Creative Thinking

Lecture 1st
-What is Creative Thinking?
Creative thinking encourages students to use a variety of approaches to
solve problems, analyze multiple viewpoints, adapt ideas, and arrive at
new solutions. Sometimes it is referred to as divergent thinking.
Creative thinking means looking at something in a new way. It is the
very definition of “thinking outside the box.” Often, creativity in this
sense involves what is called lateral thinking, or the ability to perceive
patterns that are not obvious. The fictional detective Sherlock Holmes
uses lateral thinking in one famous story when he realizes that a dog not
barking is an important clue in a murder case.
Creative people have the ability to devise new ways to carry out tasks,
solve problems, and meet challenges. They bring a fresh, and
sometimes unorthodox, perspective to their work. This way of thinking
can help departments and organizations move in more productive
directions. For these reasons, they are extremely valuable to a company.
Some people are naturally more creative than others, but creative
thinking can be strengthened with practice.
You can develop creative thinking by solving riddles, being aware of
(and letting go of) your assumptions, and through play. Play connotes
anything unstructured and relaxing such as daydreaming.
Strategies can be introduced using direct instruction in creative problem
solving models and creative thinking processes. The processes are
generally considered to be fluency, flexibility, originality, and
elaboration. There are a variety of models available.
Vertical Thinking V Lateral Thinking: -
De Bono talks about two distinct types of thinking, which as an
introduction to the subject should serve as a useful starting point for
your workshop. Vertical thinking is what De Bono describes as the type
of thinking we engage in most of the time.
It is about making decisions based primarily on what we already know
to be right, and normally in the same way that anyone else would,
offering a high degree of certainty or predictability. In a process based
task one step follows another in a predictable sequence (think about
changing the wheel on a car or completing a jigsaw puzzle).
The objective is often to get to the end point in the most efficient way
or in the least amount of steps. Lateral thinking (which is completely
synonymous with ‘creative thinking’) is not focused on the fastest route
to the endpoint, but rather it is focused on generating more, and perhaps
more interesting routes to the endpoint.
In fact its primary aim is to generate new ideas or new ways of doing
things, based far more on probability than certainty. We can look at
these two types of thinking side by side to see their differences, though
it is worth keeping in mind that neither is superior and that we need to
exercise judgment on which type of thinking to apply, depending on the
Imagine getting though a day if you only applied lateral thinking.
Similarly imagine trying to arrive at creative ideas / solutions if you
only applied vertical thinking, in which all of the results were already
known to you.
How do you see your thinking (Vertical) or ( lateral)
?

Some people ask how they can be creative if they are simply following
‘rules’? It is something that can (and perhaps should) be openly
discussed. Indeed the answer to this question comes in two parts. The
first is that the creative thinking methods you will work with are not
strictly ‘rules’.

Most often they are suggestions or very broad guiding principles that
help us to generate new ideas.

They are there to be changed, adapted, stretched, challenged etc. to suit

the current situation. If they are ‘rules’ then they are very flexible rules
designed to serve the user.

Secondly we have to recognize that if we applied creative thinking (or

lateral thinking) methods on their own, we would likely end up with a
chaotic collection of ideas that are never tested against their functional
objectives (usefulness). As we have seen earlier, vertical and lateral
thinking approaches are required to achieve ‘original thinking ... with
purpose’ (as Sir Ken Robinson puts it). Therefore a certain amount of
structure afforded by a formal process ensures we maximize our
creative efforts and remain on task.
Creative Thinking
Lecture 2nd
Creative Thinking and Critical
Thinking
Creative Thinking
Involves calling into question the assumptions underlying our
customary, habitual ways of thinking and acting and then being ready to
think and act differently based on the critical questioning.
Components of Critical Thinking
 Identifying and challenging assumptions.
  Recognizing the importance of context.
 Imagining and exploring alternatives.
 Developing reflective skepticism.

Creative Thinkers
 Consider rejecting standardized formats for problem solving.
 Have an interest in a wide range of related and divergent fields.
 Take multiple perspectives on a problem.
 Use trial-and-error methods in their experimentation.
 Have a future orientation.
 Judgment.

Receptivity
"Creative people are open to new ideas and welcome new experiences."
Judgement is something we project on people due to conditioning we've
received whether that be by others or our own observations. While we
can determine probability based on past events, we have to be open to
the idea that we may be missing information.
Just because someone is short one day, doesn't mean this person is
inherently ill- tempered, it means that for that encounter their reaction
was situational, and temporary to you. However, it could very well
mean that they have adapted this temperament. What's

Curiosity
"Researching unfamiliar topics and analyzing unusual systems is a
source of delight for most creative people." While undertaking
unknown concepts, with the intent to fully understand, can be scary, it's
necessary if you want to learn, what you have set out to learn. This
thing has to be self-realizing or self- serving, it cannot be what someone
else wants you to learn, or what you think someone else thinks you
should know, you have to want to learn it.

Because you might reach a learning curve clear is, we don't know. Be
open to new ways of thinking about things.
 doesn't mean you should
abandon
this
journey. Conflict tension is present in
or
almost Everything in my opinion.

During your process of learning, it's important to be honest with

yourself.

Wide Range of Interests

"...an artist who has a background in literature, geology, archery, music
and history can make more connections than a narrow-minded
specialist." Stewart makes being a specialist sound unworthy, while it
can be the opposite, however, creative people have the propensity to
learn about various different areas of life. This assortment of
knowledge enables us to make more connections. It's important while
learning to make clear goals for your self and organize effectively.

Attentiveness
"Realizing that every experience is valuable, creative people pay
attention to seemingly minor details." My belief is that everything is
interconnected. I'm constantly finding myself connected to objects like
paper or materials like cement, because i think, how they can be
transformed. Pay attention to the details, they're how you get to a
functional big picture.

Connection Seeking
"Seeing the similarity among seemingly disparate parts has often
sparked a creative breakthrough." This harks back to making
connections, once we are receptive to new ideas, we see how even
opposites are connected.

Conviction
"Creative people value existing knowledge". Our knowledge base is
built upon. Scientists build upon old ideas to extend their work,
sometimes transforming those older ideas and creating something new.
I've always hated the adage "Don't re-invent the wheel
". I've always felt as though the wheel needs to be re-invented,
especially as time progresses, however, there is something to leaving
the wheel the way it is. There are some fundamentals that might not be
absolutely true, albeit they can give us direction nonetheless.

Complexity
"The risk-taker gets the job started; the safe- keeper gets the job done."
There are a plethora of things/emotions that occur when completing a
project. There's excitement, there's fear, there's passion, there's critical
analysis, you may have to start over a few times.

you might abandon the project, you might need to follow certain steps
to get the work done, the project might require you to experiment.
Either way you must continue to have focus, determination or direction
and consistency. Whatever you need to do to regroup- do it.

Creative Thinking
Lecture 3rd
Creative Thinking and Critical
Thinking
Phases of Critical Thinking
1. Trigger Event
An unexpected happening that prompts a sense
confusion

2. Appraisal
A period of self scrutinizing to identify and clarify the concern.

3. Exploration
Search for ways to explain discrepancy of to live with them
4. Developing alternative perspectives.
Select assumptions and activities.

5. Integration
Becoming comfortable with, and acting, on new ideas assumption and
new ways of thinking

The coronavirus has not only decimated our populations, its spread has
also attacked the very nature of truth and stoked inherent tensions
between many different groups of people, both at local and
international levels. Spawning widespread conspiracy theories and
obfuscation by governments, the virus has also been a vivid
demonstration of the need for teaching critical thinking skills necessary
to survive in the 21st century.

The stage theory of critical thinking development, devised by

psychologists Linda Elder and Richard Paul, can help us gauge the
sophistication of our current mental approaches and provides a roadmap
to the thinking of others.

The researchers identified six predictable levels of critical thinkers,

from ones lower in depth and effort to the advanced mind-masters, who
are always steps ahead.

As the scientists write , moving up on this pyramid of thinking "is

dependent upon a necessary level of commitment on the part of an
individual to develop as a critical thinker." Using your mind more
effectively is not automatic and "is unlikely to take place
"subconsciously." In other words – you have to put in the work and
keep doing it, or you'll lose the faculty.
Here's how the stages of intellectual development break down:
Stage One: The Unreflective Thinker
These are people who don't reflect about thinking and the effect it has
on their lives. As such, they form opinions and make decisions based on
prejudices and misconceptions while their thinking doesn't improve.
Unreflective thinkers lack crucial skills that would allow them to parse
their thought processes. They also do not apply standards like accuracy,
relevance, precision, and logic in a consistent fashion.

How many such people are out there? You probably can guess based on
social media comments. As Elder and Paul write, "it is perfectly
possible for students to graduate from high school, or even college, and
still be largely unreflective thinkers."
Stage Two: The Challenged Thinker
This next level up thinker has awareness of the importance of thinking
on their existence and knows that deficiencies in thinking can bring
about major issues. As the psychologists explain, to solve a problem,
you must first admit you have one.
People at this intellectual stage begin to understand that "high quality
thinking requires deliberate reflective thinking about thinking", and can
acknowledge that their own mental processes might have many flaws.
They might not be able to identify all the flaws, however.

A challenged thinker may have a sense that solid thinking involves

navigating assumptions, inferences, and points of view, but only on an
mentality.
initial level. They may also be able to spot some instances of their own
self-deception. The true difficulty for thinkers of this category is in not
"believing that their thinking is better than it actually is, making it more
difficult to recognize the problems inherent in poor thinking,“ explain
the researchers.
Stage Three: The Beginning Thinker
Thinkers at this level can go beyond the nascent intellectual humility
and actively look to take control of their thinking across areas of their
lives. They know that their own thinking can have blind spots and other
problems and take steps to address those, but in a limited capacity.
Beginning thinkers place more value in reason, becoming self-aware in
their thoughts. They may also be able to start looking at the concepts
and biases underlying their ideas.
Additionally, such thinkers develop higher internal standards of clarity,
accuracy and logic, realizing that their ego plays a key role in their
decisions.
Another big aspect that differentiates this stronger thinker – some
ability to take criticism of their mental approach, even though they still
have work to do and might lack clear enough solutions to the issues
they spot.
Stage Four: The Practicing Thinker
This more experienced kind of thinker not only appreciates their own
deficiencies, but has skills to deal with them. A thinker of this level will
practice better thinking habits and will analyze their mental processes
with regularity.
While they might be able to express their mind's strengths and
weaknesses, as a negative, practicing thinkers might still not have a
systematic way of gaining insight into their thoughts and can fall prey
to egocentric and self-deceptive reasoning.

How do you get to this stage? An important trait to gain, say

the psychologists, is "intellectual perseverance." This quality can
provide "the impetus for developing a realistic plan for systematic
practice (with a view to taking greater command of one's thinking)."

Stage Five: The Advanced Thinker

One doesn't typically get to this stage until college and beyond, estimate
mentality.
the scientists. This higher-level thinker would have strong habits that
would allow them to analyze their thinking with insight about different
areas of life. They would be fair-minded and able to spot the prejudicial
aspects in the points of view of others and their own understanding.
While they'd have a good handle on the role of their ego in the idea
flow, such thinkers might still not be able to grasp all the influences that
affect their mentality
The advanced thinker is at ease with self-critique and does so
systematically, looking to improve. Among key traits required for this
level are "intellectual insight" to develop new thought habits,
"intellectual integrity" to "recognize areas of inconsistency and
contradiction in one's life," intellectual empathy" to put oneself in the
place of others in order to genuinely understand them, and the
"intellectual courage" to confront ideas and beliefs they don't
necessarily believe in and have negative emotions towards.
Stage Six: The Master Thinker
This is the super-thinker, the one who is totally in control of how they
process information and make decisions. Such people constantly seek to
improve their thought skills, and through experience "regularly raise
their thinking to the level of conscious realization."
A master thinker achieves great insights into deep mental levels,
strongly committed to being fair and gaining control over their own
egocentrism.

Such a high-level thinker also exhibits superior practical knowledge

and insight, always re- examining their assumptions for weaknesses,
logic, and biases.
And, of course, a master thinker wouldn't get upset with being
intellectually confronted and spends a considerable amount of time
analyzing their own responses.

Creative Thinking
Lecture 4
Planning of Creative Thinking
How to organize the creative process
Over here, we dig a little deeper into the kind of creative process we are
contemplating arriving at more practical decision-oriented
considerations. We describe this process by taking a closer look at four
components: the psychological attitude or mood that is involved and
how this relates to planning, the way action-creativity might take a
place in innovative organizations, the social character of the creative
process, and the meaning of “orality.”
1. The creative mood
In one of his books about creativity, Csikzentmihalyi describes the
work of an artist – a poet – who balances between two contrasting
moods: a “relaxed, receptive, non-judgmental openness to experience”
with a “highly concentrated critical assessment.” The poet expresses
both “passionate involvement” and “sardonic detachment”.
The core of how to preserve creativity in life (including organizational
life) lies in this balance: we must accept the existence and interplay of
such diverse moods. To provide conditions that allow the first, creative
mood to flourish we should separate it from rational, analytical
activities. Similarly also in alternative approaches to planning, novel
ideas must be made explicit, open for external, critical judgment and
debate. The need to separate the creative from the rational-analytic can
be illustrated by describing the essence of what is called the creative
mood. worked to distinguish the most discriminating characteristics of
“being creative.”
Ideas come to the fore in a random manner steered by a hidden entity
that makes certain associations possible. The rational-analytic mood is
characterized by the opposite:
Elements of deliberation are separate .
There is no sense of distance from the environment; and .
The conscious parts of decision making (e.g. arguments) are
dominating.

Several books concerning specialized tasks such as writing, suggest a

clear awareness of the differences in mood that are required and the
consequences. An interesting example comes from an old book about
the writing process, in which Tichy proposes four steps:
(1) plan;
(2) write;
(3) cool; and
(4) revise.
In her view, the creative part (writing) is separate from the rational-
analytic parts (planning, revising), with an extra guarantee that moods
will not merge ensured through the use of a cooling down period. In
organizational activities, we should be aware at the moment we get
involved if they are creative or not. Therefore, we have to keep in mind
the differences in mood in order to preserve their specific qualities.
2. Cognitive and conative creativity
Stressing action as an important element in alternative planning
approaches gives rise to renewed reflection on how we perceive
creativity. As stated earlier, creativity can be present in “thinking before
we act” – what traditional planners do – but it can also be found in the
action itself (which they typically do not). We argued that, by means of
experimental behavior (doing things in a new way) we receive impulses
which we could never get through thought alone.

Now, we will explore in more depth the difference between what we

term cognitive and conative creativity. The inspiration for grasping this
difference comes once again from the study of creativity in artistic
domains. A German psychologist on music, Bahle found that
composers of his time had quite different ways of composing music.
Some composers worked in intense contact with their instrument,
usually the piano.

Others worked “freely” without experimentation through something

like producing music. Prior to the time of Bahle we have two classic
examples, that of Beethoven who was a restless composer creating
music in enduring interaction with his pianoforte, in contrast to Mozart
who could write a symphony while traveling in a coach. The same
distinction can be found with writers or filmmakers

The conclusion could be that some people are more cognitive creative,
while others need action. But most people are not so extreme: they are
both. We also encounter this in artistic work. For instance, De Sade, a
French liberal writer who, in his ideas about writing novels in the
introduction to his book (1800) “Les Crimes de l’amour” (The Crimes
of Love), stressed the point that a good design is required before
production begins.
3. The social dimension of creativity and
planning
Alternative approaches to planning underline the need for a common
sense of direction and widespread contributions from those engaged in
efforts to imagine new fits between the organization and its
environment. As a consequence, the creative process should be a social
affair. Here, we face a potential problem that came up earlier. In many
writings, creativity is situated in an individual mind that must deal with
an unwilling group. For instance, Seitz defines “creative temperament”
as a “problem solving attitude, perseverance in the face of social
opprobrium ...” Really creative people can bare such criticism.

We can neither deny the importance of individual contributions (to the

contrary), nor the social constraints that exist in organizations.
However, by describing creativity as “social” we might move towards
more positive accounts of people interacting creatively. One
explanation for the emphasis on individual creativity may be the way in
which the social is generally depicted. Often, we find a false distinction
between a dynamic, experimentally-minded individual and a passive,
conformity-minded social environment that coerces the individual
“back to normal.”

This distinction underrates the importance of a lively, dynamic social

environment for nourishing individual creativity that we also see in the
artistic domain. Of course, the social can be considered dynamic and
experimental as well, and this is what we would like to maintain as both
possible and necessary.

However, we cannot neglect danger of a social anti-creative attitude.

West convincingly demonstrates the effects of social cohesion on
creativity. On the one hand, “it increases feelings of self-actualization
and psychological safety.” The feeling that “... one is not alone
responsible for possible failure ...” These are the merits. The risks, on
the other hand, are an “unwillingness to question group decisions” and
“a focus on relationships rather than on tasks”

Creative Thinking
 Lecture 5th

Basics of Creative Planning

Learning Objectives
Identify communications process elements
Communication may be defined as a process concerning exchange of
facts or ideas between persons holding different positions in an
organization to achieve mutual harmony. The communication process is
dynamic in nature rather than a static phenomenon.
Seven major elements of communication process are: (1) sender (2)
ideas (3) encoding
(4) communication channel (5) receiver (6) decoding and (7) feedback.

Distinguish between client & agency responsibilities

in creative development
In today’s marketing communications world, there are many new,
younger, less experienced managers responsible for interacting with
and even directing the agency services provided to advertisers. Then
when adding in the relatively recent, increased involvement of
procurement professionals with the selection, contracting,
compensating and evaluation of agencies, there is a need to clearly
spell-out the roles and responsibilities of each party to the client/agency
relationship. It is only with that understanding that maximum efficiency
and accountability can be achieved, engendering a trusting, long-term,
mutually beneficial relationship.
On the following page the reader will find outlined the respective
responsibilities of both client and agency under the four major
components of any successful marketing communications program:
Business Review
Objectives, Strategies and Long-Range Plan
Creative Concepts and Communications Plan
The Plan Execution
Learning Objectives
Explain creative development stages
So to recap we have The Five Stages of Creativity:
1. Preparation
2. Incubation
3. Insight
4. Evaluation
5. Elaboration
1. PREPARATION
The first stage is the idea of PREPARATION, the idea that you are
immersing yourself in the domain. If you area musician you are
absorbing a lot of the music that is inspiring you to create this new
piece. If you’re a writer you are reading other writers in this area. If you
are an artist you are looking at other artist’s work in the area that you
are looking at creating something in. If you are a scientist you are
looking at all the background research. And if you are an entrepreneur
or marketer you are looking at all the previous market research and
what other companies have done before.
So this stage is normally best carried out in a quiet environment. It’s
really this stage that you are trying to absorb as much information as
possible because this information will go into your sub- consciousness
where it is very important for the second stage, or second level.
2. INCUBATION
The second stage is what we call the INCUBATION stage. In
incubation this is when all the information that you have gathered in the
PREPARATION stage really goes back. It starts to churn in the back of
your mind, in the sub-consciousness. This is an extremely important
stage because sometimes it can takes days, or weeks, or months or
sometimes even years. That idea that you’ll think about writing about a
book or piece of music, and you’re writing about it and you just leave it
to the side for a while and then you come back to it. Now the interesting
thing about the incubation stages it that to a certain extent it is not really
under your control how long that stage will take. It is something you
cannot really rush because what it leads to is the third stage.
3. INSIGHT
The third stage is what most of the public think is a classic signal or
sign of a creative person, what is called the INSIGHT stage or the
insight step. With insight it is really the idea of the ‘Aha’ moment, the
‘Eureka’ moment. Although it is probably the smallest part of the five
steps, it is possible one of the most important parts.
A quick thing I would say here is that they most often happen when you
are doing some kind of low-level physical activity; going for a shower,
driving a car, having a walk. This is because your subconsciousness in
the previous stages is bubbling away and this insight stage really allows
the mind to work on something else. And then bring these ideas to the
forefront of your mind. So that’s the third stage, the insight’s stage.
And now we go on to the fourth stage.
4. EVALUATION
The fourth stage is this idea of EVALUATION. This is something I
have a problem with. I think it is an area that a lot of creative people
struggle with because often you have so many ideas and you have a
limited amount of time. So the evaluation stage is important because
this is where it requires self-criticism and reflection. It is asking
yourself questions like:
“Is this a novel or new idea or is it one that is just re- hashed and has
been done before?”
It’s the idea of going out to a small group of trusted
friends and saying:
“I’ve had this idea, what do you think about this?”
It is very important part because we only have a limited amount of time
to do certain things. Often you find that people who are called the most
‘creative people’ are often very good at this stage, the evaluation stage.
They have all these ideas but they can use self-criticism and reflection
to say “these are the ones that have the most merit and that I’m going to
work on”.
5. ELABORATION
And then we have the final stage. This is called ELABORATION. This
is where Edison said that it’s “1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”.
Now the elaboration stage is the 99% perspiration stage. This is where
you are actually doing the work. So many people out there think that
the creative process is that insight, that ‘Aha’ moment, or the
preparation part. But really a creative individual isn’t complete, and I
don’t think they can do anything that really lasts, unless they can go
through that and actually put in the hard work. The elaboration; testing
the idea, working on the idea, those late nights in the studio, working at
your desk, those hours in the laboratory if you are scientist, those days
testing and micro-testing products. This is the elaboration stage.
Creative Development Process

Learning Objectives (cont.)

Identify and distinguish among creative objectives, strategies and
execution
Describe appeal techniques
Identify the various execution techniques used for presenting messages
Explain measurement techniques for evaluating creative
Advertising Plan
Is divided into two distinct yet connected sections
Creative Plan
Devise message
Media Plan
Devise media strategies

Step 1. Definition of Strategy Attributes

In strategic planning, the level of highest abstraction is one where we
discuss the mission, vision, and values. .
Organizations create mission/vision statements (see below for some
thoughts about the difference between the terms) for two main reasons:
A formal one: follow the common trend and have something to show to
investors;
A practical one: use them as building blocks of corporate culture and
focus the team’s efforts.
Step 2. Strategy Formulation
As demonstrated by the authors of “Strategy Safari,”[3] there are at
least 10 schools of strategy that explain different approaches to the
strategy and the ways to formulate it. You can be a follower of a certain
strategy school, but there are some key components that exist in any
good strategy.
According to Richard Rumelt (“Good Strategy. Bad Strategy”), a good
strategy includes three components (called “kernel” by the author):
A diagnosis – a hypothesis about the reason of the challenge that
the company face,
A guiding policy – a hypothesis about the solution to the challenge, and
Coherent action – a hypothesis about what might help, e.g., a
company’s response to the challenge.

Step 3: Strategy Description

We started with the mission that defined a goal of the highest level of
abstraction. Then we discussed the strategic priorates that are on the
lower level. What’s next? Business goals!
Business Goals and Objectives
Business goals are more specific parts of a company’s strategy.
They formulate a hypothesis about how an organization
can achieve desired results
There is a cause-and-effect logic that can connect them and form a
strategy map.

Step 4. Strategy Cascading

In simple words, a strategy alignment (cascading) is a discussion
around business goals that helps participants to understand how desired
business outcomes can be achieved on a certain business level
(alignment of business objectives, initiatives, and action plans), and
how the success/failure can be measured (alignment of respective
measures).
 Strategy is not just for the top management (Tier 1) only. The idea is
that everyone in the company, including
business units (Tier 2) and

employees (Tier 3), are aware of the

strategy and understand how their job is linked to the ultimate goal
(achieving company’s vision).

Step 5. Strategy Execution

Once a strategy is formulated and cascaded, we can start the strategy
execution. A well-defined and described strategy in front of your eyes
will be your company’s navigation system.
Strategy map will help to focus the company’s resources on the
important objectives
Leading and lagging metrics will help managers to track the execution
process
Aligned/cascaded objectives will make strategy everyone’s job
Agency Responsibility
Understand the marketplace
Develop a more precise creative strategy
Creative execution details
Client- Agency Responsibility

Content of a Creative Brief

Market Information
Market profile
Product profile
Competitor profile
Target market profile
Budget
Problem Identification
Identification of problem or
Overall communication goal

Problem Identification
A few generic examples of overall communication goals:
To create or increase brand awareness
To position or reposition a product in the customer’s mind
To present a new image (re-image of brand)
To attract a new target market
To introduce a line extension
Advertising Objectives
Awareness
Interest
Preference
Action
New image
New targets
Positioning – Strategy Statement
Brand benefits, personality or desire image
Creative Objectives
Message content objectives
Key benefit statement
Support-claims statement
Creative Strategy
Buying motivation
Tone and style
Theme
Appeal techniques
How will the message be communicated to the target audience?
Here are some common creative appeal techniques:
Positive
Negative
Factual
Comparative
Humorous
Emotional
Lifestyle

Creative Execution
What creative strategies have these firms used on their websites?
Through which marketing communications activities and media?

Creative Execution
Tactical considerations
Production considerations
Tactical Considerations
What is the best or most convincing way to present a product so the
consumer will be motivated to purchase it?
 Testimonials
Endorsements
Product demonstrations
Torture tests
Product as hero
Product comparisons
Production Considerations
Message content and media decisions
Budget available
Mandatory content
Creative Evaluation
 Does the ad reflect the positioning statement?

 Does it mislead or misinterpret the intent of the

message?

 Is the ad memorable?

 Is the brand recognition effective?

 Should the ad be researched?

  Creative Research
 Is to measure the impact of a message on a target
audience.
 Pre-test: evaluated before final production or media
placement
 Post-test: evaluating during or after its placement
 Recognition testing
 Testing for awareness
 Recall testing
 Testing for comprehension and impact

Common Research Methods

 Starch Readership test
 Noted
 Associated
 Read most
 Day- After Recall Testing
 Research is conducted the day after an audience has
been exposed to the ad for the first time
Other Research
 Opinion-Measure Testing Methods
 Physiological Testing

 Inquiry Tests (Split-Run tests)

 Controlled Experiments
 Creative Thinking
Lecture 6
Creative Thinking and Brainstorming
1. Brainstorming – probably one of
most popular creative techniques

 This is the most obvious creative techniques and

endless whiteboard is just perfect for it. The basis of
brainstorming is a generating ideas in a group situation
based on the principle of suspending judgment – a
principle which scientific research has proved to be
highly productive in individual effort as well as group
effort.
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anything that can help you generate ideas. Write down
every idea even if it is odd, encourage people to build
on the ideas of others. Follow 12 basic rules to make
the session effective .

2. Negative Brainstorming

 This is another example of creative techniques. It uses

brainstorming to generate bad solutions to the problem
and then see how those could be transformed into good
solutions. The method is a two-step process, that
consists of generating the worst ideas first and then
transforming them into good solutions.
 The process is the same as described above.
 For example, you are trying to solve the question
‘How to make teamwork more effective’.
 These are examples of bad solutions:
 – To build a wall between team members so they never
meet each other.
 – To put them in 5 different buildings.
 A transformed bad solution can be:
 – To move to another building/office with the common
space where all the team can gather together and
discuss ideas.
 Here is a list of 25 brainstorming techniques. Pick
the
best method for the issue you are facing and apply it.
1. Time Travel. How would you deal with this if you
were in a different time period? 10 years ago? 100
years ago? 1,000 years ago? 10,000 years ago? How
about in the future? 10 years later? 100 years later?
1,000 years later? 10,000 years later?
2. Teleportation: What if you were facing this problem in
a different place? Different country? Different
geographic region? Different universe? A different
plane of existence? How would you handle it?
3. Attribute change. How would you think about
this if you were a different gender? Age? Race?
Intellect? Height? Weight? Nationality? Your Sanity?
With each attribute change, you become exposed to a
new spectrum of thinking you were subconsciously
closed off from.
4. Rolestorming. What would you do if you were
someone else? Your parent? Your teacher? Your
manager? Your partner? Your best friend? Your
enemy? Etc?
 5. Iconic Figures. This is a spin-off of rolestorming.
What if you were an iconic figure of the past? Albert
Einstein? Thomas Edison? Mother Theresa? Princess
Diana? Winston Churchill? How about the present?
Barack Obama? Steve Jobs ? Bill Gates? Warren
Buffet? Steven Spielberg? Etc.? How would you think
about your situation?
6. Superpowers.This is
another spinoff of rolestorming. What if you
suddenly have superpowers? Superman?Spiderman?
Wonderwoman? X-Men? The Hulk? One of the

Fantastic Four? What would you do?

 10.Medici Effect. The Medici Effect refers to how
ideas in seemingly unrelated topics/fields intersect.
Put your goal alongside similar goals in different
areas/contexts and identify parallel themes and
solutions. For example, if your goal is to be an award-
winning artist, look at award- winning musicians,
educators, game developers, computer makers,
businessmen, etc. Are there any commonalities that you
can apply to your situation? What has worked for each
of them, and how can you apply this success factor?
11. SWOT Analysis. Do a SWOT of your situation.
What are the Strengths? Weaknesses? Opportunities?
Threats? The analysis will open your mind up to new
ideas.
12. Brain Writing. Get a group of people and have
them write their ideas on a sheet of paper. After 10
minutes, rotate the sheets to different people and build
off what others wrote on their paper. Continue until
everyone has written on everyone else’s sheet.
13. Trigger Method. Brainstorm on as many ideas as
possible. Then select the best ones and brainstorm on
those ideas as ‘triggers’ for more ideas. Repeat until
you find the best solution.
14. Variable Brainstorming.
1. First, identify the variable in the end outcome you look
to achieve. For example, if your goal is to achieve X
visitors to your website, the variable is # of visitors.
2. Second, list all the possibilities for that variable.
Different variations of visitors are gender / age / race /
nationality / occupation / interests / etc. Think about the
question with each different variable. For example, for
Genre: How can you get more females to your website?
How can you get more males to your website? For Age:
How can you get more teenagers to your website? How
can you get more adults to your website? And so on.
15. Niche. This is part two of the variable
brainstorming method. From the variations of the
variable you have listed, mix and match them in
different ways and brainstorm against those niches.
For example, using the example in #14, how can you
get more male teenagers to your website? (Gender and
Age) How can you get more American Male Adults to
your website? (Nationality, Gender, and Age)
16. Challenger. List all the assumptions in your
situation and challenge them. For example, your goal
is to brainstorm on a list of ideas for your romance
novel which you want to get published. Notice you
have several assumptions here. 1) Genre to write:
Romance. Why must it be that romance? Can it be a
different genre? 2) Another assumption is
regarding the length of the writing, that it must be a
novel. Why must it be a novel? Can it be a short story?
A series of books? 3) Medium: Book. Why must be it a
book? Can it be an ebook? Mp3? Video? And so on.
17. Escape Thinking. This is a variation of
Challenger method. Look at the assumptions behind the
goal you are trying to achieve, then flip that assumption
around and look at your goal from that new angle. For
example, you want to earn more income from selling
books. Your assumption may be ‘People buy books for
themselves’. Flip the assumption around such that
‘People do NOT buy books for reading’. What will
this lead to? You may end up with people buy books as
gifts, for collection purposes, etc. Another assumption
may be ‘People read books’. The flip side of this
assumption may be people look at books (drawings).
Escaping from these assumptions will bring you to a
different realm of thought on how to achieve your goal.
18. Reverse Thinking. Think about what everyone
will
typically do in your situation. Then do the opposite.
19. Counteraction Busting. What counteracting
forces are you facing in your scenario? For example, if
you want to increase traffic to your website, two
counteracting forces may be the number of ads you put
and the pageviews of your site. The more ads you put,
the more users will likely be annoyed and surf away.
What can you do such that the counteraction no longer
exists or the counteraction is no longer an issue? Some
solutions may be to 1) Get ads that are closely related to
the theme of your site, 2) Get contextual ads that are
part of your content rather than

separate, and so on.

20. Resource Availability. What if money, time,
people, supplies are not issues at all? What if you can
ask for whatever you want and have it happen? What
will you do?
21. Drivers Analysis. What are the forces that help
drive you forward in your situation? What are the
forces acting against you? Think about how you can
magnify the former and reduce/eliminate the latter.
22. Exaggeration. Exaggerate your goal and see how
you will deal with it now. Enlarge it: What if it is 10
times its current size? 100 times? 1000 times? Shrink
it: What if it is 1/10 its current size? 1/100? 1/1000?
Multiply it: What if you have 10 of these goals now?
100? 1000?
23. Get Random Input. Get a random stimulus and
try to see how you can fit it into your situation. Get a
random word or image from a
dictionary/ webpage/ book/ magazine/ newspaper/ TV
and think about how it can apply. Or a random object
from your room /house /workplace /neighborhood /etc.
And so on.
 24.Meditation. Focus on your key question such as
‘How can I solve XX problem?’ or ‘How can I achieve
XX goal?’ and meditate on it. Have a pen and paper in
front of you so you can write whatever comes to mind.
Do this for 30 minutes or as long as it takes.
 25.Write a list of 101 ideas. Open your word processor
and write a laundry list of at least 101 ideas to deal with
your situation. Go wild and write whatever you can
think of without restricting yourself. Do not stop until
you have at least 101.
3. The Insights Game

 Have you experienced one of those moments when you

suddenly realize how the world works and the dots are
connected? The insights Game is about these moments.
Every insight gives you one point. You need to have at
least one point every day, if not the game is over.

 Actually, it is a personal method, but you can do it with

your friends or team on different boards
simultaneously supporting each other.
 The goal and the reward of this game is that you will
improve your ability to see the big picture, process
more complex problems and challenge your beliefs.
 Use images, videos, post-its and whatever you want to
put your insights on the board. Back to the board every
day and look at the big picture. Try these for 21 days
minimum, and feel this magical moment! Use the
Monthly Planner template to start or put everything on
a blank sheet.
4. Mood boards

 Mood board is a type of collage that may consist of

images, text, videos and samples of objects in a
composition of the choice of the mood board creator.
 Designers and others use mood boards to develop
their design concepts and to communicate to other
members of the design team. They are used by artists
and are based on a particular theme of their choice too.
Here you can find some more useful information about
mood boards.

5. Random Words (Random Input)

 Random Words Creative technique encourages your

imagination to create different perspectives and new
angles on your idea or the problem you are facing. It is
by far the simplest of all creative techniques and is
widely used by people who need to create new ideas
(for example, for new products).
 Prepare with a lot of different random words, short
stories or tweets, put them on the board and start your
brainstorming session!
 Once you have chosen the word, list its attributions or
associations with the word. Then apply each of the
items on your list and see how it applies to the problem
at hand.
 How does it work? Because the brain is a self-
 organising system, and very good at making
connections. Almost any random word will stimulate
ideas on the subject. Follow the associations and
functions of the stimulus word, as well as using aspects
of the word as a metaphor.

6. Storyboarding

 Storyboards go back to the very beginnings of cinema

and animation. As it is known, Walt Disney and his
staff developed a Story Board system in 1928. Disney
wanted to achieve full animation and for this, he needed
to produce an enormous number of drawings.
Managing the thousands of drawings and the progress
of a project was nearly impossible, so Disney had his
artists pin up their drawings on the studio walls. This
way, progress could be checked, and
 Now Storyboarding is a popular creative technique and
is widely spread in business. Storyboards are used
today by industry for planning advertising campaigns,
commercials, a proposal or other business presentations
intended to convince or compel to action.

7. Metaphorical thinking

 A metaphor is a thinking method which connects two

universes of meaning. Examples: Food chain or flow of
time. Metaphorical thinking is based on Similarity. Our
mind tends to look for similarities. A road map is a
model or metaphor of reality and useful for explaining
things.
 Put everything that you may need on the board – words,
images, videos, icons, etc. to help you create something
new and exciting.
 Imaging within another conceptual frame can help, eg.
the visual images of spring which inspired Vivaldi’s
“Prima Vera”, the dream that led to Berlioz’s
“Symphonie Fantastique,” the art exhibition which
Mussorsgy illustrated in “Pictures at an Exhibition,”
and so on.
 Mind Maps has been developed by Tony Buzan are an
effective technique of structuring information and note-
taking. They are also useful during the brainstorming
sessions. To Make a mind map , start in the center of
the board with the main idea, invite your team and
work in all directions, producing a growing and
organized structure using key words/phrases and key
images/videos.
 Use colorful links, post-its, shapes, icons, images and
videos – anything that can help you build a
visual

 Brain Shifter is one of creative techniques that is similar

to mind mapping, but you should act as if you were
someone else. The purpose is to create new ideas that
you never thought about before.
 Get in to character by changing your mindset and try to
think like another person. E.g imagine that you are a
doctor, a lawyer, a kid or why not a Batman? Start to
write your ideas on post-its thinking as your
‘superhero’. If you use the method in group, you can
 give the roles to each other before the session.
 After the session is finished, vote for the best ideas.
 Creative Thinking
Lecture 7

Metaphorical Thinking
What is Metaphorical Thinki
 A metaphor means comparing two things that in reality
are not literally the same. This is the foundation
of Metaphorical Thinking. Metaphors were
considered a sign of genius by the Greek philosopher
Aristotle . According to him, the individual who can
perceive the similarity between two very different
concepts, was intelligent and had a special gift.
 By making a metaphorical comparison between a
complex problem and a recognizable situation, other
people can understand what’s meant right away.
Insight
 Metaphorical Thinking might seem strange, but
eventually it will lead to more insight. Thinking in
metaphors brings other solutions to the surface.
 Using metaphors encourages creativity. It is a soft
thinking technique that connects and compares two
different meanings. After all, people tend to look for
similarities. That helps them to grasp complex issues.
 Trying to understand things through logic alone disrupts
the creative process. Metaphorical Thinking is a
powerful tool for looking at things in a new way. That’s
why it is used a lot in the world of advertising and
marketing.
Solution-oriented
 Metaphors conjure up lively images and help us to look
at things from a new perspective in order to understand
them better. It opens eyes and people are more able
comprehend problems and gain insight into solutions.
Metaphorical Thinking can help when considering a
problem and its solution.
 Thoughts are exposed to related concepts and those are
then compared to each other. Using comparisons
stimulate creative ideas to solve problems. The key to
Metaphorical Thinking is looking for similarities or
parallels.
Metaphorical
 Metaphors are used a Thinking
lot in our everyday exam
language. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. A well-
known one is ‘time is money’; an expression that
compares ‘time’ and ‘money’. At first glance, these
concepts seem to be unrelated.
 By thinking of time as money, you can conjure up some
powerful images. Wasting time is like throwing money
down the drain and spending time on something is
making an investment for the future. This way,
Metaphorical Thinking opens people’s eyes to the
similarities between disparate things.
 Another example is comparing a badly-run organization
to a sinking ship. A sinking ship is beyond saving. That
means that something needs to happen if the
organization wants to have

any hope for survival.

Outside
 Creativity starts of established
to flow when you step outside of fram
established frameworks and think out of the box . When
using a metaphor, you combine two elements that have
little or no logical connection. Breaking the rules of
logic like this allows metaphors to access the creative
side of our brains. This is the part that is stimulated by
images, ideas and concepts.
 That way Metaphoric Thinking can help you to come up
with creative solutions to problems or provide clear
insight into complex situations. Think for instance of a
company that is confronted with high production costs.
 They will first look for obvious solutions including a
search for new technologies or analysing the inefficient
production processes.
 That might eventually lead to cost reductions, but does
it really get to the core of the issue? The point is to
reduce the high costs. Now a metaphor can be made
with an overweight person who wants to lose weight.
By doing this, the brain starts to approach the problem
from a completely different perspective, which will
lead to different solutions. Losing weight is now
compared to getting rid of excess ballast (too high
production costs). It’s explained further in the step-by-
step plan below:
 1. Identify the metaphor for the problem
 Losing weight (ballast) equals lowering the high
production costs.
 2. Solutions for the metaphorical problem
 How to lose weight. By brainstorming with the entire
team, new ideas will emerge about how someone can
lose weight. This is where the initial focus lies. Every
extra kilo is metaphorically equal to the extra euros
spent on production costs.
 In order to lose weight, someone could keep track of
foods high in calories and foods low in calories, eat
less, only stick to diet foods, drink a lot of water,
exercise more to burn calories or join a weight-loss
club. Many of the ideas will be linked to the actual
problem in the end. That’s why it’s best to come up
with as many ideas as

possible during this phase.

 3. Translating to real solutions
 The metaphorical solutions can now be linked to the
real problem and provide insight into actual solutions.
Counting calories for instance can be translated to
stricter monitoring of what goes into the company.
Burning calories through repetitive exercises leads to
more recycling or reusing of raw materials in the
production process.
 By keeping better track of what one should and
shouldn’t eat, an organization can monitor the inflow of
products and raw materials much more strictly.
 Limiting certain foods leads to better supplier price
comparisons and more negotiating with them. Only
eating low-calorie foods can be translated as using
cheaper and/or alternative raw materials.
 Drinking a lot of water keeps everything flowing; that’s
also true for a production process. No longer using
wasteful process (washing away resources) The final
idea is joining a weight-loss club.
 A sounding board can be a good thing and lead to
continuity and new insights. By discussing and sharing
cost-saving measures with other departments, the
production department can find support and monitor

progress better.
 4.Communication
 Using metaphors is a matter of language and
proper communication. It’s important to first know
what needs to be communicated before looking for
comparisons. The audience needs to understand the
metaphor and be able to identify with it. Looking at
problems in different ways leads to new insights and
better understanding.
 Generally, people like to consider a situation in this way
and will stimulate each other during this process. That
way, Metaphorical Thinking can lead to good, useful
ideas, loyalty and cooperation.
 What do you think? How do you apply the
Metaphorical Thinking in your project or
organization? Do you recognize the practical
explanation or do you have more additions? What are
your success factors for getting new insights?
 Creative Thinking
Lecture 8
Dr. Mohamed Elchime
Storyboarding of
Creative Thinking
 What is Storyboarding ?

 Storyboarding is a creativity technique that often uses

stick diagrams to explain a scenario, so that the
planning for that scenario can be done. Just like
brainstorming, this is also mainly employed by
groups. It requires a moderator and takes place in a
group of 8-12 people. The moderator will first arrange
the ideas obtained from the brainstorming session in a
logical order on a white board.
 A story will be created around it with the maximum
interconnection of ideas and different pieces. The
pictorial representation helps keep all factors in front of
your eyes which helps in interconnecting different
factors while searching for solutions. Every phase has a
Critical Section in which participants discuss their story
board.
 The story boarding process includes four phases:
• Planning − This phase begins with the issues clearly
spelt out and defined by the moderator. He then takes a
piece of paper and gets ready to take down notes of the
participants.
• Ideas − In this phase, the ideas are put on and different
plans for people are arranged as per the sequence
of the new ideas.
• Organization − During this phase, the participants
decide who among them is going to implement the
finalized solutions and the timing of the plan to
implement.
• Communication − In this phase, the participants are
asked to share their storyboard with all the members in
the organization. Through this process, they can use
match-stick figures, balloon sketches and flowcharts
to give a visual graphics to their idea.
Uses for
 Storyboards
beyond
Storyboards
can be used for a variety of purposes

movie making.
 The complete guide to Storyboarding and problem
Solving, advocates the use of storyboards in a broader
arena. Following are other uses for storyboards that he
suggests;
 • stimulating creative thinking
 • planning a project
 • collecting ideas
 • exploring an organization
 • communicating a concept
 • illustrating a briefing
 • understanding the big picture
The
 This is aExcursion
very effective method of Technique
persuading a group of
people to design and develop new thought patterns to
address unique situations and to formulate strategies
based on their analyses.
 This process usually involves five steps −
• The First Step − The instructor asks the participants to
take an imaginary journey to a place that seemingly has
no connection with the issue at hand. Some of
such places could be a museum, jungle or another
planet, etc. After the journey is over, the participants
need to draw 8- 10 images based on their experience of
that place.
• The Second Step − The consultant asks participants to
draw similarities and establish relationships between
the images of their imaginary excursion, and the real-
life issues they are presently facing in their scenario.
• The Third Step − The participants are now instructed
to analyze the connections between the problems and
the analogies and identify the ones that are the closest
and most distinctly linked with all the factors.
• The Fourth Step − Participants share their experiences
from their imaginary journey with their team-mates
about what they saw, whom they interacted with, what
analogies they drew and their solutions.
• The Fifth Step − Like brainstorming, participants
discuss each other’s ideas and find out a common
solution to the issues, and a common narrative that can
include all their ideas.
 Example

 I am exploring ideas to help inform people move

upstairs. I use a storyboard to develop an idea and share
it in a slightly amusing way with others.
 How it works

 We understand much through stories and it is a key

medium for communication. When people
converse, they tell each other stories of their lives.
Stories are thus natural media by which anyone can
explain something to another.
 Stories are also great for learning, as we naturally
follow along the path they lay down to the ideas and
conclusions that the author has crafted.
 We take in a lot through our visual senses, and so using
pictures allows a lot to be communicated in a few
scenes.
 When we watch or listen to the story of another person,
we put ourselves in their shoes, feeling and
experiencing as they do. Stories are great for hooking
people in and generating emotional responses.
 Summary

 Storyboards can be a helpful tool for planning a

complex project. They can be used as a communication
tool for team members as well as communication for
people outside the team. Creating effective storyboards
is a skill that can be developed.
 By using the process demonstrated here, students can
develop the skill and confidence to prepare storyboards
that communicate a visual story for planning and
communication.
 Although most of the examples shown in this paper are
not technical illustrations typical of engineering
drawing, the process is the same for all storyboards.
 Using some of these techniques might help students
think visually and be more comfortable putting their
ideas down on paper before they jump onto the
computer.
 Creative Thinking
Lecture 9
Mapping Thinking

What is a mind map?


 A mind map is a type of visual diagram that
consists of a centralized subject and related topics or
ideas branching off from it in all directions. From each
topic subtopics can again branch off, resulting in a
radial structure.

How to start Mind map?

 Mind mapping is easy and intuitive, and although
there are a lot of guidelines and tips out there, all
you really need to know to get started are a few basics:
 1. You start off with a blank piece of paper, a clear
board or an empty digital map editor. In the
center you write down whatever your mind map is
about: the subject of your brainstorming session, the
title of your project, a keyword from that essay you’re
trying to write...
  2. Now you can start adding topics, also known
as
“nodes”, “keywords”, “ideas” or “branches” to your
map.
 3. The next step is to add what we like to call child
topics or child ideas to your first-level topics. Simply
draw another line from your first-level topic and write
your child topic on the line or into a circle at the end of
it. These child topics should be a little less prominent
than your first-level topics to convey a clear sense of
hierarchy. Every new topic can again have its own child
topics. There is no limit to the number of child topics or
hierarchical levels in a mind map.

The benefits of mind

mapping
• Mind mapping helps you focus.
• The subject of your map is always in the center and
thus right in front of your eyes. This helps you to stay
on topic.
• Mind mapping lets you structure your thoughts.
• No matter how complex an idea or how big a topic,
a mind map brings order into the chaos.
• Mind mapping provides a great overview of a topic.
• It enables you to see the bigger picture, make out
connections
and hierarchies.
• Mind mapping enhances memory.
• It kicks your brain into action and improves your
study efforts through the use of mental triggers.
• Mind mapping is efficient.
• It increases productivity and can help you save
tremendous amounts of time.
• Mind mapping is easy.
• Everyone from preschooler to CEO can do it.
• Mind mapping enables a free flow of ideas.
• Because you mostly use single keywords, symbols and
short phrases in mind maps, you can jot down
ideas a lot faster than usual, which results in an
unobstructed flow of ideas.
• Mind mapping is fun.
• In opposite to linear notes and texts, creating a mind
map doesn’t actually feel like work.

Why mind maps work so

well

 The graphical structure
 Mind maps display hierarchy and relationships between
topics visually. Their two-dimensional structure enables
you to make out connections easily and never to lose
focus of the actual subject / goal / question, since it is
located right in the middle of your map.
 The overview
 Mind maps allow you to view all the contents of
a subject at a glance. That is because mind maps,
in opposite to linear texts, never stretch across
multiple pages. A paper mind map is always fitted onto
one sheet of paper, a mind map drawn on a black
board is confined to the edges of the board, and a
digital mind map is displayed on one single worksheet.
This means that you don’t have to jump back and forth
between multiple pages but can retain a clear picture of
the contents at all times.
 The Spartan wording
 While linear notes encourage you to almost blindly
gather content, that is, to copy as much of the
information you read or hear as possible, mind maps
almost force you to actively think about what you note
down and what can be left out. They foster a reduced,
almost “Spartan” writing style, where every word
counts. You don’t clutter your notes with unimportant
information and save time while you write, read and
study.
 Colors and Icons
 Mind maps encourage you to make good use of colors
and icons, both of which can help you greatly in
structuring your content. Color codes and icons can not
only show you even more detailed connections between
and joint possession of topics, but also trigger your
memory and thus speed up the recall process.
 The Pictures
 Pictures are a great way to add value to your mind maps
and trigger your memory with personalized drawings.
Digital mind maps usually also allow you to support
your arguments with statistical diagrams, show
screenshots, add photographs or any other kind of
image.
Who mind mapping is for
 Mind maps are so easy to draw that basically everyone
can create them. Experience has taught us that children
from the age of 8 already benefit greatly from it and
there is no age limit on the other end. Some believe
that even preschoolers can make use of this tool by
simply replacing all written parts with drawings.
 But what if I am a linear thinker?
 Some of us are so accustomed to processing information
stored in a linear manner that we’ve really become quite
good at it. But that doesn’t necessarily make us linear
thinkers, at least not in an exclusive manner. Even if
you feel comfortable with your old thinking method,
you can utilize other techniques to further improve
your creativity, memory and problem solving
abilities.

Most popular mind mapping

uses
 Mind mapping is an extremely versatile technique that
can be used for a number of different tasks, in different
fields and for different purposes. The following is a list
of the most common and important areas of use.
 Brainstorming
 Because mind mapping encourages a free flow of ideas
and sparks associations like no other technique, it is the
perfect tool for brainstormings. No matter if you’re
looking for ideas for your next blog post, are trying to
think of the perfect title for your novel, or are
brainstorming the contents of an elaborate marketing
promotion - mind mapping will set your creativity free.
 Summarizing
 A great use of mind maps is summarizing complex or
long texts, such as essays, textbooks and theses. You
can take the notes while reading or right after you’re
finished with a chapter. The mind map encourages you
to break the information down into smaller, more
manageable chunks and capture the key concepts of the
topic, which makes it perfect for later revisions of the
material.
 Planning & Strategizing
 Mind maps can be used to plan anything from weddings
and exhibitions to business concepts and PR strategies.
They are perfect to collect all your ideas, to-dos and
even resources in one place, to arrange things in a clear
and logical way and function as a perfect visual aid
when presenting your plan to others.
 Problem solving
 In our modern society, employers and teachers alike
stress the importance of problem solving abilities in
their employees and students. It is not so much the
comprehensive knowledge of a subject that is on
demand, but the ability to think logically, make the
right connections and find creative solutions to a
problem. Mind maps offer the ideal format to do just
that.
 Note taking
 Whether you’re in a meeting or a lecture hall, taking
notes in a mind map is not only more efficient while
you’re writing, you will also find it easier to quickly go
back to your map and refresh your memory later on.
Instead of having to go through page after page of
monotonic text, of which 60 to 90%* is, on average,
completely omissible, you can see the truly important
information in your mind map at a glance.
 Memorizing
 Mind maps can help you memorize all kinds of
information and data, from vocabulary of a second
language to complex physical concepts. In his book
“The Mind Map Book”, Tony Buzan explains why
mind maps are so great for memorization: “Mind maps
utilize all our cortical skills and activate the brain on all
levels, making it more alert and skillful at
remembering. The attractiveness of mind maps makes
the brain want to return to them, and again encourages
the probability of spontaneous recall.”
 Presentations
 During a speech, an oral report or a presentation, visual
aids are key to help the audience follow the speaker’s
thought process and further explain complex topics. A
simple but very effective visual aid is a mind map,
which can be projected onto a screen as a whole or
drawn from scratch during the speech to underline key
 points and illustrate connections and concepts.
 Collecting and structuring information
 Mind maps are probably most famous for their ability to
“structure thoughts” and help the mapper to focus on
the subject at hand. But mind maps also offer a great
format for collecting and structuring any other kind of
information, be it the contents of a scientific article or
your favorite dessert recipes. With solutions such as
MindMeister, it is easy to add links to websites, notes
and even files to your maps, making them the perfect
resource compilations or knowledge banks
 Collaboration
 Mind maps are a great platform for team members to
brainstorm together and get productive discussions
going. Everyone can easily add their own ideas, which
in turn can spark new ideas in others. The results of the
collaboration process can then be structured, tasks can
be assigned and deadlines added.
 Decision making
 In order to make an informed decision, you need to
know the facts, understand the connections, see
advantages, disadvantages and possible consequences
of your actions. A mind map is the ideal platform to
collect all those things in one place and provide you
with a clear overview of the pros and
cons
Choosing the right mapping
format
 There are basically three different mind mapping
formats. You can choose between paper mapping,
digital mapping and online mapping. While online
mapping is actually just a variant of digital mapping, it
offers a number of features and advantages that
distinguish it from conventional digital mapping. That
is why we’ve decided to treat it as a distinct format in
this case.
 Of course, you don’t actually have to settle for one
format. Just because you choose to work with a digital
solution doesn’t mean you can’t also draw paper mind
maps when you’re not in front of your computer. The
system is always the same and once you’ve come to
appreciate its value, you’ll probably make use of it in
all kinds of different situations. However, finding the
right format for you and your individual needs and
preferences is still important. Once you’ve found the
right one, you can create a system based on it and that
again will ensure a smooth overall workflow, help you
to save time and increase your productivity.
Types of Mind Mapping
 Circle Map
 The circle map is a tool that is used to describe
something or convey our understanding of a topic. It’s a
great tool for both individual and group brainstorming
activities.
 How to create a circle map
 Step 1 – Start by drawing a circle in the center of the
canvas or paper. Write down the topic you’ll be
focusing on, inside it.
 Step 2 – Draw a larger circle around it, and brainstorm
and write down everything you know about the topic
within. Here you can use nouns, adjectives or verbs to
describe what you know.
 Step 3 – Draw a square around the larger circle. This
box is known as the “frame of reference” and is used to
indicate how you gathered your knowledge about the
topic. For example, did somebody tell you about it? Did
you see it in a documentary?

 Bubble Map

 Bubble maps are used to describe a subject using

adjectives. Bubble maps can be very useful when
analyzing a character from a novel or story, introducing
new lessons to the classroom, etc.
 How to create a bubble map
 Step 1 – Draw a circle and write down the topic of your
choice in the middle of it.
 Step 2 – Add connecting circles around the main topic
in the center. In these you can write down adjectives,
characteristics, etc. that describe the subject.

 Flow Map

 The flow map represents the flow of something. It can

be used to organize information in a logical order,
sequence steps of a process or event and identify
patterns.
 The flow map contains a series of boxes linked by
arrows and can be drawn horizontally and vertically.
Images can also be used in place of boxes to convey the
sequence.
 How to create a flow map
 Step 1 – Start by identifying the steps of the event.
Put them down
on a flow map in a logical order to represent the
sequence.
 Step 2 – Add substages as necessary. Substages are the
smaller boxes below the main steps. They can be used
to break down a key step into sub-steps. Substages
should be connected to the main sequence with lines
and not arrows.
 Brace Map

 Brace maps are used to show the components of a

concrete object or event. For example, the parts of a
car. It shouldn’t be used for something abstract like a
concept or idea, which you cannot physically break
apart.
 How to create a brace map
 Step 1 – Begin the map with the object you are breaking
apart.
 Step 2 – Brainstorm and add its components or what the
main
object is made of in front it, connected by a
brace/bracket.
 Step 3 – Subdivide the components as necessary.
Connect these to the map with braces as well.
 Tree Map

 The tree map is used to categorize and organize

information. You can use this to plan out essays or
speeches by listing down sentences or paragraphs
under the sub-categories. Or you can use it in math to
show different types of equations.
 How to create a tree map
 Step 1 – On the top of the canvas, place the main
subject or idea your map would be about. For example,
it could be different types of food.
 Step 2 – Place the supporting categories underneath the
main topic connected by lines. In our example, these
would be vegetables, fruits, meat, etc.
 Step 3 – List down examples or supporting details under
each sub- category. For example, you can write down
types of vegetables under the related category.
 Double Bubble Map

 You can use the double bubble map to identify different

and similar qualities between two things such as
characters, books, cultures, etc.
 The two center circles represent the subjects you are
analyzing. The circles that are common to both
topics contain similarities while others represent
differences.
 You can also use a Venn diagram to compare and
contrast things but in comparison, the double bubble
map is more organized.
 How to create a double bubble map
 Step 1 – Define the two things you are comparing. Here
you can use a bubble map or a circle map to identify
the characteristics of the two items.
 Step 2 – Referring to the maps you created earlier,
compare and co
 Multi-Flow Map

 The multi-flow map can be used to identify the causes

and effects of a situation. For example, you can use it to
depict a historical incident like the World War.
 In a multi-flow map, the causes do not correspond with
the effects, but the situation. You can also draw a multi-
flow map representing only causes or only effects as
necessary.
 How to create a multi-flow map
 Step 1 – Write down the event or situation you want to
analyze in the middle of the canvas. For an example
World War 1.
 Step 2 – In the boxes on the left side of the map, write
down the causes. In
our example, these could be the rise of nationalism,
militarism, imperialism.
 Step 3 – In the boxes on your right-hand side, write
down the effects of the event that took place. In our
example, these could be the downfall of monarchies
such as Germany, Turkey, Russia, etc., the end of
colonialism and so on.
 Bridge Map

 The bridge map can be used to understand the

relationships between words or show analogies between
ideas or objects. Bridge maps can be used to assess
prior knowledge or do fill-in-the-blank exercises.
 How to use the bridge map
 Step 1 – Draw the “as” pyramid. Place the two
information pairs on each side of the pyramid as shown
below. Make sure that they are written in a format that
can be used in a sentence.
 Step 2 – Define the relating factor that will help connect
the two pairs of information. Writing it down will help
you follow the correct sentence pattern.
Examples of Mind Maps
 To make it simple for you to get started with mind
mapping, we’ve put together this comprehensive guide
to mind mapping, techniques, tools.
1. Brainstorming mind map
 Mind mapping is one of the best brainstorming
techniques there is. Drawing a mind map when you’re
trying to come up with ideas for an essay, project, or
any other creative task can really help get your creative
juices flowing.
 Using mind maps for brainstorming:
• helps you easily retrieve information from your memory
• gets your thoughts flowing freely so you can come
up with new ideas
• lets you identify connections between individual ideas
• helps you see the bigger picture
 If you run out of ideas too early, try drawing blank
branches into your mind map. Our brains don’t like
unfinished business, so by drawing unfinished
branches, we can often trick our brains into looking for
creative ways to expand our mind maps.
2. Note-taking mind map
 Most People use some form of linear note-taking to
capture the information presented to them in class.
Mind maps, however, are a much more effective tool
when it comes to note-taking.
 Instead of thoughtlessly transcribing what your teacher
says, mind maps compel you to actively think about
what you hear and only write down the most essential
pieces of information.
 Instead of writing whole sentences, you stick to
keywords and meaningful images. This way, you save
time both during the lesson and afterward when you go
back to revise the material.
 Mind maps also offer a much better overview of a topic
than normal text documents do. Just take a look at the
image above. The images on the left and right both
offer the same information. But which one would you
say is more memorable and would be quicker to
review?

3. Reading comprehension mind map

 Some texts can be quite difficult to understand. Old
novels, highly scientific articles, and scholarly essays
can be full of words we’re not familiar with, and they
often have a complex structure that can throw us off.
 Taking notes in a mind map while reading such a text
can make it much easier to understand its structure and
content. Here are a few tips:
 Break the information down into smaller, more
manageable chunks.
 Capture the key concepts and ideas of the text.
 Make a list of unfamiliar words and other questions
that turn up while you read.
 Summarize the plot of a text and describe its main
characters.
 Use the map to review your notes before an exam.
4. Group project mind map

 If you’re one of the many students who dread

group projects in school, mind maps can be the key to
change this. A mind map can make it much easier to
visualize what needs to be done and work together with
your teammates to accomplish all tasks.
 In this case, online mind mapping software is definitely
the way to go. With an online tool, you can easily share
your mind map with all team members so that
everybody can access and edit it at the same time. You
can also assign tasks to your team members right inside
the mind map to ensure everybody knows what they
need to do.
5. Class presentation mind
map
 Mind maps are a great way to present information. For
example, you could use a mind map instead of a
slideshow while presenting a report in class.
 With MindMeister, you can easily create a mind map to
use during a presentation. Take a look at the real-time
video below where we show you how to create a
slideshow for a book report in less than three minutes.
6. Homework mind map
 Mind maps can not only help you brainstorm ideas for
the topic of your essay, but they’re also great for
collecting arguments and quotes from the various
sources you want to cite and for outlining the structure
of your essay.
7. Essay mind map
  Mind maps can not only help you brainstorm ideas for
the topic of your essay, but they’re also great for
collecting arguments and quotes from the various
sources you want to cite and for outlining the structure
of your essay.

8. Exam preparation mind

map
 Another way to use mind maps is to collect all
the materials that will be covered in an exam, such as:
 your notes from class
 chapters from the textbooks
 a reading list
 links to online sources
 Additionally, you can note down instructions from the
teacher and other information about the exam, such as
date and time, format (essay, multiple-choice, etc.),
what you need to bring (calculator, pens, ruler), and so
on.
9. Creative writing mind
map
 If you have to write a short story for one of your classes,
a mind map is a great way to outline the story you
want to tell. You can define your characters’ looks and
personalities, even add images you find online showing
what you think you those characters look like for
reference.
 You can outline the story you want to tell and make a
note of your setting, any needed background
information, the climax of your story, its resolution, etc.
Then, you can reference your mind map while writing
your story so that your mind is free to be creative
instead of bogged down trying to remember all of those
details.
10. Semester plan mind
map
 If you have a teacher who expects you to just stay on
top of the projects and assignments you have to do
across the semester, you can create a semester plan
mind map that lists things like assignments, project
touchpoint due dates, exam dates, teacher contact
information, and more.
 Using MindMeister, you can also link to any
worksheets, Google Docs, or electronic syllabi you
receive from your instructors to consolidate all of your
notes and assignments into a single mind map
you can refer back to all semester long.
11. Business ideas mind
map
 Sometimes, in math, economics, or social studies class,
your teacher might ask you to come up with a business
idea.
 A mind map is a great way to brainstorm business ideas
—either alone or as a group—to come up with ideas for
products you could sell, decide how you would market
those products, figure out who would buy those
projects, and determine why people would want to buy
your products.