The
first
con·tact·
with
the
ou·tside·
world
for
ma·ny· ^
of ^
the
tri·bal·
peo·ple·
in
the
New
Gui·nea·
high·lands·
was
with
planes
which
dropped
pa·cka·ges·
of ^
food
and
su·pplies· .
It
is
not
sur·pri·sing·
that
at
first ,
some ^
of ^
these
peo·ple·
thought ^
the
planes
were
big
birds
sent
by
the
gods
to
give
them
gifts .
This
turned
in·to· ^
a
new
re·ligi·on·
called
the
'car·go·
cult '.
In
my
ex·pe·ri·ence·
most
peo·ple·
in
ou·r·
so·ci·e·ty·
have
a
car·go·
cult
view
of ^
cre·a·ti·vi·ty·
be·cause·
they ^
think
that
cre·a·tive·
peo·ple·
are
gif·ted·
peo·ple·
who ^
are
born
with
a
spe·cial·
way
of ^
thin·king·
that
most
of ^
us
can
ne·ver·
hope
to
e·mu·late· .
This
is
not
so .
The
rea·son·
for
the
con·fu·sion·
a·bout·
cre·a·ti·vi·ty·
lies
in
the
way
we
use
the
word
-
cre·a·ti·vi·ty·
is
not
a
thing
you ^
have ,
it
is
a
way
of ^
do·ing· ^
some·thing· ^
-
a
way
of ^
thin·king· .
Be·cause·
we
are
all
a·ble·
to
think
in
cre·a·tive·
ways ,
we
are
all
po·ten·tia·lly·
cre·a·tive·
peo·ple· .
For·tu·nate·ly· ,
like
most
o·ther· ^
skills ,
cre·a·tive·
thin·king·
can
be
lear·ned· .
Be·ing·
cre·a·tive·
does ^
not
mean
si·tting·
a·round·
pa·ssive·ly·
wai·ting·
for
in·spi·ra·tion·
ei·ther· .
This
is
a·no·ther· ^
co·mmon·
mi·scon·cep·tion· .
Ge·ne·ra·lly· ,
cre·a·tive·
thin·king·
is
a
ve·ry·
ac·tive·
pro·cess· ,
which
i·de·a·lly·
in·volves·
con·sciou·sly·
u·sing·
a
range
of ^
skills
to
help
ge·ne·rate· ,
and
then
ma·ni·pu·late· ,
new
i·de·as· .
It's
a
bit
like
fi·shing·
-
you ^
can
go
out
in
your
boat
and
wait
for
the
fish
to
jump
in·to· ^
it ,
but
we
don't
u·su·a·lly·
call
that
fi·shing· .
Fi·shing· ,
is
when
you ^
do ^
some·thing· ^
ac·tive·
like
throw·ing·
in
a
line .
Ei·ther·
way
you ^
will
ne·ver·
be
sure ^
what
you ^
are
go·ing·
to
catch ,
but
your
chan·ces·
of ^
not
ca·tching·
a·ny·thing· ^
at
all
are
much
grea·ter·
if
you ^
just
sit
a·round·
wai·ting· .
In
that
case ,
pro·ba·bly·
the
on·ly·
thing
you ^
will
e·ver·
catch
is
a
cold .
As
I
said ^,
the
rea·son·
so
ma·ny· ^
peo·ple·
have
the
wrong
i·de·a·
a·bout·
cre·a·ti·vi·ty·
is
the
same
rea·son·
the
New
Gui·ne·ans·
got
con·fused·
a·bout·
ae·ro·planes·
-
it
is
just
a
lack
of ^
a·ny· ^
di·rect·
ex·pe·ri·ence· .
Af·ter·
all ,
few
schools
for·ma·lly·
teach
cre·a·tive·
thin·king·
skills ,
it's
not
e·ven·
a
part
of ^
ma·ny· ^
u·ni·ver·si·ty·
cour·ses· .
It
has
been
left
to
peo·ple·
like
the
fa·ther·
of ^
the
con·cept·
of ^
la·te·ral·
thin·king· ,
Dr
Ed·ward·
de
Bo·no· ,
to
po·pu·la·rise·
the
i·de·a·
that
cre·a·ti·vi·ty·
is
a
de·li·be·rate·
pro·cess·
that
can
be
lear·ned· .
I
pre·dict·
that
in
fif·ty·
years ,
peo·ple·
will
look
back
on
this
time
as
the
dark
a·ges·
be·cause·
we
don't
for·ma·lly·
teach
cre·a·tive·
thin·king· .
High
Per·for·mance·
Lear·ning·
runs
cre·a·tive·
thin·king·
cour·ses·
for
both
in·di·vi·du·als·
and
groups ^.
These
tai·lor-made·
cour·ses·
com·bine·
both
the·o·re·ti·cal· ,
and
prac·ti·cal·
com·po·nents· .
As
part
of ^
each
course ,
par·ti·ci·pants·
are
shown
how
to
a·pply·
their ^
new
skills
to
a
spe·ci·fic·
pro·ject·
or
pro·blem·
of ^
their ^
choice .
By
the
way ,
no·bo·dy·
in
Pa·pu·a·
New
Gui·nea·
sits
a·round·
wai·ting·
for
fly·ing·
gods
to
send
them
pre·sents·
a·ny· ^
more .
We
hope
you ^
will
stop
thin·king·
that
be·ing·
cre·a·tive·
means
si·tting·
a·round·
wai·ting·
for
new
i·de·as·
to
hit
you ^!
|
