Creative Thinking In the past we were encouraged

Creative Thinking In the past we were encouraged to go to school, study to obtain a certificate and get a good job and settled down for a good career life. That trend has changed. Certificates no longer guaranty a good job or career. There are so many certificate holders roaming the street, looking for jobs. The obvious reasons for this are: • The increasing population (employment) and dwindling resources (vacancies) leading to a mismatch as predicted by Thomas Malthus. • Technology and automation is fast replacing humans with machine therefore displacing humans in the employment market. • The failure of schools to review education curriculum with a view to embrace the noticed trends: whereas there are job loss in some areas there are new jobs being created as well in other areas. • The failure of governance (policies and systems) to raise entrepreneurs (job creators) instead of job seekers (unemployed). The government has the capacity to employ policies to direct its citizens to embrace entrepreneurship i. e. citizens establishing Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) who are the ultimate employers of labour. • The overdependence on a single crop (i. e. crude petroleum) to the detriment of other potential products such as agricultural, manufactured, processed, solid mineral and knowledge based products.

Creative Thinking CREATIVE THINKING = Human Thoughts + Innovativeness All human are endowed to think for the purpose of living, deciding, or solving specific problem. We think before we take any major decision i. e. the course to study, the profession to pursue, where to work etc. However, the quality of our thinking differs from one another. There are thinking that lead to success and there thinking that failure. Simply our thinking make us. As a ma think, so he is. It is therefore important to pay attention to what you think about and how you think.

Creative Thinking Given that every human being is endowed with the power to THINK, just as we can all SEE, HEAR, TALK, etc. , we all have the capacity to think. However, we think differently – for instance we differ on: How we think: positive or negative; progressive or regressive What we think about: parties, sports, future or career What we do with our thinking: nothing, procrastinate or act on it How and what you think about is very important because your thinking (thoughts) has a way of shaping your life. Imagine what the following people think about: Bill Gates, Aliko Dangote, Oprah Winfrey, Lionel Messi etc. They are all successful men and women in different areas of life. Their interests dominate their thinking. Creative thinking can be described as the process of positively viewing and considering available and possible options on a given issue in a manner that the process will produce positive outcome. It usually offer solution to the problem being considered.

Creative Thinking Creative thinking is about providing acceptable solution to a particular problem, problem-solving type of thoughts, innovative and idea generation process. Creative thinking is a necessary skill required to succeed in life. We must be innovative. Most problems can be solved in a number of ways: there are possibilities to discover if we engage in serious thinking. The creative thinking skill include understanding the problem – defining the problem, analysing it, exploring ideas, figure out possible answers or solutions, eliminate the incorrect paths and focus on the correct solution. In all cases, creative thinking is vital to a successful career development. Creative thinking can be seen as comprising four stages namely: understanding (analysing) the problem; generating possible solutions; choosing and implementing the best solution; evaluating the effectiveness of the solution. Creative thinking is a continuous process of improvement whereby existing solution are discarded and replaced with a new one.

Creative Thinking - Is an ability of the individual to think, imagine, invent, or provide answer to bring about something new (a new product idea, method, approach or solution) - Is an attitude to be critical of existing way of doing things, looking for a new way, looking ahead into the future, accepting change, willing to play with ideas, and possibilities, and willing to do things differently even at the risk of appearing funny. - Is a process that continues and hardly end. It is a continuous improvement and gradual refinements. Always making a efforts to add more value and make it a little better. - It can be taught, learned and it can be improved upon through practice. Anyone willing to be creative can easily acquire the skill of creative thinking. - The human tendency to generate and recognise ideas, alternatives or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems or improving the way things are done. It is the totality of the process from conception of ideas to product development. - Creativity is often associated with virtually all human endeavour or performance such as medicine, dance, modelling, poetry, drama however, creativity is not limited to a particular activity but can be found in all facets of human lives. - Creativity is a perceptive or attitude of improvement, value-addition, innovation that is applied to any activity: Education, Social Sciences, Law, Arts, Agriculture etc.

Imagination – ability to create a mental picture of an idea, concept, or solution which ultimately could lead to the development of products or services. Visualisation – ability to see or form a mental picture of an idea, concept, solution which ultimately could lead to products or services. Conception – ability to think and come up with an idea, concept, solution which ultimately could lead to products or services.

Improvement on existing product: adding value Nokia 3310 / 1996 e v i t a e Cr g n i k n i Th Apple 6 s / 2014

Improvement on existing product: adding value 1 st Mercedes Benz Car / 1886 e v i t a e Cr g n i k n i Th Mercedes Benz 600 / 2015

Habits In Support Of Creative Thinking Ø Ø Ø Curiosity – the desire to know more about a thing Unconventional thinking – non compliance with tradition Mental flexibility – willingness to change opinion Open mindedness – admitting new ideas, being insightful Intensely goal focussed – able to stay till the end Clear foresight – ability to see ahead into the future Willing to make mistakes – accepting mistakes but learning from them Continuous improvement – willingness to get better and better Generating new ideas – never rest on past achievements Create or add value – expanding possibilities Persevere - persist and wait for success

Habits That Works Against Creative Thinking Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Fear of failure I can't mentality Avoiding problem instead of seeing it as opportunity It can’t be done But I am not creative, I am not a genius It is childish What will people think Its against the tradition It can only be done by a white man I am not educated enough

As a man thinks… Proverbs 23: 7 tells us about the importance of thinking. Everything starts with our thoughts. Human thought is the foundation of every invention i. e. product and service – the phone, computer or the Facebook platform you use for communication. That product started as a thought when it was first conceived as an idea. Pay special attention to what you think about. The leaning of your perception: is it positive or negative. Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motors said “whether you think you can, or you can’t, you are right. The mental picture you create in your mind will go a long way to determine what you will get.

Human Thought Process We need to pay attention to some activities that affect, influence and improve our thinking. Aspiring Entrepreneurs must consciously select only useful and relevant materials and activities as well as develop habits that will help him to improve in his self-development.

What you SEE – we are strongly affected by what we see, so aspiring Entrepreneurs should engage in activities that can expose them to entrepreneurial engagements such as Exhibition, Trade Expo, Product launch

What you PERCEIVE – though we see physically with our eyes, the mind interprets and establish the point of view which ultimately influence thought and final opinion reached by the individuals.

What you READ – textbooks, journals, online materials etc. will go a long way to affect your thinking. So pay special attention to the books you read. Pick up books on Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Aliko Dangote and naturally you will begin to think and behave like these highly successful Entrepreneurs

What you SAY – Your utterances especially when you meet challenges of life and business. Aspiring Entrepreneurs must be strong willed, persistent and never daring.

What you HEAR – In our day-to-day activities we hear both positive and negative or relevant and irrelevant information. We need to control what we hear. Attend seminars, conferences and discussions that are useful and helpful to your personal development.

The five basic human senses have strong influence of human thinking. The thought of product idea can come from what we see, what we hear, what we touch or feel, what we say and what we smell. All these ultimately have ways of shaping our thoughts and actions.

Do You Think? If you think, then how do you think? What do you think about? What are the decisions arising from thinking?

Improving your Thought Process

Entrepreneurial Thinking: Brainstorming

Steve Job – Apple Bill Gates – Microsoft Mark Zuckerberg - Facebook Aliko Dangote – Dangote Group These individuals are great THINKERS Who is next here: right here in this hall?