According to the World Economic Forum Survey creative thinking is the most demanded skill in 2024. But is creativity important in software development?
Definitely yes. Robert E. Franken, in his book “Human Motivation,” defines creativity as
the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others
In our work, we frequently generate ideas to meet business requirements and solve technical issues (and occasionally to entertain others too! 😄). The more creative we are, the more ideas we can produce that lead to better and more efficient solutions.
The human brain generates new ideas based on existing knowledge, connecting it in innovative ways. This means the foundation for creativity is so-called `visual experience`: the more different elements we have in our minds, the more ideas we can produce.
In software development, it's essential to continually learn new things, even if they don't directly relate to our current technology stack or tasks. While it may seem pointless to study something unrelated to our immediate work because we might forget it quickly, this isn't entirely true. New knowledge serves as building blocks for generating new ideas. Designers even have a practice to study the works of others to develop a sense of good quality before creating their own style. Similarly, in software development, studying various use cases and technologies broadens our mind and enhances our visual experience.
Like any other skill, creativity can be trained. Many exercises to train creativity can be found on the Internet. Here are a few examples to start with:
✏️Study real use cases and patterns from your area of professional interest to expand your visual experience and sense of quality.
✏️Extend your standard subscriptions with content unrelated to your primary interests, such as science, drawing, medicine, etc. This helps introduce fresh ideas from other fields.
✏️ Select a simple object like a ruler, pen, or paper clip, and spend 10 minutes brainstorming as many alternative uses for it as possible. Try this exercise daily for a month and track whether the number of generated ideas increases.
To summarize, creativity is a valuable skill that need to be trained to enhance problem-solving abilities and boost professional efficiency.
#softskills #creativity