5 Best Examples of Creative Thinking

What is creative thinking?

A way of looking at problems or situations, from a fresh perspective that suggests unorthodox solutions.

Nasreddin Hodja was a Turkish scholar of the 13th century.

He was also called as Mullah Nasruddin, Nasreddin Hoca and Nasreddin Hodja.

He is known for his satirical style, blunt mannerism and anecdotes.

One day Nasreddin’s neighbor came to him for an advice.

The neighbor lived in a small house with a large family.

It was uncomfortable for him to live in a tiny house with his wife, mother-in-law and three kids.

He wanted Nasreddin Hodja to help him out.

Nasreddin knew that this man is asking for something that is beyond his reach.

He was not a magician who can cast a spell and make the house big.

But he had humor and wits.

So Nasreddin asked his neighbor, how many chickens he had in the barn?

The neighbor replied that he had 5 chickens.

Nasreddin told him to bring all the chickens in the house.

The neighbor was shocked and surprised.

But he did not question Nasreddin’s wisdom.

Next day the neighbor came back.

He complained that the situation had gone bad.

With the 5 chickens, it was difficult for him and his family to live in the house.

Nasreddin was calm as a summer sea.

‘Do you have a donkey?’ Nasreddin asked his neighbor.

The neighbor replied with a ‘Yes’.

Nasreddin advised him to bring the donkey in the house.

The neighbor was bewildered.

Nasreddin assured him that bringing donkey in the house will solve his problem.

Next morning, the neighbor returned with a gloomy face.

He complained that the last night was horrible.

The donkey and the chickens took the entire living area.

Nasreddin was not moved by the plight of his neighbor.

‘You have lambs, don’t you?’ inquired Nasreddin casually.

‘Yes I have two’, the neighbor answered.

‘Bring those two lambs in the house’, Nasreddin said to the neighbor.

The neighbor protested this time.

But Nasreddin assured him to have faith in his advice.

The next morning the neighbor returned in a miserable condition.

His sunken eyes revealed that he had a sleepless night.

He complained to Nasreddin that with the lambs, the chickens and the donkey in the house, his family could not even breathe.

His mother-in-law had threatened to kill him.

And his wife had threatened to leave him.

‘Why had you done this to me?’ the neighbor bemoaned.

Nasreddin was calm as usual.

‘Now, it’s time to take all the livestock out of the house’, Nasreddin said to his neighbor.

The next day the Neighbor returned with a winning smile.

Now our house is spacious. We can sleep peacefully, and the kids can play comfortably. Everyone is happy.

Nasreddin had solved the problem creatively.

He knew that his neighbor cannot buy a spacious house, nor he can throw some of his family members out of the house.

Even if he gets a bigger house, his wants will never be satisfied.

Human wants are unlimited.

The only way to solve this problem was to make him realize, that his present house has enough space to live a comfortable life.

Nasreddin used his creative powers and gave his neighbor what he wanted.

Don’t give them what they want, give them what they need. — Joss Wheldon

2) The Foxy thinking of Sam Zemurray

Sam Zemurray was born on 18th January 1877, to a poor family, in Kishinev- Russian Empire.

At the age of 14, he migrated to America.

He did not receive any formal education.

To fight poverty, he entered the banana trade at an early age.

Before Sam, things were different in the banana trade.

The bananas that ripened in the commute were disposed upon arrival at the port.

Sam bought these ripe bananas cheaply and sold them to the local grocers.

This technique bought Sam success and fame.

He earned the nickname “Sam the Banana Man”.

By 1911 he founded his own fruit company.

In 1915, Sam wanted to acquire five thousand acres of land located in the jungles of South America.

But there was a problem.

A renowned and powerful fruit company ‘United Fruit’ was also interested in this piece of land.

Neither Sam nor United Fruit was able to buy the land yet because it was in a dispute.

Two different locals were claiming the ownership of this plantation.

United Fruit dispatched a team of cunning lawyers, high profile businessmen, and experts to solve this issue.

They wanted this piece of land desperately and money was not an issue for them.

The team of United Fruits was leaving no stone unturned to find out the real owner of this land, and to close this deal before Sam makes any move.

But ‘ Sam the Banana Man’, was not so rich and powerful to hire expensive lawyers and negotiators.

But he was also desperate for this piece of land.

So he had to find a solution to this problem.

And he did something bizarre.

He met separately with both the locals who were claiming the ownership of the plantation.

And he bought the land from both of them.

Indeed, he paid twice for the land.

But he won over his rich and powerful competitor without getting into the mud fight.

Sam- a man with no formal education had check-mate the experts of the United Fruit.

Without any arguments or legal battles, Sam solved the problem with his creative thinking.

3) The out of box thinking of Josep Von Sternberg

Josep Von Sternberg was a renowned Austrian-American film director.

In 1925, he directed his first film The Salvation Hunters, which is considered as the first American Independent film.

In 1930, he received an invitation from Berlin, to direct a film featuring world-famous German actor ‘Emil Jannings’.

Being previously worked with Jannings, he knew that the actor is talented but he also a disruptive person.

Jannings would do everything to disturb the flow of production.

He would throw his stupid ideas towards the director and other unit members.

These poking would soon turn into an unhealthy argument, and at last, the directors had to kneel down before him.

But Sternberg was a man of discipline.

The only thing mattered to him was successfully completing the film.

So he devised a strategy.

He prepared himself for the games that Jannings will play.

Jannings demanded that the director should visit his dressing room every morning to see how interested he is in this movie. Sternberg did this without any complaints.

Jannings demanded that the director should take him on free lunches and should hear his ideas. Sternberg did this without showing any resistance.

When Sternberg showed his affection for other actors, Jannings would spark a jealous fit.

So he became extra affectionate towards Jannings.

Jannings assumed that everything is in his control.

But he was wrong.

Sternberg was only playing his game.

When Jannings delivered his dialogues in an unnecessary high pitch tone, instead of correcting him, Sternberg congratulated him for his tone by saying that he is the only person in the film to talk like that.

Fearing that this will make him out of the league, he will drop his tone to normal.

Sternberg would torch the hottest set light on the back of Jannings neck whenever he refused (for no reason) to pass through a certain door to make his entrance into the scene.

This would make Jannings uncomfortable and he would pass through the door.

Whenever Jannings refused to come out of his dressing room, a word would be spread that the director is bestowing attention on other actors.

On hearing this, Jannings would become jealous and he would come out of his dressing room.

Throughout the shooting, Sternberg used the useless tantrums of Jannings against him.

Without any arguments or explanation, he made Jannings to do what he desired.

And Jannings assuming that everything is in his control gave the best performance of his life.

The movie was complete without any disruption.

It became the blockbuster of that era.

The movie was ‘The Blue Angel’.

Using the power of creative thinking, Josep Von Sternberg solved all of his problems.

4) Creative thinking can turn the game into your favor.

George Walbridge Perkins was born on 31st January 1862, in Chicago.

After completing his high school education, he joined New York Life Insurance Company as an office boy.

With his exceptional problem-solving skills and hard work, he became the vice president of New York Life Insurance Company in 1989.

In 1905, he joined JP Morgan and negotiated many complex deals.

But his real test of skills came in 1912.

In 1912, he was the campaign manager of Theodore Roosevelt.

Roosevelt was trying hard to win the presidential nomination in 1912.

To promote Roosevelt and his party, George Perkins decided to distribute a pamphlet.

The pamphlet will have Roosevelt’s photo on the cover, and inside it will have the transcript of his speech called “Confession of Faith”.

All was going well until a worker noticed a line on the photograph: Moffett Studios — Chicago.

The photo was copyrighted by Moffett Studios.

The unauthorized use of this photo may result in paying millions as a fine.

And they cannot go back at this time and change their campaign plan.

They had to negotiate for the photograph with Moffett studios at any cost.

Further investigations revealed that Moffett was a tough case when it came to money.

And he was also planning to retire soon.

So it was assumed that he will ask tons of money for this photograph.

The clever George Perkins stepped into this matter.

He did not ask Moffett how much they should pay him to use the photograph.

Instead, he landed him in a tricky situation.

He telegrammed him the following message.

“We are planning to distribute millions of pamphlets with Roosevelt’s picture on the cover. It will be great publicity for the studio whose photograph we use. How much will you pay us to use yours?”

Moffett was unable to understand this tactic.

And he replied innocently to George.

“We have never done this before. But under the circumstances, we’d be pleased to offer you $250.”

George accepted the offer of $250.

With his exceptional skills and creative thinking, George has not only solve the problem but also made Moffett pay them for using the photograph.

Creative thinking can turn the tables.

5) The road of creative thinking

John Steinbeck published his realist novel ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ in 1939.

It depicts the plight of the families of tenant farmers and immigrants during the Great Depression.

It also revealed the darker side of the banking system and farming corporations.

‘The Grapes of Wrath’ became the bestselling book of 1939.

It also won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

Later in 1962, Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for ‘The Grapes of Wrath’.

But with the flowers came the thorns.

Both the leftists and rightists called Steinbeck a propagandist and socialist.

Banks and farming corporations accused Steinbeck of spreading lies.

The novel was banned and burned by landlords.

Steinbeck even received death threats for writing this novel.

Despite all the controversy surrounding it; Hollywood director John Ford decided to make a movie on this novel.

He signed the versatile actor Henry Fonda to play the lead role of Tom Joad.

The budget for making this movie was $800,000 and 20th Century-Fox was the distributor.

But there was a problem.

John Ford knew that there would be many objections if he announced that he is making a movie on the controversial ‘The Grapes of Wrath’.

There was a high chance of some organizations destroying the movie sets, interrupting the shooting and harming the film crew.

John Ford did not want to put himself and his crew in danger, but he also wanted to make this movie at any cost.

So he came out with a creative solution.

He gave the movie a fake working title — “Highway 66’’.

And he picked this idea from the novel itself.

Highway 66 is the main migrant road in ‘The Grapes of Wrath’.

“66 is the path of a people in flight, refugees from dust and shrinking land, from the thunder of tractors and shrinking ownership, from the desert’s slow northward invasion, from the twisting winds that howl up out of Texas, from the floods that bring no richness to the land and steal what little richness is there. From all of these the people are in flight, and they come into 66 from the tributary side roads, from the wagon tracks and the rutted country roads. 66 is the mother road, the road of flight.” — — The Grapes of Wrath.

John Ford finished the shooting without any disturbance.

On 24th January 1940, the movie was released with the original title ‘The Grapes of Wrath’.

No doubt there were protests after the movie release.

Farming corporations called for a boycott of all 20th Century-Fox films.

But the protest did not have any major impact.

The movie was well received by the cine-goers at that time.

And today it is remembered as one of the greatest American films of all time.

“Highway 66” was the road of hope for John Ford to make this masterpiece.

John Ford creative thinking helped him to make this movie without any fuss.

So that’s all from my side. What are the examples of creative thinking that you know?