The story of Post-It® and Velcro

Post-it® is one of 3M's famous products. The basic ingredient, the glue, was invented by Dr. Spence Silver, who actually created it unwittingly. It was an adhesive that formed itself into tiny spheres with a diameter of a paper fibre. As the spheres would only make intermittent contact they did not stick very strongly when coated onto paper backing. But did you know that 3M research scientist Dr. Spence Silver took 5 years of hawking the product within 3M before he met then new-product manager Art Fry.

Art was frustrated at how ihsi scrap paper bookmarks kept falling out of his church choir hymnal. In a monent of "Eureka", Art found a great innovative use of Dr. Spencer's strange glue as a way to make reliable bookmarks. The Post-it® was born.

In this story of creativity and innovation, Spence created a new type of glue, but it took 5 years before some one else (Art) found an innovative way to use it.

The story continues...

At the turn of the 20th century (early 1900), George de Mestral was a boy living in Switzerland. He loved the outdoors and he also loved inventing.

George received his first patent at 12 years of age for designing a toy plane. As George grew up, he was often in the woods, hunting and walking through bushes and forest areas. he would be annoyed by the burrs that stuck to his pants and his dog's fur. He wondered why the burrs sutck so well. By examining the burrs under the microscope, he discovered that the burrs had hundreds of tiny hooks that grabbed into loops of thread or fur. George worked on the idea that the concept of the burrs could be use. He talked to fabric and cloth experts and worked with different types of woven and knit cloth. In 1952 George started a company name Velcro (Velcro comes from the root French words for velvet and hook)

In this story, George was inquisitive enough to find out why the burrs stuck to his clothes. After discovering the principal of how burrs works, which had been there since creation, George took the idea to create what we know now as Velcro. George innovated nature's gift to the burrs into a product.

source : my critical thinking class

Tapping into the "flow" experience

Mihaly's studies into the optimum human performance revealed that the brain produces the best work at a stat of mind, which he termed "flow".

Flow is defined as the experience of a person when he is totally focused and absorbed in the task such that the person and the task becomes inextricably fused with each other. The mind then takes on a magical world of its own and all other dimensions like time, hunger, pain and the immediate surrounding become irrelevant and unimportant.

Mihaly says that even with the most optimal environment, flow can only be experienced a few times a day and usually last about 1 to 2 hours at a time.

The revealing fact is then that creativity needs TIME. It has to be based on information, facts and understanding that is already stored int he brain. That is why there is a strong correlation between memory and creativity. Buzan believes that the key to memory is a strong sense of imagination and association. This is also the sme key to creativity. Therefore, the more you exerciese your memory through the use of this key, the more creative you become as well. As you gather information over time, you have a larger storehouse to create more imagination and association. So contrary to the belief that your memory deteriorates as you age, you actually have more arsenal to develop a stronger memory.

The early artists drew their creativity from nature. Today, there are more forms of art to choose from and some, like Andy Warhol, drew his creativity from looking at basic household items from a different angle.

The creative person does no have more facts or time, he does however look at and process infromation differently.

source : my critical thinking class

Creating, Imagining and Innovating

All human beings have the capacity to generate novel, clever or ingenious products, solutions and techniques - if that capacity is developed. Creative human beings try to preceive problems and solutions differently, examining alternative possibilities from many angles. They tend to project themselves into diffreent roles using analogies, starting with a vision and working backwards and imagining they are the objects being considered.

Creative people take risks and frequently push the boundaries of their perceived limitations. Creative people are open to criticism. They hold up their products for others to judge and they seek feedback in an ever-increasing effort to refine their technique.

Creativity, innovation and imagination can be cultivated in the field of cross domain application. For example finding associated applications between science and art, mathematics and music, dance and physics, painting and mathematics, sculpting and English. Even if the subjects cannot be taught in such a manner, we should encourage nd create opportunities to link the domains by making references to past lessons, or events and find links between them.

In each of the major subjects such as Mathematics, Science andEnglish, the aesthetic aspects can be taught from time to time. For ecample, writing poetry is both an art for as weell as a language subject. Mathematics can be used to create balanced sculpture. Scientific knowldge can be used to grow crystals to create 3D art objects. History can be told through a play, celebrating both the collective memories of the human race and human expressions through body language and verbal language. Geography can create majestic art pieces. Literature can be converted into a ballad, together with musical scores.

Innovation si the selection, development and mplementation of creative ideas. Innovating thinking requires both critical as well as creative thinking elements. A person who does not think critically tends ot accept or reject information or ideas without examining them. In a world where ideas abound, this is dangerous. In a world where the ability to source and assess ideas on an ongioning basis as part of our work and life, critical thinking is as essential as being able to read, write and count.