Each of us experience how people think about what being creative can or does mean to them. What it means to us seems to be the most important. Yet what it means to others can greatly affect us directly or indirectly.

I have put together an alphabet of "Being Creative" terms that we probably hear or have heard. The challenge I am offering this week is for you to take some time each day to think about how these terms differ, describe and deter creativeness or heighten it. Each day I am suggesting a slightly different challenge using the words.

MONDAY Consciously or randomly choose 12 to 24 words (all if you have the time) and divide them up into two lists of opposites.

TUESDAY Consciously or randomly choose 12 to 24 words (all if you have the time) and divide them up into two lists of positive and negative words.

WEDNESDAY Consciously or randomly choose 12 to 24 words (all if you have the time). Then match up the words that are the same.

THURSDAY Consciously or randomly choose 12 to 24 words (all if you have the time) and divide them up into two lists: one beneficial and the other detrimental.

FRIDAY Consciously or randomly choose 12 to 24 words (all if you have the time) and divide them up into two lists: one born with/inherited and the other learnable.

These same words may be used to describe, people, ideas, products, services, solutions. How do these terms affect your productivity and your creative thinking when they are negative or detrimental sounding? How do you react to others when they use negative or detrimental words to describe you or your ideas, products, services, solutions?

When they sound negative perhaps you can then ask yourself, "What's good about it? How do I gain from that perspective? How can I turn that into a positive? How might I get the person who is using the negative word to see it or me as positive?

Have fun thinking about being creative this week.

The Alphabet of Being Creative

Abnormal
Absurd
Alien
Artistic
Atypical
Authentic
Bizarre
Character
Cracked
Crazed
Crazy
Creative
Curious
Different
Diverse
Don't fit
Eccentric
Elegant
Erratic
Exceptional
Exotic
Extraordinary
Fantastic
Foolish
Foreign
Funny
Idiosyncratic
Incongruous
Individual
Insane
Interesting
Irregular
Kook
Ludicrous
Mysterious
New
Non-conforming
Novel
Nuts
Odd
Oddball
Odd Duck
Off-beat
Off the wall
Out of line
Out of the box
Outlandish
Outrageous
Peculiar
Peerless
Poetic
Preposterous
Promethean
Quirky
Ridiculous
Scary
Silly
Solitary
Spooky
Strange
Surreal
Thrilling
Touched
Unconventional
Unequaled
Unfamiliar
Unique
Unmatched
Unnatural
Un-normal
Unrivaled
Unusual
Weird
Wild
Zombie

© 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 Robert Alan Black, Ph.D. CSP