Almost all great ideas go through a similar creative process, which this article explains. Understanding this is critical because one of the most useful skills you can have is creative thinking. Almost every problem you face at work and in life can benefit from innovative solutions, lateral thinking, and creative ideas.
Anyone can learn to be creative using these five steps. That is not to say that being creative is easy. Discovering your creative genius takes courage and a lot of practice. However, this five-step approach should help demystify the creative process and light the way to more innovative thinking.
Explaining how this process works, let me tell you a short story.
A problem that needs a creative solution
Newspapers and printers faced a unique and costly problem in the 1870s. Photography was an exciting new medium at the time. Readers wanted to see more images, but no one could figure out how to print images quickly and cheaply.
In the 1870s, for example, if a newspaper wanted to print an image, they had to hire an engraver to hand-engrave a copy of the photograph onto steel plate. These plates were used to press the image onto the page, but often broke after a few uses. This gravure process, as you can imagine, was remarkably long and expensive.
Frederic Eugene Ives was the man who invented a solution to this problem. He became a pioneer in the field of photography and had more than 70 patents by the end of his career. His creative and innovative story, which I will now share, is a useful case study for understanding the five key steps of the creative process.
A flash of insight
Ives started out as a printer's apprentice in Ithaca, New York. After two years of learning the ins and outs of the printing process, he began running the photo lab at nearby Cornell University. He spent the rest of the decade learning about cameras, printers, and optics and experimenting with new photographic techniques.
In 1881, Ives had a flash of understanding about a better printing technique.
"While operating my photosterotyping process in Ithaca, I studied the problem of the halftone process," said Ives. "I went to bed one night in a brain fog about the problem, and when I woke up the next morning, I saw before me, apparently projected on the ceiling, the completely elaborate process and the equipment in operation." 1
Ives quickly translated his vision into reality and patented his printing method in 1881. He worked on it for the rest of the decade.. By 1885, he had developed a simplified process that gave even better results. The Ives Process, as it became known, reduced the cost of image printing by 15 times and remained the standard printing technique for the next 80 years.
Okay, now let's discuss what lessons we can learn from Ives about the creative process.
The 5 stages of the creative process
A Technique for Producing Ideas was published in 1940 by an advertising executive named James Webb Young. In this guide, you made a simple but profound statement about generating creative ideas.
According to Young, innovative ideas occur when new combinations of old elements are developed. In other words, creative thinking is not about creating something new from scratch, but rather about taking what is already present and combining those bits and pieces in a novel way.
Most importantly, the ability to generate new combinations depends on your ability to see the relationships between the concepts. You have done something creative if you can create a new link between two old ideas.
Young believed that this creative connection process always happened in five steps.
1. Gather new material. In the beginning, you learn. During this stage you focus on 1) learning specific material directly related to your task and 2) learning general material fascinating you with a wide range of concepts.
2. Work thoroughly on the materials in your mind. During this stage, you examine what you have learned by looking at the facts from different angles and experimenting with how various ideas fit together.
3. Get away from the problem. Next, put the problem completely out of your mind and go do something else that excites and energizes you.
4. Let your idea come back to you. Your idea will return to you with a flash of insight and renewed energy at some point, but only after you've stopped thinking about it.
5. Shape and develop your idea based on feedback. For any idea to be successful, you must launch it out into the world, subject it to criticism, and adapt it as needed.
The idea in practice
The creative process used by Frédéric Eugene Ives provides a perfect example of these five steps in action.
First, Ives gathered new material. He spent two years working as a printer's apprentice and then four years running the Cornell University photo lab. These experiences gave him a lot of material to draw and make associations between photography and printing.
Second, Ives began to mentally work on everything he learned. In 1878, Ives spent most of his time experimenting with new techniques. He constantly toyed with and experimented with different ways of putting ideas together.
Third, Ives walked away from the problem. In this case, he fell asleep for a few hours before his vision became apparent. Letting creative challenges linger for longer can also work. Regardless of how long you are away, you need to do something that interests you and takes your mind off the problem.
Fourth, his idea came back to him. Ives woke up with the solution to his problem presented to him. (Personally, I often find that creative ideas hit me just as I go to bed to sleep. The solution comes easily once I give my brain permission to stop working for the day.)
Finally, Ives revisited his concept for years. Indeed, he improved so many aspects of the process that he was granted a second patent. This is a critical point that is frequently overlouked. It's easy to fall in love with your first version of an idea, but great ideas always evolve.
The creative process in a nutshell
The act of making new connections between old ideas is referred to as the creative process. As a result, we can define creative thinking as the task of recognizing relationships between concepts.
One way to tackle creative challenges is by following the five-step process of 1) gathering the material, 2) working hard on the material in your mind, 3) taking a step back from the problem, 4) allowing the idea to naturally come back to you, and 5) testing your idea in the real world and adjusting it based on feedback.
Being creative is not about being the first (or only) person to come up with an idea. More often than not, creativity is the process of connecting ideas..
Footnotes
1. This quote is an excerpt from A Technique for Producing Ideas by James Webb Young. Page 21.
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