Why do we suck at creative thinking?

My discovery of creative thinking blockers

Humans are prone to biases that shape our thoughts and opinions. These biases often prevent us from considering new perspectives and ideas, hindering our creative thinking ability. We are often trapped in our biases, limiting our potential to innovate and develop new ideas.

Our biases can be shaped by various factors such as our upbringing, education, and experiences. These biases can lead us to make assumptions and judgments without considering all the facts. This limits our creativity and ability to develop unique, innovative ideas.

When we are stuck in our own ways of thinking, we tend to view things in a narrow and limited way.

Unfortunately, when it comes to generating ideas, so many people fail to come up with unique perspectives.

People don’t like change, and it’s a comfortable stain in the lukewarm status quo.

When people generate ideas, people struggle to create unique ideas for these reasons.

Reason #1: Not thinking how to think

People tend to come up with ideas within their thinking patterns. It is not customary to doubt your fundamental belief (= common sense) about the subject matter.

For example, when it comes to having a music event, you would naturally think you can listen to the music thru live instruments, voice or speakers.

Reason #2: Survival instinct keeps us to stay within a limit

People want their ideas to be accepted by others, and we are constantly surrounded by the fear of rejection. Our survival instinct makes us want to be part of the tribe. So we naturally refrain from coming up with ideas outside the norm, thus, eliminating opportunities for unique, different, and possibly controversial ideas.

You need the courage to be different.

Reason #3: Mediocre ideas bubble is comfortable.

Saying something that is in line with others is comforting.

It reinforces that you are part of the tribe. Your brain wants to ensure you are behaving within the boundaries and do your best not to go out of it. Unfortunately, this works negatively for exciting idea generation.

Solution

The secret sauce is simple. You should learn how to surface and break biases that exist in individuals, groups, organizations, or society.

Why does overcoming biases leads to creative thinking?

1. You get to question the assumptions

We close our minds to new possibilities when we assume that we already know about a topic or situation. Challenge our fundamental assumptions to open a gate to new ideas.

2. You get to Reframe

Breaking biases can also help us to see things from a different perspective. We call it reframing, and we can step outside of our comfort zones and see things from a different angle.

3. You get to overcome the fear of failure

Detaching ourselves from our thinking patterns, we would be in the experimenting mode, and we become more comfortable with failure.

Failure, in our context, would have bad ideas and be part of the process. This allows us to take risks and pursue bold ideas.

Conclusion

In conclusion, breaking biases is an essential component of creative thinking. By breaking our biases, we can expand our minds, challenge our assumptions, and overcome our fear of failure.

It is essential to recognize our biases and actively work to break them to unlock our full potential and think creatively.