One of the most useful things you can do to promote Critical Thinking and Creativity is to start by thinking about what you need or want to think about. In Six Thinking Hats terms this would be a Blue Hat activity.
This starts by looking for Areas of Opportunity – that is some places where thinking is required before action can be taken. Examples of things that give rise to an opportunity include:
- Problems – chronic or arising
- Weaknesses – such as in processes or designs
- Costs or prices – that are too high from supplies or prices that are not high enough
- Market gaps or new markets – that your product or service might fill
- Customers – changing needs, challenges they face, complaints etc
- New developments – such as changing technology, or shifts in regulation etc
- Wishes and dreams – just anything you wish you could explore and benefit from
Of course this is just the tip of the iceberg, and the above Mind Map provides a few more Areas of potential Opportunity, but in essence your goal is to deliberately look for things to think about. This is the first step to good critical and creative thinking.
The next step is to start writing down what you want to think about. While this may sound easy, it is actually something very few people ever do. Many of course have To Do lists, but very few have what might be called a To Think About list.
Edward de Bono calls this a Creative Hit List. We like to call it a Red Car List – simply because Red Cars often stand out and your list is designed to make those things you most want to think about, stand out.
Your Red Car List should list 15-25 things you most want to think about. The list should have a mixture of problems you want to fix, improvements you want to make, opportunities you would like to explore, and some things you’d just like to think about (even if you’re not sure why). We suggest no more than 5 of each type as that ensures you have a nice spread to keep your mind moving.
Of course you will likely have lots more than 15-25 things to think about, but try to not overload your list as this makes it difficult to focus. Also remember that things on your list may be there a very short time, while other things may stay for years. It is almost certain the way you perceive what you want to think about will change as your thinking progresses.
Your Red Car List is not ‘locked in stone‘ and it will change all the time, so be willing to rewrite it every few days. This ensure the things you want to think about are current, relevant and Top of Mind. A few minutes reviewing your list each day is a great way to stay focused.
Creating your own Creative Hit List or Red Car List will be one of the most important things you can do to start you on a path of good critical thinking, and will give your creativity a huge boost.
- New products for our eStore
- Establishing partnerships to expand into new markets
- Advanced methods for eLearning
- Finding time for community work through Rotary
- Creating a more zen-like presentations for conferences
- Engaging the whole team in promoting the business 24/7
- Resolving current problems with print supplier
- Things to do with the family each weekend
- New eModules for the Online Academy
- Organising finances to allow 3 months overseas each year
- Promoting this year’s instructor programs – here and overseas
- Maintaining relationships with key partners
- Building stronger ties with clients
- Ensuring an effective investment strategy for the Super Fund
Note that in this list there is a mixture of business and personal items. Sometimes you may like to separate these, but be sure to have both business and personal things on your list.
So get started now by developing your own Red Car List – download the template attached to guide you.