The process of thinking is a complex and mysterious phenomenon because it is difficult to determine the line where thoughts turn into thinking. Often a person can register passing words, ideas, and concepts in their head, but this process occurs without intentional effort. On the contrary, a person can unconsciously and spontaneously come to an answer to a question that interests them (Gladvell 6). This happened to Mendeleev, who saw the periodic table of elements in a dream. Ruggiero (4) believes that thinking differs from the flow of thoughts in that a person exercises some control. He defines thinking as “any mental activity that helps formulate or solve a problem, make a decision, or fulfill a desire to understand” (Ruggiero 4). Thus, thinking is a purposeful process that allows you to identify a problem, formulate it and find a way to solve it.
The ability to think has always been a critical success factor, as it allows a person to correctly and timely assess the situation and select an adequate response. However, in the past, workers, and people, in general, were not required to have the skills of problem analysis, quick decision making, creative rethinking, etc. (Ruggiero 6). It was quite possible to get by with the mechanical execution of the work, following the instructions issued. The development of thinking skills and the ability to solve non-standard problems was not the task of society even in the 20th century. Good employees were largely defined by their highly specialized knowledge, giving them an understanding of how to act in as many standard situations as possible.
However, even in the past, people who mastered the ability to think creatively and innovate gained an incredible advantage over their competitors. Moreover, they benefited the people around them, generating something non-standard for their time. Nikola Tesla is an example of a scientist and inventor who elevated innovative thinking to the absolute and produced more than 700 inventions and patents in his life (Escobedo 1271). In his autobiography The Strange Life of Nikola Tesla (1914), the great scientist described his approach to developing new ideas. Instead of conducting blind experiments one after another, Tesla suggested starting with a larger project vision and first intellectually attacking it from all possible sides. He suggested using all possible knowledge accumulated in various sciences, arts, and personal experiences (Escobedo 1271). In essence, Tesla invented innovative or creative thinking that pushes a person to identify a problem and brainstorm it in various ways.
In the modern world, the importance of creative thinking skill is becoming more evident for several reasons. First, people live in an information world full of conflicting ideas and information. Without independent and critical thinking skills, a person can easily become a victim of manipulation, marketing, and propaganda (Azizah et at.). One way or another, each person is forced to develop critical thinking skills and create personalized approaches to solve their issues. Secondly, a wide range of skills is expected from successful workers today, related to solving problems, navigating a changing situation, causing adequate solutions, and coping with atypical tasks. An employee who does not show initiative and acts only according to instructions is doomed to be stuck in low positions in the company and deprived of career opportunities. Most firms require highly paid employees to be flexible, agile, and able to take responsibility and quickly solve urgent tasks.
A study of employers’ demands for employees’ qualifications by Brunner (et al.) showed that in addition to hard skills, workers are expected to demonstrate a number of soft skills. In particular, businesses want to see highly motivated people who have problem-solving skills (Brunner et al. 21). This laconic concept suggests long-term training of an employee and the development of creative thinking skills in them (Brunner et al. 48). Problem-solving is a project approach, in which a person must have a wide range of methods for collecting data, analyzing them, designing a solution and putting it into practice. The modern education system sees this request from employers but is not yet able to mass-produce a new way of education. Project activity and the constructivist approach in education are still rare phenomena at different levels of education (Brunner et al. 48). Currently, the teaching staff’s execution of these methods requires excessive effort.
In other words, innovative, creative thinking is in demand in the modern world. It includes more than just the ability to find a solution to a problem. This is the faculty to analyze and evaluate new, atypical situations that do not fit into known patterns and parameters and have no analogs in historical experience (Azizah et al.). First, innovative thinking allows a person to see and recognize the problem where most people do not detect it and cannot even assess the situation and explain the ongoing processes. Moreover, creative thinking is associated with developing new methods or unusual adaptations of old ones. Additionally, this way of thinking requires broad knowledge in a variety of fields, from the sciences to the arts, to the use of personal experience.
Innovative thinking is essential nowadays because it is at the forefront of the progress and development of humankind and allows people to generate new business solutions and ideas that change the world for the better. Many successful businesses, like Tesla company, have declared a strategy of radical innovation culture (Hoeft 210). Tesla’s example shows what good, creative thinking requires. First, innovative thinking requires the absence of a hierarchy and any form of punishment for mistakes in solving non-trivial problems or searching for new approaches (Hoeft 214). The company is encouraged to come up with new ideas, regardless of the number of failures because extensive negative experience is valued more than positive. Second, Tesla encourages curiosity, asking uncomfortable clarifying questions, and critical thinking, even on the most basic facts (Hoeft 218). Third, the company stands for collaboration and communication (Hoeft 218). The more employees communicate and discuss ideas, the more often they find solutions to problems.
Elon Musk, the creator of Tesla and SpaceX, is the epitome of today’s culture of innovative, unorthodox thinking. He found the courage to follow this paradigm on his own and create space for the people around him, encouraging them to develop their creativity. In numerous interviews, Musk is asked about his way of thinking, approach to problem-solving, and leadership in the company (Trujillo 234). Interestingly, Musk describes his thinking process in a very similar way to Nikola Tesla. He says one must be emotionally involved and take the issue under investigation as something personal. Then a person needs to create a vision of the problem to be solved in their head and constantly keep the general scheme in mind (Trujillo 235). Thus, the brain will subconsciously and consciously use new thoughts, ideas, information, and experiences to solve a task that is constantly relevant and rewinding in the head.
Despite the centuries that separate the two geniuses, they both came to understand how to approach the creation of entirely new things outside the box. Such projects require diligent concentration and properly directed mental efforts. Conventional methods can lead to certain discoveries but require more effort and prolonged research conducted over many decades. It is impossible even to come close to the success in innovative activities that Nikola Tesla or Elon Musk demonstrated using traditional methods. Therefore, the only possible way is to gradually create a new educational system and environment that will help cultivate creative thinking skills in all people.
Even though people understand the importance of developing innovative thinking in the modern world, the system of education and upbringing of children has not yet been reorganized to evolve thought creativity and independence. Our education system is not free enough and puts pressure on children to get the correct answer and not to fail (Barak and Shiran). The widespread use of testing systems teaches children the idea that there is only one right answer and develops in them the fear of failure. As a result, society receives children who acquire skills at school that are utterly different from relevant in the current labor market.
Some modern educational methodologies, such as constructivism, shift the focus of education from remembering correct answers to acquiring the competence to form new knowledge independently. According to this theory, the students must independently discover and create understanding and not be passive recipients (Fernando and Marikar 112). In such a system, teachers often give open-ended problems and tasks that children can solve freely using their skills (Pande and Vijayakumar). The teacher is no longer an unquestioning carrier of knowledge; each student has access to information and technologies that surpass the knowledge and skills of the educator (Fernando and Marikar 118). Thus, the actual task of the teacher is to pose problems to students and help in the process of solving them, offering various options and tools. Then, the educator works with the class to evaluate and review the process and its outcomes.
To develop innovative thinking in adults and children, you need to teach them the idea that failures are expected and should be used for improvement. Creativity can be produced by expanding a person’s knowledge base and constantly absorbing new ideas, even those unrelated to the main job (Barak and Shiran). Moreover, it is necessary to communicate with other creative people and encourage them to seek new solutions (Barak and Shiran). Shared space creates a culture of innovation that stimulates creative thinking in all its members, regardless of their original problem-solving skills.
Thinking is a purposeful process of assessing reality, searching for and resolving problems. Creative, innovative thinking is the main priority of the information world, in which people bring the most significant benefit, having the skills to create new non-trivial approaches. Creative thinking can be developed using modern achievements in pedagogy and creating an innovative culture. The main factors in developing innovative thinking are the absence of fear of failure, extensive knowledge, skills in working with information and atypical situations, open communication, and discussion of problems that require new approaches.
Works Cited
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