The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘The Art of Thought’

Spotting the Opportunities Among the Clouds

Do you commiserate with your friends and peers about missed opportunities? Or, do you constantly find yourself saying, “Why didn’t I think of that?” If you answered yes, it doesn’t have to be that way.

If you modified your approach slightly you will start to believe that you are one of the luckiest people around. The Graham Wallas Creativity Model is a great tool to problem solve and generate great ideas. I have used this tool in ways that I am sure that Mr. Wallas never intended when he wrote the Art of Thought in 1926.

 Outlined in the book is a 4-Step Process: Preparation, Incubation, Illumination and Verification/Implementation. You are probably thinking what does a creativity model have to do with spotting opportunities, and that is a reasonable question.

 Recently, I applied for and won a Digital Media scholarship. I was excited and grateful because I had identified gaps in the skills I needed to create and run a successful blog over the long-term. The scholarship would fill many of those gaps. I prepared for the course by developing The Invisible Mentor Concept Paper, going through the agenda and identifying the workshops most relevant to me, yet still being open and expecting the unexpected.

 When I felt like I had prepared enough for my course, I let the information sit or incubate and I worked on projects. Because I was prepared, and no longer focusing on my needs, while I was at the course, over a period of 6-days, I had many aha moments – illumination – and was able to spot many opportunities which I am now working on (implementation/verification). Had I not gone through the process, I would have missed many of those opportunities because I would not have thought that they applied to my situation.

 The Graham Wallas Creativity Model will work equally well for you if you make it a habit and experiment with it. Perhaps you will find another use for it that you can tell us about.

 What are your thoughts?

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Photo Credit: Avil Beckford