In conversations I have had with good friends from the Creative Education Foundation regarding the greatest obstacles to thinking more creatively and deliberately, it has become obvious that two of our biggest obstacles are our habits and our fears, and not knowing how to overcome them.

Creative thinkers have learned to diligently apply the two phases of creative thinking: Divergence and Convergence.  In Divergence, we break old habits by looking for ideas everywhere – in many different ways.  In Convergence we replace fears with confidence as we apply important criteria to select and modify the best ideas among those we have generated.

Thinking outside of the box does not mean completely leaving the box you are dealing with; it means keeping one foot inside the box with the problem you are trying to solve, and the other foot out there in creative idea space so that you can bring newness to all possible solutions.

Can you imagine a photographer who took just one picture and that was the magical one? Or any artist who created a masterpiece in one try?

Alex Osborn, Sid Parnes, and George Prince could not imagine that the first idea is the only idea, or the best idea. These giants of creative thinking dedicated their lives to the practice of getting quality through quantity, and by constantly changing perspectives, because outside the box there can be an infinite number of possibilities. The synaptic connections our brain is capable of making are almost infinite.

I am proud to say that these days I enjoy thinking that my first idea is simply my first idea – not necessarily my best idea – which will more likely be found through divergent and convergent thinking, especially with editors who are willing to enhance my ideas.  How about you? Do you have editors or collaborators? Do you dare to think outside of the box regardless of what your habits tell you or where your fears take you?

No photographer is afraid to take “bad shots”. There are no bad shots! Scribbling is a habit for many authors and artists, and engineers get some of their best ideas when doodling on a paper napkin.

A good question to ask yourself is “Where do I do most of my creative thinking?”  Some people get their out of the box ideas in the shower, or on a walk.  Some get them just before or after a nap.  Oddly enough, I get mine in airplanes, and have even taken round-trip flights to nowhere in particular in order to have the flight time to think creatively and under time pressure.  What about you?

Just remember four guidelines when you are looking for or refining creative ideas:

• First, defer judgement until either you have a hundred ideas, or the time you have available has expired.
• Second, go for quantity of ideas because in that quantity you will find quality.
• Third, embrace wild ideas – which you can later tame down. After all you, want new and creative results.
• Fourth, if an idea comes from another source, build on it.  Use your imagination to make it great!

Creative, outside the box, ideas can bring tremendous value to your life and work; and the process of searching for them will help you overcome your habits and fears.