Creativity seems unusual for coaches to talk about because it seems mystical and only for artists and musicians. But coaching is an art because it requires creating exercise routines. This is important because it keeps people interested in training and fitness.

What is creativity?

Creativity is the ability to create something new and valuable. It has two stages:

1. Create the new.

2. Select the valuable.

These stages require different techniques. Two techniques will be discussed here: brainstorming and critical thinking.

Brainstorming techniques

Brainstorming requires a group of people to propose solutions to a problem without judgment. The word ‘brainstorming’ was coined by Alex Osborn (1953) in his book, Applied Imagination. Osborn laid out the following rules:

1. Go for Quantity: The greater the number of ideas the greater the chance of producing a good idea.

2. Withhold Criticism: Delay judgement for a later stage so that participants may generate ideas.

3. Welcome Wild Ideas: Do not be limited to tame ideas but reverse assumptions and adopt extreme perspectives.

4. Combine and Improve Ideas: Stimulate new ideas by associating old ideas and building on the ideas of others.

Brainstorming is not just for groups. Individuals can also apply it by adopting different perspectives and combining ideas in different ways. To help with this, Osborn proposed the acronym SCAMPER. This was developed by Bob Eberle (1971) in his book, SCAMPER: Games for Imagination Development, and stands for:

• Substitute - Replace the current idea with another one.

• Combine - Combine two or more ideas together.

• Adjust - Change an idea in whole or part.

• Modify / Magnify / Minify - Change the dimensions of an idea.

• Put to Other Uses - Change the purpose of an idea.

• Eliminate - Remove an idea in whole or part.

• Reverse / Rearrange - Change the order or structure of an idea.

SCAMPER is essentially a structured way of applying the fourth rule of brainstorming: combining and improving ideas.

Critical thinking

Having creates lots of ideas, the next stages is to choose the best and leave the rest. This means being critical.

When we use the word ‘critical’ we typically mean:

1. Saying that someone or something is bad or wrong.

2. Giving opinions or judgments on books, plays, films, etc.

3. Extremely serious or dangerous.

4. Of the greatest importance to the way things might happen.

Brainstorming is about delaying criticism in the first sense but criticism is not simply about saying something is bad or wrong. The term ‘critical thinking’ was coined by John Dewey (1910) in his book, How We Think. Dewey uses the term interchangeably with ‘reflecting thinking’ and defines it as:

‘Active, persistent, and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which it tends’ (1910: 6)

In other words, the opposite of critical thinking would be to jump to conclusions or immediately accept whatever appears before the mind.

Dewey outlines five stages of critical thinking in a second volume of the same book, published in 1933:

1. Suggestions: The mind leaps forward to a possible solution or answer.

2. Problem: Translating the difficulty into a problem to be solved or a question to be answered.

3. Hypothesis: Using one answer after another as a leading idea or hypothesis to guide observation of further evidence.

4. Reasoning: Elaborating on the idea - reasoning in the sense of following a chain of reasons.

5. Experiment: Testing the hypothesis by overt action, or imaginative action.

For example, suppose somebody immediately rejected the idea of ‘Dance-Boxing’, the phases of critical thinking may then look like this:

1. Suggestion: 'Dance-Boxing' is nonsense because boxing is a combat sport.

2. Problem: How can boxing and dance combine as a non-contact practice?

3. Hypothesis: Shadowboxing is non-contact and dance-like.

4. Reasoning: If shadowboxing is dance-like, then it can be judged aesthetically. If it can be judged aesthetically, then it can combine with dance.

5. Experiment: How might I create an aesthetic shadowboxing routine?

In other words, if an idea is judged ‘bad’ after a brainstorming session, critical thinking would mean gathering further evidence both for and against that judgement.

Critical thinking is closely related to the concept of judgement. Etymologically, the word ‘critic’ has three roots:

• Latin criticus, ‘judge, censor, estimator’.

• Ancient Greek kritikos, ‘able to make judgements’, which is from krinein ‘to separate, decide.’

• Proto-Indo European krei-, ‘to sieve’.

The word ‘think’ has two roots:

• Old English þencan, ‘imagine, conceive in the mind; consider, meditate, remember; intend, wish, desire’, or þyncan, ‘to seem, to appear’.

• Proto-Indo European *tong-, ‘to think, feel’, also the root of the word thank.

Taking all these meanings together, critical thinking may be defined as selecting from whatever appears before the mind as serious or important, and filtering out those that are wrong in the manner of a judge - be it images, concepts, considerations, meditations, memories, intentions, wishes, desires, or anything else.

This summarizes the two stages of the creative process. Coaches may apply brainstorming to think up new exercise routines and apply critical thinking to filter out those that are unsafe or ineffective.

Transforming criticism into questions

Persistent criticism in the sense of saying something is bad or wrong may stunt the brainstorming stage. What can be done about this? Dewey offers a clue: translate the criticism into a question. Instead of immediately rejecting an idea, ask questions directed at a solution. This way, criticism is made constructive.

For example, Person A thinks combining burpees with backflips is a great idea. Person B thinks this is ridiculous. Rather than call this out, Person B may ask: ‘How can we create safer ways for people to exercise while still giving them the thrill of accomplishing a difficult task?’ Admittedly, this is an exaggerated example. However, the principle remains the same, namely: criticism is made constructive by transforming it into questions directed at a solution.

Conclusion

In summary, creativity is a vital component of coaching. Coaches must create new exercise routines to maintain interest and improve general fitness. Brainstorming and critical thinking are two techniques that coaches can use to generate and select valuable ideas. By adopting different perspectives and combining ideas in different ways, coaches can produce a large quantity of ideas. Critical thinking involves considering any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which it tends. Transforming criticism into questions directed at a solution can make criticism constructive. Coaches who incorporate these techniques into their coaching practice can help their clients achieve their goals more effectively.

References

Dewey, J., 1910. How We Think. Endymion Press.

Dewey, J., 1933. How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of the Reflective Thinking to the Educative Process. Heath.

Eberle, R., 1971. SCAMPER: Creative Games and Activities for Imagination Development. Buffalo, N.Y.: D.O.K. Publishers.

Osborn, A. and Bristol, L., 2001. Applied Imagination. Buffalo, NY: Creative Education Foundation.

2021. [online] Available at: <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/critical> [Accessed 5 November 2021].

2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.etymonline.com/word/critic?ref=etymonline_crossreference> [Accessed 5 November 2021].

2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=think> [Accessed 5 November 2021].