Nearly every problem you'll face in your studies and career can benefit from innovative solutions, lateral thinking, and creative ideas. The good news? Creative thinking isn't some mysterious gift reserved for a select few. It's a learnable skill with a clear process behind it.
To understand how this works, consider the story of Frederic Eugene Ives, a printer's apprentice in the 1870s who faced a costly problem. Photography was exciting readers, but printing images was prohibitively expensive. Publishers had to commission engravers to hand-etch photographs onto steel plates, which often broke after just a few uses.
Ives spent years as an apprentice, then managed a photographic laboratory at Cornell University. In 1881, after falling asleep frustrated by the printing problem, he woke up with a complete solution projected in his mind. His innovation reduced printing costs by fifteen times and remained the industry standard for eighty years.
What can we learn from Ives about generating breakthrough ideas? It turns out, nearly all great ideas follow a remarkably similar creative process.
Creativity Is About Connection, Not Invention
Here's a profound truth about innovation: creative thinking isn't about generating something new from a blank slate. It's about taking what already exists and combining those elements in ways that haven't been done before.
An idea is essentially a new connection between old concepts. The quality of your creative thinking depends on your ability to see relationships between seemingly unrelated ideas. When you form a new link between two existing concepts, you've done something creative.
This realization is liberating. You don't need to be a genius with supernatural inspiration. You need to be good at recognizing patterns and making connections.
The Five-Step Creative Process
Most creative breakthroughs follow five distinct stages:
1. Gather New Material
The first step is learning. You need to collect raw material for your mind to work with. This happens in two ways:
First, learn specific material directly related to your challenge. If you're studying for an exam, dive deep into that subject matter. If you're solving a design problem, immerse yourself in similar solutions.
Second, develop a broad curiosity. Become fascinated with concepts outside your immediate field. The best connections often come from unexpected places. Read widely. Explore different disciplines. Build a diverse mental library.
2. Thoroughly Work Over the Materials in Your Mind
Now comes the hard part: actively processing what you've learned. Examine the material from different angles. Experiment with fitting various ideas together. Try combinations that seem absurd.
This stage requires sustained mental effort. You're not passively reviewing notes. You're actively manipulating concepts, looking for interesting intersections and novel arrangements.
Ives spent nearly all his time from 1878 onward experimenting with photography techniques. He was constantly tinkering, testing different combinations of ideas he'd gathered.
3. Step Away from the Problem
Here's where it gets counterintuitive: after intensely working on the problem, you need to completely let go of it. Put it out of your mind. Do something else that excites and energizes you.
Go for a walk. Sleep on it. Work on an unrelated project. Exercise. The key is genuine disengagement, not just a brief distraction while your mind keeps churning in the background.
This isn't procrastination. It's a critical part of the process. Your unconscious mind needs space to make connections your conscious effort couldn't find.
4. Let Your Idea Return to You
After you've stopped actively thinking about the problem, the solution often arrives with sudden clarity. It might come in the shower, during a run, or right as you're falling asleep.
Ives experienced this classic "flash of insight" upon waking. Many people report similar experiences. Once you give your brain permission to stop working on the problem, the answer appears almost effortlessly.
This stage can't be forced. You can't skip straight from intense work to sudden insight. The stepping away is essential.
5. Shape and Develop Your Idea Based on Feedback
The flash of insight isn't the end. Now you need to test your idea in the real world and refine it based on feedback.
Initial ideas are rarely perfect. They need to be developed, criticized, and improved. Be willing to revise and adapt. Don't fall so in love with your first version that you can't see its flaws.
Ives continued refining his printing process for years after his initial breakthrough. He improved so many aspects that he eventually filed a second patent. The best ideas evolve through iteration.
Putting It Into Practice
How can you apply this to your studies and work?
For exam preparation: Gather material through lectures and reading (step 1), actively work through practice problems and connect concepts (step 2), take breaks between study sessions (step 3), let insights come during rest periods (step 4), and test your understanding with practice exams (step 5).
For creative projects: Research widely in your field and beyond (step 1), sketch multiple approaches and combinations (step 2), sleep on it or work on something else (step 3), capture ideas as they emerge naturally (step 4), and refine based on feedback from peers or users (step 5).
For problem-solving: Learn everything relevant to the challenge (step 1), analyze from multiple perspectives (step 2), deliberately disengage (step 3), stay alert for unexpected insights (step 4), and iterate on your solution (step 5).
The key insight is this: creativity is a process, not a moment. It requires both intense focus and deliberate rest. It demands broad learning and deep processing. It needs solitary work and collaborative feedback.
You can't rush it, but you can trust it. Follow these five steps, and you'll find yourself generating better ideas more consistently.
Join the Community
We're building Share to Study for students, lifelong learners, and anyone who wants to make studying more efficient. Follow us on TikTok to stay in the loop.
Ready to transform how you learn? Download Share to Study today and see the difference AI-powered flashcards can make.
Have a topic you'd like us to cover? Reach out at support@sharetostudy.com, we'd love to hear from you.
