Can CREATIVITY be taught ???

Boy, you must be kidding !! Nothing can be farther from the truth and this subject statement is completely B**S**.

Well this bold statement was made by Mr. K R Ravi who'd come to deliver us a guest lecture on "Lateral Thinking & Creativity". One has to keep one's eyes and ears open when the speaker is none other than a well known management guru who also happens to be South Asia's First Dr. EDWARD DE BONO certified public trainer in Lateral Thinking.

But then, I must admit, he definitely had some point.

Contrary to popular perception, Creativity is not only something which Mr. M F Hussein or Mr. Javed Akhtar are bestowed with. Even generation of new ideas during brainstorming session in a Boardroom can also be termed as Creativity. Looking at the same problem with altogether a different mindset is another example of being creative. And this Creativity, Mr. Ravi emphasized, can be very well taught and learnt. So Creativity is nothing more than a skill with a specific set of techniques which can be learnt by anybody.

Some other management gyaan from this guru :
- If you have defined a given problem in only one way, you might not have defined the problem completely.
- If you have come up with only one solution to a given problem, you might not have got the complete solution.

His final words of advice to us :
Keep on challenging the existing notions, beliefs and assumptions as they are the biggest stumbling blocks in way of Lateral Thinking and Creativity.

Well said Mr Ravi.....!!