Creativity might seem abstract, but it can actually be understood in practical terms. Creativity begins as a thought — a process of thinking. Once that thought is shaped, it needs practical craftsmanship to come alive in any field.
In this article, I focus on creativity as our ability to generate novel ideas. To master applied creativity, you can either find a mentor in your field or pursue formal education.
Human Idea: The Origin of Everything Around Us
Every development in human history began as an idea in someone’s mind. Everything we see around us that’s man-made is a product of someone’s imagination. So why not work on your own creative thinking to join that league
To understand and master creativity, you need to learn several distinct types of thinking — each one playing a unique role in the creative process.
7 Types of Creative Thinking
1. Divergent Thinking
Divergent thinking is our ability to generate many ideas around a single topic or problem. It’s the exploration phase — the first stage of any creative process or workshop.
To produce a great idea, you often need to sift through dozens of them. Divergent thinking fosters discovery and experimentation and is vital in every area of human activity.
2. Convergent Thinking
Convergent thinking is the opposite process — it narrows down the many options created by divergent thinking to find the best one. It involves critical analysis, selection, and practical decision-making.
In creative workshops, it typically follows the divergent stage, helping to refine and select the most promising ideas for implementation.
3. Lateral Thinking
Lateral thinking is the art of solving problems in non-linear, unexpected ways — often called “thinking outside the box.”
Unlike vertical thinking, which is structured and sequential, lateral thinking welcomes uncertainty, novelty, and multidimensional exploration. It thrives on breaking patterns and re-framing problems to uncover innovative solutions.
4. Analogous Thinking
Analogous thinking draws connections between unrelated fields. It borrows insights or patterns from one area to solve problems in another.
This method can be used alongside both divergent and convergent thinking — for example, using biological principles to inspire engineering solutions or artistic methods to enhance business strategy.
5. Visual Thinking
Visual thinking relies on imagery, diagrams, sketches, and prototypes to express and test ideas.
By visualizing concepts, we can better understand their relationships and potential. It complements both divergent (idea generation) and convergent (evaluation) thinking, making it a powerful tool for collaboration and innovation.
6. Intuitive Thinking
Intuitive thinking is problem-solving guided by intuition — our gut sense of what feels right. It bypasses conscious reasoning and draws on experience, emotion, and subconscious insight.
Great innovators often rely on intuition to take creative leaps that logic alone cannot justify.
7. Design Thinking
Design thinking is a structured framework for innovation widely used in business, technology, and education. It involves five iterative stages: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test.
This approach keeps the human experience at the center of creativity, ensuring that ideas are not only novel but meaningful and functional.
Final Thought
Creativity isn’t a mysterious gift — it’s a skill built through different ways of thinking. By learning and combining these seven types of creative thinking, you can expand your imagination and turn ideas into impactful realities.
Every development in human history began as an idea in someone’s mind. Everything we see around us that’s man-made is a product of someone’s imagination. So why not work on your own creative thinking to join that league?
To understand and master creativity, you need to learn several distinct types of thinking — each one playing a unique role in the creative process.
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Thomas Lockwood, Edgar Papke, Innovation by Design: How An Organization Cam Leverage Design Thinking to Produce Change, Drive New Ideas, and Deliver Meaningful Solutions, Career Press, 2017, 224 p.
https://www.google.com/search?q=thinking+types+for+creativity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral_thinking
https://www.google.com/search?q=Lateral+Thinking
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