). What is Ideation – and How to Prepare for Ideation Sessions. Retrieved

from Interaction Design Foundation: https://www.interaction-

design.org/literature/article/what-is-ideation-and-how-to-prepare-for-ideation-sessions

Gilhooly et al. (2012, Decemver 12). Incubation and creativity: Do something different. Retrieved

from https://www-tandfonline-

com.zorac.aub.aau.dk/doi/pdf/10.1080/13546783.2012.749812?needAccess=true

Hansen S. Byrge Ch. (2009, June 16). Retrieved from https://www-tandfonline-

com.zorac.aub.aau.dk/doi/pdf/10.1080/03043790902902914?needAccess=true

Hansen S. Byrge Ch. (2014). Enhancing creativity for individuals, groups and organizations.

Frederiksberg: Frydenlund Publishers.

Hansen S. Byrge Ch., H. (2015). The Creative Platform, A Handbook in Creative Processes for

Education and Work life,. Denmark: Frydenlund Publishers.

M. Karwowski M. Soszynski. (2008, July 17). How to develop creative imagination? Assumptions,

aims and effectiveness of Role Play Training in Creativity (RPTC). Retrieved from Elsevier:

https://ac-els-cdn-com.zorac.aub.aau.dk/S1871187108000278/1-s2.0-S1871187108000278-

main.pdf?_tid=e45ea28a-fe8a-4d09-983b-

21042e9a83ed&acdnat=1547616952_5350c38872abbd6ba7a7e70e4434546d

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Runco M. (2014). Creativity Theories and Themes, Research, Development and Practice". London:

Elsevier.

Zenasni F. Lubart T. (2010, October 15). Pleasantness of creative tasks and creative performance.

Retrieved from https://ac-els-cdn-com.zorac.aub.aau.dk/S1871187110000404/1-s2.0-

S1871187110000404-main.pdf?_tid=468e3803-546d-4dfc-84d9-

e64eafbd417c&acdnat=1547626315_8fddd4c969cb6d2088f531ab02954767

Bass et al, (2008). Creativity in Individuals and Groups: Basic Proinciples with Practical

Implications. New York: Taylor & Francis Group.

G. Fauconnier, M. T. (2002). The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending And The Mind's Hidden

Complexities. New York: Basic Books.

Runco, M., (2014). Creativity, Theories and Themes: Research, Development and Practice. Oxford,

UK: Elsevier Inc.

Smith et al, (1993, June 21). Constraining effects of examples in a creative generation task. Retrieved

from link-springer-com: https://link-springer-

com.zorac.aub.aau.dk/content/pdf/10.3758%2FBF03202751.pdf

Zampetakis et al, (2009, July 30). Thinking Skills and Creativity. Retrieved from aub.aau.dk:

https://ac-els-cdn-com.zorac.aub.aau.dk/S1871187109000716/1-s2.0-S1871187109000716-

main.pdf?_tid=1c158993-5c88-45bf-bbff-

f0b6df795e6f&acdnat=1541365926_447d21c9db5d1f0d5452d33e45814efe

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16. Appendix

Here I enclose relevant appendixes.

Creative method on a burning question

A question, related to my field would be any question that concerns social research. I am personally

interested in subcultures and any study question, regarding a subculture is a burning one for me. In

the process of the research fulfillment, creativity should be considered most required in the creation

of possible questions, which are used in either semi structured interviews or focus groups, performed

by me as a researcher.

WORKING ON THE QUESTION:

Time should be in the hours, when I am fresh, after waking up or night time. Space should be closed,

only for me, with no additional distractions. Spaces could be my room, library, university. Other

space could be out in the nature, although this could be used for incubation processes also. To create

focus I do not need music or to perform other activities, I just need isolation.

The day time work will be more challenging, because there are many factors that could distract me,

because of people being awake. The night time offers a more safe from distractions, atmosphere.

The monkey mind is dealt with by convincing the monkey that the task performed is a part of the

monkey list things to be done. I refuse to believe that during my life I am not open minded. This is

why, excluding the feature of the monkey, that it is stocked in patterns, my belief is that a unity

between me and the monkey mind can lead to its transformation to creativity genius. So in my

visualization, I do not suppress this way of thinking, but I transform it to a more eager to experience

new, sometimes absurd or weird tasks, that could lead to eventual serendipity and why not, prototypes

of these same ideas.

Staying open minded is to astray form what you already know. The gained so far knowledge could

turn into an obstacle, because it blurs my creativity. Remaining open minded and curious about new

methods or approaches, related to the research question, could lead to finding new, nonstandard

materials for the burning question and enlighten a new sector of the question in target.

37

Jogging, fitness, work, rarely, but sometimes, my incubation activities include sharing with others, to

gain more insights. The main idea during the different types of incubation should be that I am not

busy doing jogging, fitness or working or communicating with others with a specific purpose, but I

just do them and enjoy them as part of my being, my daily activities. Every single detail of the

incubation activity should be experienced like it has never been performed before. My incubation

variants are related to working or working out, so the factor of business and labor load should be

minimized by concentration on the exercises in the most correct way.

By brainstorming ideas, by performing more elaborate research on the already derived ideas.

By interconnecting features and concepts that I would usually never do – by following the saying that

nothing is wrong, by thinking without rules, regulations.

By communicating them with others, by research if there are already prototyped ideas, similar, like

mine.

DESCRIPTION:

The burning question is related to the Danish youth and its choices of societally responsible ways of

life.

The inspiration carries its roots from the place I live in and people I have seen and stories, I have

heard. The horizontal knowledge is the one I have acquired from a general perspective to the issue

itself, in my life, so far. Creativity in the first proposed question should be mostly used in the methods

of integrating to reach such individuals and eventually investigate their reasoning, where the second

relies also on creativity, about how to make them say more about their choices.

The questions that I would ask my respondents would be very influenced from the learned so far at

the Creative Genius course. Their formation should be affected, because, when creating them I would

no longer be dependent only on the academic load of knowledge, related, but will rely on totally new

techniques, like the one of the horizontal thinking. It is very important here to state that the

respondents are interviewed, by the usage of the semi-structured interview system, which allows me

to elaborate on a certain answer and to change the course of the interview, if I find this suitable. The

unplanned questions should also involve horizontal thinking and logic.

As far as the creative way of thinking will alter the questions, this means the answers will differ also

and astray form the academic guidelines and limitations, in my brain, so the final research will outline

new techniques of investigation and question creation and eventually respective results to it.

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The spaces offered in my creative method are banal, but they work for me so far. Although for less

sophisticated tasks, the space could be altered to outdoor facilities, where I can also unleash my

genius. The time is deeply related with my ability and energy to concentrate and work productively.

The alignment of the genius owl with the monkey, for me is an innovative and in my personal opinion,

a successful method to avoid distractions, because the monkey has realized, that “this is a part of me”.

The horizontal and prejudice free way of thinking is also a factor, responsible for a more creatively

done project.

Theoretical assignment 1

Why does my personal creative ambition, creative self-efficacy, and creative production differ

over time, place, context and content?

The cognitive scientists Turner and Fauconnier, in their book “The Way We Think, Conceptual

Blending and the Mind`s Hidden Complexities”, make an attempt to define creative thinking by

linking it to the twentieth century era of technological progress and stating that although the evolution

of human kind so far is a knowledge basis for creative thinking, the last is also dependent on

unconscious processes, related to integrity and identity, which stimulate imagination processes in the

human brain (G. Fauconnier, 2002, p. 9).

According to Smith et al (1993), “Creative thinking produces new ideas and novel solutions to

problems, and is therefore crucial for adapting to varied or changing environmental demands”

(p.837). The above mentioned quotation is from the project, concerned with creative cognition, of the

Texas A&M University by the researchers Smith, Ward and Schumacher “Constraining effects of

examples a creative generation task”, where the conformity hypothesis that peoples` ideas are affected

by what had been seen before, is tested. The research, establishes a negative impact of the “recently

seen” information on the processes of idea generation, because of the novelty essence of these ideas,

but also reconfirms that current reminiscences are needed and not always not desired (Smith et al,

1993, pp. 337-345).

The book “Creativity, Theories and Themes: Research, Development and Practice” by M. Runco

implies that the creativity processes, leading to prototyping a novel idea are interconnected with

theoretical conceptions, related to: cognition and association, also that intelligence is a statistically

proven factor for creativity, but not a necessity and that creativity tends to be problem solving

orientated and dependent on persistence and constant revisiting of the issue (Runco, 2014, pp. 10-

14).

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The personal creative ambition, efficiency of it and creative production alter over time, place, context

and content, because it inevitably concerns my personality, the so far acquired level of intelligence,

the matter of the problem and knowledge on it, the associations I would establish and the specific

cognitive data that I recently have obtained and would either negatively or positively impact my ideas.

Related to the referenced paragraphs above, the variables: place, content and context should be

persistently and continuously changed in order to reach a stage of unconscious and thus, unbiased

way of thinking to establish new ideas. Different places for idea creation influence the process in a

various manner and interplays with memories and experience. Various contexts are associated with

different experiences and respectful knowledge about them, so continuous variety of places and

previous activities, already memories or cognitive data, should be factors for a more enhanced

creative thinking.

How can I enhance my personal creativity on a long-term and a short-term perspective?

According to Zampetakis et al (2009), stated in their research “On the relationship between individual

creativity and time management” in the field of creativity there is not enough attention devoted to

time management and thus it is not considered as an influential factor to it, but the researchers

conclude that creativity can successfully be planned, by using time management practices and this

shows even greater results when the process is problem oriented and faced with tenacity (Zampetakis

et al, 2009, p. 30).

Related to the project, stated above and the applicability of time management in creativity, an

enhancement of my creativity could be achieved through long term repetitive, but various in content,

creativity games in various places, combined with the probing of different incubation activities with

no certain problem in focus. The short term planning of creativity processes should have a certain

problem and time management and creativity implications should be applied according the long term

training and its conclusions.

What practical implications do I need to apply in my daily life, work and project work in order

to ensure a creative attitude and engagement from myself and from the people I need and want

to work with?

The book by Cremer et al (2011) “Social Psychology and Organizations”, in its section, related to

creativity in individuals and groups by Baas et al (2008) suggests the initial notion that creative

performance is evaluated by three main factors: fluency, originality and flexibility of the creative

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ideas. The book further recommends the Dual Pathway to Creativity Model to define creative

performance (p.299).

Bass et al (2008) noted that the Dual Pathway to Creativity Model “shows that both fluency and

originality can be achieved through (1) flexible thinking, set breaking, and divergent processing of

information; through (2) persistent analytical probing and systematically and incrementally

combining elements and possibilities; or through (3) some combination of cognitive flexibility and

cognitive persistence” (p.300).

As a method, which focuses on fluency and originality, by relating cognitive flexibility and

inclusiveness with cognitive persistence, united by motivation factors, it could be considered as a

practical implication to be followed and applied in daily life routines (Bass et al, 2008, p. 301).

Derived from the Dual Pathway to Creativity Model`s essence to activate the individual to think

creatively is the presented in Bass et al (2008) model, named Motivated Information Processing in

Groups, which explains the important factor of epistemic motivation, or the extent to which each

individual from the group, is willing to experiment to gain knowledge. The study suggests that the

epistemic motivation is lowered in groups when they are pressured by their leaders or by time

constraints and are also stimulated by avoiding the above and urging to openness to experience

(Bass.et.al., 2008, p. 309).

Considering the above, it would be considered appropriate to eliminate stressing deadlines and time

limitations to achieve group creativity effectiveness and another aspect is the individual one, where

an applicable practical implication would be the Dual Pathway to Creativity Model, introduced prior

to group work, so that the ones with higher epistemic motivation are selected.

Continuation of my creativity training

Uniting object concepts 18 Sept.

Generation of ideas for a future … (cards, room, surroundings) 19 Sept.

How an object is more attractive to its audience (toy to kids, car to men) 20 Sept.

Object in a room, how it could be improved 21 Sept.

Uniting object concepts 22 Sept.

Generation of ideas for a future … (cards, room, surroundings) 23 Sept.

EX. 6 from Persuasion Exercises 1 Oct.

Singing game with partner 2 Oct.

Uniting object concepts 3 Oct.

Generation of ideas for a future … (word cards, room, surroundings) 4 Oct.

EX. 1 from Persuasion Exercises 5 Oct.

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Generation of ideas for a future … (word cards, room, surroundings) 15 Oct.

Uniting object concepts 16 Oct.

EX. 20 from Persuasion Exercises 17 Oct.

Persuasion game with partner why an object is better, made futuristic (word cards) 18 Oct.

Singing game with partner 19 Oct.

EX. 8 from Persuasion Exercises 22 Oct.

Generation of ideas for a future … (cards, room, surroundings) 23 Oct.

Uniting object concepts 24 Oct.

EX. 11 from Persuasion Exercises 25 Oct.

Object in a room, how it could be improved 26 Oct.

EX. 7 from Persuasion Exercises 29 Oct.

Persuasion game with partner why an object is better, made futuristic (word cards) 30 Oct.

Generation of ideas for a future … (cards, room, surroundings) 31 Oct.

Singing game with partner 01 Oct.

Academy for Creativity – online training 02 Oct.