Watch and Link Disparate Ideas

Creativity Techniques
Written By Ben Weinlick

An important skill to develop to enhance thinking creatively is to be able to link disparate ideas.  Often this is called associational thinking. Creative people see links where most see empty gaps.  It's important to know that if you feel you lack this skill of associational thinking, it is not magic and can be developed by anyone with practice.

Below are a collection of videos about creative people in all kinds of disciplines.

As you check them out, reflect on what kinds of links or insights to the challenges and questions you are working on there might be.

Ask...

Is there something in the way they approach their craft that I could use in my practice?

How do they practice creativity?  Could I take something from their approach and experiment with it?

What is the passion that drives them?

If I had to make a link between their field and my field what would it be?

How did they take an idea into action? What helped them do it do you think?

Hopefully by watching these vids it will stimulate some ideas and creative links

Shinya Kimura's creative motorcycle building process

 

Chocolat maker champs from Brooklyn

 

Ad man and Graphic Designer George Lois on Creativity

 

Graphic Designer Milton Glaser on Creativity

 

Creative Process of a guitar maker

 

Guy who created an early Punk Rock magazine

 

Bird man of Portugal

 

Inventor of the Super Soaker

 

Dude building a log cabin in the woods (1960's)

Ben Weinlick

Ben Weinlick is the founder of Think Jar Collective.

Currently Ben is also the Executive Director of Skills Society. Skills Society is one of largest and most innovative social service organizations in Canada. Stewarding an amazing collective of 500 employee, and a 25 million a year budget, Skills Society has a long and unique history related to social innovation and systems change around the rights and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities. Ben and colleagues of Skills are known internationally for quality human centered services and creating tangible social innovations. Before becoming Executive Director in 2019, Ben stewarded Social Innovation Research & Development through an innovation lab he helped launch in 2015 called the Action Lab. The Action Lab focuses on systems change and innovation around some of the most wicked and entangled problems that humans are facing today. He is also the co-founder of MyCompass Planning which is on a mission to humanize social service case management systems where people served are centered in shaping their support services.

As the founder of Think Jar Collective and his expertise in disciplined innovation culture and methods, he regularly is asked by Universities, Businesses, Governments, and Non-Profits to help grow capacity to problem solve better and in more holistic ways. He offers keynotes on human centered service design thinking, social innovation labs and the tools and culture of disciplined innovation. Along the way striving to nudge positive systems change over the last 20+ years, he has had stellar mentors and colleagues that he shares credit with for accomplishments and awards.

He is deeply driven by the desire to help people, organizations and community to get better at navigating complex challenges together.

https://www.thinkjarcollective.com
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