Page 130 - Keys To Community College Success

KEY 4.7 Ask questions like these to jump-start creative thinking.

• What do I want to accomplish?
To brainstorm ask • What are the craziest ideas I can think of?
• What are ten ways that I can reach my goal?
• What ideas have worked before and how can I apply them?

• How has this always been done—and what would be a different way?
To shift your • How can I approach this task or situation from a new angle?
4 perspective ask • How would someone else do this or view this?
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• What if . . . ?

• What music helps me think out of the box?
To set the stage ask • Where, and with whom, do I feel relaxed and inspired?
for creativity • When in the day or night am I most likely to experience a flow of creative ideas?
• What do I think would be new and interesting to try, to see, to read?

• What is the conventional way of doing this? What would be a totally different way?
To take risks ask • What would be a risky approach to this problem or question?
• What is the worst that can happen if I take this risk? What is the best?
• What have I learned from this mistake?

Throughout your course you will explore real-life, day-to-day ways that creative
thinking makes a difference: solving financial issues, deciding how to handle communi-
cation problems, creative ways to manage your time, and much more. Later in this
chapter you will see the starring role that creativity plays in problem solving and deci-
sion making. Your efforts to be creative will enable you to grow and change over time,
adding value to your relationships and to whatever you choose to do in your life.
As with analytical thinking, asking questions powers creative thinking. See Key 4.7
for examples of the kinds of questions you can ask to get your creative juices flowing.
Creativity connects analytical and practical thinking. When you generate ideas,
solutions, or choices, you need to think analytically to evaluate their quality. Then, you
need to think practically about how to make the best solution or choice happen.

talk risk and reward . . .

Risk asking tough questions to be rewarded with new insights. Use the following ques-
tions to inspire discussion with classmates, either in person or online.
■ What problem(s) do you see others avoid? What happens as a result?
■ What problem(s) do you avoid? What do you risk when avoiding these problems?
What might result from the different risk you take to address them?
CONSIDER THE CASE: What problems do you think Joe may have experienced in his first
term as a college student? If you had known him at school, what risks would you have
advised him to take that may have helped him adjust to college life?

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