Friday, September 14, 2007

Have A Back Up Plan and Be Creative

Do you always have a backup plan for whatever that you do? Most probably not.

I came to realize that many people, especially Malaysian, tend to just go on with whatever that they have in mind. Not to say that this is bad if your idea or plan is accepted but what if the person that you proposed the idea rejected it.

If you don't have a backup plan, chances are, you are going to defend your idea or plan no matter what. And in the end, when agreement simply cannot be attained, bad things would happened.

But what if the situation comes suddenly and you don't have the time to think of a backup plan. Well, that is where your creativity comes in handy. Easy says than done. Do you know why? Because Malaysian are taught not to be creative since young. We are told that only the right things matter. Anything that is technically incorrect are rejected without any question asked. Don't believe me?

Let me show you an example. Let's says that I draw a circle on a white-board and i ask you what you see. Chances are, you are going to reply me that you see a circle and nothing more. Well, that is how we are taught to react. "Just give the fact and nothing more". When you are sure it is correct, defend it with whatever that you have. Never, ever admit defeat. (Somehow, you should have this feeling about what I am trying to say here)

Let's continue with the circle again. If I ask a group of university students, they should give the same type of answer as you. But when I ask a group of secondary school students, chances are they are going to give me answer more than a circle. They may say that it is a ball or something similar. And if I asked a group of primary students, that is where I should get the most creative answers. Answers range from a moon in the sky or a snowball rolling down the slope to anything that may come to their mind. As you can see, we used to be creative but because of our upbringing, we are really putting the creativity in us in the backroom of our brain.

If you want to stay ahead, you would need to be creative. So, let your creativity comes out more often and it would surely benefit you in the long run.

And if you are asking whether those things that I have written above is for real or not, it is the fact that read somewhere but I cannot remember where. Well, if you really want to show that I am wrong, do your own test. Get different groups of people around and ask them the same question.

I bet you are getting the same type of answer.

No comments: