Table of Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments xi
Part 1 Meet Your Creative Brain 1
1 Wanted: Your Creative Brain 3
Why activating your creativity is important to individual and societal well-being
2 Your Mental Comfort Zone 13
Introduction to the seven brainsets
Fun quizzes to determine which brainset is your mental comfort zone
3 Tour Your Creative Brain 39
Brief introduction to the parts of brain that are important to the creative process
4 Brainsets and the Creative Process 55
Description of the stages that comprise both the deliberate and the spontaneous creative process
Part 2 Training Your Creative Brain 71
5 Opening the Mind: Accessing the Absorb Brainset 73
Access externally and internally generated information with an uncritical eye
6 Imagining the Possibilities: Accessing the Envision Brainset 103
Use the power of mental imagery to construct creative ideas
7 Thinking Divergently: Accessing the Connect Brainset 123
Associate novel information to produce a multitude of ideas
8 Shaping the Creative Idea: Accessing the Reason Brainset 155
Consciously work through a creative “problem”
9 Recognizing Useful Ideas: Accessing the Evaluate Brainset 181
Evaluate creative ideas for appropriateness
10 Using Emotion Creatively: Accessing the Transform Brainset 207
Put your negative emotions to work for you
11 Performing Creatively: Accessing the Stream Brainset 233
Practice skill-appropriate improvisation
Part 3 Putting the CREATES Strategies to Work 257
12 Flexing Your Creative Brain 259
Exercises for switching between brainsets to enhance cognitive flexibility
13 Applying the Brainsets to Real-World Creativity 279
Tips for using the brainsets in all stages of the creative process
Appendixes 293
1 How to Score the CREATES Brainsets Assessment 293
2 The Token Economy System 305
3 The Daily Activities Calendar 309
Notes 311
References 339
About the Author 357
About Harvard Medical School 358
Index 359