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How to Improve Your Creativity

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By Rafis Abazov Updated Mar 13, 2021
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Here are more ways to improve your creative thinking

With the modern workplace rapidly changing, creativity is becoming an increasingly important attribute for graduates to possess. My students often ask me if there’s a magic trick or formula to developing this aspect of their thinking, but it’s not quite that simple. Here, though, are some ways you can make a start.

Train your imagination to discover problems

Creativity has many components and requires many steps, the first of which is imagination. This doesn’t mean the ability to day-dream, though. Imagination is a very practical skill, which every student can develop through regular exercises. On your next university project, train your imagination to look for problems or challenges which you could develop a solution for. 

Work on quick-fire solutions

Once you’ve imagined a problem, come up with at least 10 quick ideas for how you could solve it. This “popcorn approach” is designed to make students spend 15 minutes coming up with ideas, before then working back through them in small groups to identify the most practical ones.

Hard work matters

In most situations, creativity comes from hard work, so keep you discipline as you work on your project. Make a note of when the deadlines are for each benchmark or milestone and work within a structure. This framework will provide you the space to exercise your creativity.

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Always ask yourself if your idea is innovative

Not all project ideas are creative, so it’s important you ask yourself if your idea is approaching a problem from a new angle or with any novelty. Having a new angle or innovation is what will make your project truly innovative. After all, Steve Jobs didn’t invent the smartphone, but he completely revolutionized the concept by inventing thousands of small incremental innovations.

Reflect on your own work

After a project or presentation is over, take the time to sit down either alone or with your team and identify the most useful creative skills you’ve learned. By evaluating the entire process, you’ll be better prepared for meeting your next challenge in a creative fashion.

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Written by
Rafis Abazov

Dr Rafis Abazov is a visiting professor at Al Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he also manages a joint program with Earth Institute of Columbia University (New York, USA). He has written 10 books, including The Culture and Customs of the Central Asian Republics (2007) and has regularly contributed op-eds to The New York Times. Mr Abazov enjoys collecting rare books on British exploration of Central Asia and reading travelogues on Central Asia and the Middle East by Eugene Schuyler, Vladimir Bartold and Lord George Curzon. He has also authored photo exhibitions about his trips to Central Asian republics, Turkey and Afghanistan. 

Contact info: Office 1400 Rectorat, 71 Al Farabi Ave., Al Farabi KazNU, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan