Creative Thinking Is the Process

¶ … Creative thinking is the process by which old ideas are reinvented. In this type of thinking, established ideas and rules can be broken, reorganized and reinterpreted. This can be stimulated using techniques such as brainstorming and starbursting. The logical thinking style is based around connecting ideas. For example, in deductive reasoning premises are established and then a conclusion is formed from those premises. In inductive reasoning begins with an observation and determines the premises from there. Inductive reasoning is less precise than deductive reasoning.

Logical thinking also forces the thinker to analyze the arguments for a variety of logical fallacies. Similar to inductive reasoning, the scientific method of thinking begins with an observation. From there, a hypothesis is formed. In inductive reasoning, the hypothesis is where the thinking stops; it is assumed that the hypothesis represents a probability. The scientific method, however, tests the hypothesis to either accept it or reject it. Scientific thinking, therefore, is a variant of inductive reasoning that is ultimately more precise than its "logical" cousin.

Scientific thinking, like the other two forms, rests on assumptions and attempts to solve problems (Paul & Elder, 2003). The scientific method of thinking contributes to the critical thinking process by providing a framework for analysis of one's ideas and one's thinking process. It is, in essence, the "critical" in critical thinking. By contrast, creative thinking is the "thinking" part of critical thinking, wherein ideas are generated but only given limited scrutiny. Logical thinking acts as something of a bridge between the two.

Creative thinking generates either the premises or the observation, logical thinking pieces the observation and the premises, and scientific thinking allows for these ideas to be fully tested. These different styles are interrelated -- it has been shown for example that one's natural thinking style will influence how one thinks creatively (Yang & Lin, 2004). A person naturally inclined towards scientific thinking therefore will have a different sense of creativity than a person inclined towards logical thinking. In the workplace, creative thinking is often used to generate new product ideas.

Some of the techniques for developing new products include taking existing products and modifying them in some way. This can be achieved through brainstorming. Starbursting can help to identify customer needs in the marketplace, again helping with new product development. Logical thinking is used to help solve problems in the workplace. For example, if FedEx loses money for the year, management must try to use inductive reasoning to understand how this observation came to pass.

Management would consider what key variables it may wish to study, such as revenues or jet fuel costs. In a deductive manner, FedEx could observe that the economy is expected to recover in 2010 and from this premise build a conclusion with respect to how many new employees they will need to add in order to meet the added demand that will come to their business. In the workplace, scientific thinking can be used to determine the source of problems.

If a product is selling poorly, the company can change the price points multiple times over the course of a year in order to test the price elasticity of demand. In doing so, the company is starting with an observation of poor sales and a hypothesis that the price is too high. By testing a variety of price points, scientific thinking is used to.