Notes on Creativity Through English

Defer Judgment

How we think matters.

The piece is silly, weird, ambiguous
and yet somehow recognizable.

The piece is also correct.

This drawing is an experience in what it is like to defer judgment.

Thinking matters

A new season brings a new cohort to Wings of Change.  New faces, new opportunities and new perspectives to see things differently, are always available to us.

Knowing how to see things differently is exactly the right approach in sharing with students how they might approach their own learning. In becoming more creative, students develop a capacity for original thought and can become better problem solvers.

for Problem Solving.

A lot of problem solving is sequential. That is to say, a lot of problems follow a pattern, a structure, a sequence of tasks in order to achieve the final goal. Cooking, addition and running a hotel are examples of challenges that require a capacity for sequential thinking and doing.

Sequencial problem solving is important!

A lot of problem solving is also resolving something complex and unclear. Unclear, because a lot of solutions are possible and ucovering what solution is best is the real problem. A sudden (think COVID) or particularly complex (think COVID again) situation can throw us for a loop and then thinking clearly for any solution can be a challenge. Pausing and having a toolkit for processing information is key in crafting a desired outcome. This is where creative capacity matters.

Complex problems are everywhere!

The Creative Process

More optimistically, exploring what possiblities are out there before possibly considering what decision could or should be made is central to what the creative process is all about.

How to cook is different from deciding what to put on the menu. How to cook is creative certainly, and is also highly sequential. What might all the dishes to put on the menu… well, now that just opens the door to infinite possiblity right there. Of course contraints and requirements such as budget and resources play a significant part in that decision making, but I digress…

Defers Judgment

We kick off each new cohort at Wings of Change in deferring judgment. That’s what the drawing is about.   Deferring judgment means to delay any decision making, to put off deciding just about anything, until a decision would need to be made.

Take towels for example. Room towels can be folded in any number of ways.
There’s the standard square towel fold. And then there’s crazy fun towel folds such as flowers, lizards, elephants and the like. Like napkin folding, there seems to be endless possiblites of towel folding.

Exploring what might be possible is a great way, perhaps the best way to then determine what idea stands out and could be developed into a solution.

Allowing Something Novel and Useful to Emerge.

When shown some options, the lizard towel fold always gets the most laughs among students. I wonder how towel folding might serve as a good example in creative thinking and problem solving. I can imagine there will be some practice needed, failures for sure and eventually, something novel and useful will emerge as a cool towel fold…who knows, we may end up something even more interesting than a towel lizard.

Of course, to get to the right towel fold decor, deferring jugdment will have to happen. Some folds may be too complicated, too time consuming, too crazy etc… Let’s explore and see what happens!