The Fact That We Can Resolve Every Problem by Tapping Into Our Creative Minds
What is Creative Thinking?
“Creative thinking – in terms of idea creativity – is not a mystical talent. It is a skill that can be practised and nurtured”. Edward de Bono.
Because I help people through WorkLife transitions, I sometimes get asked if I’m always able to tell people what job they should be doing, and I have to explain that that’s not what I do. What I actually do is facilitate the process, which allows people to come to this realisation themselves. In essence, I help people to have greater clarity in their thinking. This, in turn, instils a sense of self-belief within each person in their ability as a creative thinker. This then enables them to pursue their WorkLives with purpose, passion and pride.
My programmes also support job search, and I get asked if I always get people a job, to which I reply: “my role is to support people in getting the job themselves.” This may all sound very cliché, but when I’m performing in my role at my very best, I’m merely the facilitator in helping people do things for themselves. Thinking creatively is an integral part of that. Because creative thinking leads to creative doing.
I meet with my clients weekly, fortnightly or whatever time frame that allows them to carry out the objectives agreed on in our session. I always say to clients that the best work takes place away from the sessions, whether that’s thinking, research, networking or marketing themselves. These are the actions that will drive their programme in line with their needs and objectives outlined at the outset of our work together.
I sometimes use the analogy of a sports coach – the world of WorkLife, Career, Leadership and Executive Coaching evolved from the world of sport. Many of my clients will have worked with a sports coach or personal trainer or will have an understanding of how these people help their clients – individuals or teams to get the most from their performance.
They don’t go out and play a game or do their fitness programme for them. They do, however, walk alongside them, supporting their motivation, determination and persistence in achieving their goals. They help them to continuously improve their performance and to be in a position to achieve great things for themselves.
Clients will want to achieve the objectives outlined at the beginning of their programme for themselves. This gives them great satisfaction. And the skills they gain throughout the process remain with them and indeed help to progress their WorkLife to the next level.
That’s because of their ability to recognise what’s unique about themselves in terms of their skills, experience, knowledge, attributes and potential. This is enabled by the focus of my work, which begins by helping people identify a WorkLife path that’s true to their core values, purpose, and motivation. This is followed through by creating meaningful short and long-term WorkLife plans while enabling self-coaching, self-directing, and self-leadership to drive these plans.
This allows people to be confident in communicating who they are and what’s important to them to effectively market themselves, whether in writing – job application, CV, and cover letter, or in person – at interviews or in networking situations.
The experience people gain in building their networks in their chosen field also remains with them and gives them the impetus to continue to develop strong relationships, allowing them to easily navigate and progress their WorkLife when the time is right.
I truly believe Creative Thinking is the ultimate human superpower. And once people are confident in their ability to think for themselves and believe they have the answers they need within them, this instils the belief they can do for themselves through self-directed learning.
The ultimate satisfaction for me in my work is when my clients are confident in thinking and doing for themselves, and creative thinking promotes creative doing through self-directed learning.
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POSTSCRIPT
This story was originally published on 10/3/15. I needed to republish it to add updates and also to tell you
… The Continuing Story …
The pandemic brought about a change in my WorkLife from delivering in-person individual coaching sessions and group workshops to creating resources to help people self direct their WorkLife learning.
In the last three years, I’ve published 30 books and over 200 stories.
Each book and each story is based on real life struggles and successes that people have encountered in their WorkLife. They also detail the exercises that helped navigate through these situations, which are set as assignments for readers to adapt to their WorkLife situations and learning needs.
I believe stories are a powerful mechanism for teaching, a powerful medium to learn through, and a powerful way to communicate who you are and what you stand for.
My inspiration for creating my work comes from a lifelong passion for learning. My work has taught me that the one thing in life that can never be taken away from you is your learning.
School of WorkLife Guiding Statement: To create resources that are helpful, insightful and inspiring in helping people to pursue their WorkLives with greater clarity, purpose, passion and pride by creating continuous WorkLife learning programmes and resources that are accessible to everyone.
The resources I create will help you take ownership of self directing your learning in your own space and in your own time.
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School of WorkLife helps you self-direct your WorkLife learning through resources that have been created to help you to take ownership of your learning in your own space and in your own time.
What is Self Directed Learning?
Self-Directed Learning is when an individual is motivated to take the initiative and responsibility on decisions related to their own learning. It is a series of independent actions and judgements free from external control and constraint.
Resources to Help You Self-Direct Your Learning
Edward De Bono has been described as the master of creative thinking. He originated the term ‘lateral thinking’. Six Thinking Hats and The Five-Day Course in Thinking are just two of his many wonderfully insightful books on the subject of Thinking.
You may find the books below from The School of WorkLife Book Series helpful in meeting your learning needs as a self directed learner. Tap the book title to see a preview of what’s inside each book.
How To Be Creative in Your Thinking
How To Let Curiosity Be Your Driving Force
How To Fine-Tune The Superpower of Observation
You can view the complete collection of books here: The School of WorkLife Book Series.
Founder of School of WorkLife, Carmel O’ Reilly is a learning practitioner and writer. She creates resources to help people self-direct their WorkLife learning. These include a Collection of Books which originated from her first book, Your WorkLife Your Way and a Learn Through Reading Series of Case Studies. which originated from her latest book WorkLife Book Club.
That’s the power of writing (and reading, which is an integral part of the craft for writers). It helps you find, develop and tell the right story at the right time in all WorkLife situations – in day-to-day communication: WorkLife and feedback conversations, presentations, talks, and negotiations, at interviews, and when socialising and networking in building and maintaining good relationships. The practice of writing helps you to tell the stories that express who you are in an interesting and engaging way.