{"id":80,"date":"2020-01-10T01:51:03","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T07:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lindagorchels.com\/blogs.\/?p=80"},"modified":"2019-10-10T16:48:28","modified_gmt":"2019-10-10T21:48:28","slug":"creative-tinkering-evolves-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lindagorchels.com\/blogs\/creative-tinkering-evolves-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Evaluate and tinker to improve creativity"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Creative tinkering is the 4th of a 9-part series on creativity traits.)<\/p>\n

C<\/strong><\/em>urious: passionate for fresh knowledge; desiring to learn new things
\nR<\/strong><\/em>esilient: capable of overcoming setbacks; able to take risks; ambitious
\nE<\/strong><\/em>valuative: willing to experiment and evolve your creativity beyond the idea stage<\/span>
\nA<\/strong><\/em>utonomous: independent; norm-doubting
\nT<\/strong><\/em>uned in: open and alert to the world around you; highly perceptive
\nI<\/strong><\/em>ntrospective: driven by innate (intrinsic) rewards; self-accepting
\nV<\/strong><\/em>isionary: having dreams and aspirations; original thinking
\nE<\/strong><\/em>nergetic: adept at managing and recharging your energy<\/p>\n

\"Creative

Sand sculpture tinkerers at New Smyrna Beach, FL<\/p><\/div>\n

Some people believe that creativity is all about a single Eureka moment when a fully-formed idea simply jumps out. Sometimes that might happen. But not usually.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more likely that creative types are tinkerers \u2013 testing, modeling and experimenting with their ideas, often in a trial-and-error mode. They continually evaluate what does and does not work. They evolve their ideas beyond their embryonic beginnings.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is a tinkerer?<\/strong><\/h1>\n

I came across Rachelle Doorley\u2019s definition of tinkerer on TinkerLab. While the site is intended for childhood education, several concepts are appropriate here as well. (In fact, you might want to take a look at TinkerLab<\/a> for inspiration!) So, here is her definition of a tinkerer:<\/p>\n

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\u201cone who experiments with materials and ideas to fully understand their capacities, and who further iterates on their learning to find better solutions to current problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Note that her definition mentions the importance of continually iterating on learning<\/em>. In other words, a tinkerer is a dabbler. An experimenter. A hands-on adapter. A maker. Tinkerers “play around” with ideas. They don\u2019t necessarily accept their first idea as is.<\/p>\n

The tinkering process helps redefine problems and solutions. And the more idea variations you have, the higher the probably of having a good one in the pile. Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling said: \u201cI am constantly asked by students how I get good ideas. My answer is simple: First, have a lot of ideas. Then, throw away the bad ones.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Ideas evolve through creative tinkering<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Think about all of the different types of people who tinker. And think about the variety of disciplines they represent.<\/p>\n