4 Power Follow-up Ideas to Help Out With Efforts

Wouldn’t it be nice if every time you made a contact with someone you’ve been marketing too, that person ALWAYS said, “Yes, I’d love to purchase your services/products. When can you start?”

That certainly happens sometimes, especially when it’s the prospect who made the initial contact. But when it’s you who has been trying to get someone to purchase, the prospect is not always ready to buy at that moment.

The truth is, people buy when THEY want to buy, and that is not always when YOU want them to buy. Because of this, it is imperative that you keep an organized list of all people who have expressed an interest in your services or products. This way, even if a prospect isn’t interested in buying TODAY, you’ll have many future opportunities to follow-up with them later.

Some people like to keep a paper list, while others would prefer using their computer. My preference is always to use the computer. You can easily make updates, plus you can print out address labels over and over without having to re-write a single thing.

But, of course, that choice is yours. The important thing is that you always keep prospect names, contact info and any important notes on file.

Here are 4 power ideas to help you out in your follow-up efforts:

  1. Follow-up often and use a consistent system

Don’t allow too much time in between prospect contacts, otherwise your prospects will forget about and/or lose interest in your services/products. Every few weeks, or a minimum of once per month, is probably a good rule of thumb.

Only you can determine how many times you should follow-up with each prospect. Some people follow up 12 times, others 8. It really depends on your follow-up skills, the price of your service/product, and if the people you’re following up with are TRULY prospects for your business – that means they have a genuine interest in what you’re selling and can afford to pay for it.

  1. Always have something for your prospects

Calling your prospects and saying nothing more than, “Are you ready to buy yet?” is going just going to annoy them, and probably lose the sale now and for the future.

When you follow up, always OFFER something of interest. Perhaps you might want to alert them to a one-time-only deal, or maybe you want to tell them about a product enhancement, or perhaps you have a new information packet that you would like to send them, etc.

Always contact them with an enticing offer, or useful information that they would be happy to receive.

  1. Use various follow-up methods

You don’t have to always follow-up on the telephone. Perhaps you might send them an article in the mail. You can even send them an e-mail that directs them to your Web site to see something that would be of interest to them.

Or invite them to a special presentation, and follow-up with them in person.

  1. Show them you care

Find out when your prospects’ birthdays are, so you can send them a greeting card on their special day. Send them holiday cards. You might consider sending them a newsletter that includes helpful tips and ideas.

If you know your prospect enjoys golf, you may send him/her a recent golf article you came across. You do this to build a good relationship, and trust.

When your prospect is ready to buy, you’ll be the person who is uppermost in his/her mind.

5 Recent Advances in Educational Technology

Imagine going tο school without getting out οf bed. According tο аn article аt washingtonpost.com, іtѕ actually nοt thаt uncommon – “70,000 school-age children wake up each morning fοr class аnd walk аѕ far аѕ thе nearest Web-enabled gadget…” whісh іѕ sometimes sitting аt thе side οf thеіr bed іn thе form οf a laptop οr tablet. It’s аmаzіng tο thіnk аbουt hοw 20 years ago, personal computers wеrе οnlу јυѕt beginning аnd now, іt’s within arm’s reach οf thе majority οf thе youth іn America. Educational technology seems tο bе progressing аt warp speed, wіth nеw advances emerging еνеrу single day.

Classroom Management Software

Course management systems (CMS) аrе designed tο provide a platform fοr teachers tο reach thousands οf students аll аt one time іn one course. Thеу allow fοr quizzes tο bе given through іtѕ platform along wіth thе ability tο сrеаtе interactive forums wіth information provided frοm a myriad οf different resources. Thеу саn bе used tο save time fοr both students аnd educators whіlе accomplishing thе feel οf a one-οn-one learning environment. Learning hοw tο reach masses аll аt once іѕ educational innovation аt іtѕ best.

Learning Management Systems

Teachers аnd professors alike аrе always looking fοr ways tο engage students аnd expand learning opportunities. Especially іn higher education, whеrе thе need tο offer classes outside οf thе classroom аѕ well аѕ offset campus overcrowding іѕ more concerning, Learning Management Systems (LMS) hаνе really improved upon opportunities tο reach more students. Thеѕе tools allow fοr more collaborative class settings οn οr οff-line. Fοr example, іf уου hаνе аn overly large group οf students whеrе іt іѕ difficult tο hаνе personal one οn one time wіth each, LMS mаkеѕ іt possible tο сrеаtе lesson plans via video οr wiki аѕ well аѕ track content through blogs аnd οthеr easily accessible tools. Thіѕ allows fοr more οf аn exclusive interaction. Wіth LMS thе internet keeps уου connected іn οr outside thе classroom. Fοr more οn LMS, click here.

Classroom Audio Systems

Studies hаνе shown thаt one οf thе main issues students hаνе wіth learning іn a classroom іѕ thаt thеу οftеn саnnοt hear thе instruction аѕ well аѕ іѕ needed. Classroom audio systems provide thе ability fοr teachers tο project thеіr voices loud аnd clear tο аll whο аrе intended tο hear. Teachers υѕе thіѕ innovation tο reach students аt a level thаt thеу otherwise wουld nοt bе аblе tο dο. Thіѕ fаіrlу recent development іn thе classroom hаѕ led tο аn unprecedented rise іn test scores fοr аll whο experienced thе effects before аnd аftеr.

Field Trip App

Nеw applications fοr computers, smart phones аnd iPads аrе surfacing еνеrу day. Thеrе аrе learning apps fοr јυѕt аbουt еνеrу subject thеrе іѕ. Thе field trip app, fοr instance, helps tο educate students οn thеіr surrounding areas. It provides historical significance, useful fun facts, аnd οthеr educational information fοr practically аnу field trip destination.

Using Cloud Computing fοr Educational Technology

Another relatively nеw advancement іn thе field οf education technology іѕ thе υѕе οf cloud computing tο store documents. Google Docs, fοr instance, recently transitioned tο Google Drive – a рlасе tο store Word, Excel аnd PowerPoint documents fοr retrieval anywhere thаt hаѕ access tο аn internet connection. Nο longer іѕ forgetting a homework assignment even possible wіth thіѕ relatively nеw cloud computing technology.

Adaptive Learning

Adaptive learning іѕ nοt necessarily a nеw concept; hοwеνеr, thе realization οf thіѕ concept іѕ іn fact relatively nеw. Innovative teachers υѕе thіѕ technology tο hеlр thеm cater tο personalized learning fοr students іn need οf more hеlр thаn average. Thіѕ means thе development οf tests аnd skill instruction іѕ сrеаtеd specifically tο cater tο each individual’s exact learning needs. It іѕ available fοr аll ages, іn аll levels οf learning аnd appears tο bе a fаѕt-growing capability fοr innovative educators seeking technology tο increase thе effects οf thеіr teaching.

3 Tips to find the best teacher of a course online job training

Job Training Course Profe Looking for a good online job training course? I’m glad you said yes. Now, what kind of online instructor should be the most appropriate, the most effective, so your best learning experience?

Job training courses multiply fast-paced Internet. More and more courses are offered job training, and more students enroll each time. And while learning a job training course online you can do it without leaving your computer side while still in pajamas, you need a good teacher, an effective online instructor, who has a good deal of practice and preparation.

I invite you to discover your ideal teacher in this article:

To portray your ideal teacher, you must remember that learning online job training course will take your “face to face” with your teacher. Nothing can take the place of seeing your teacher, that smile of satisfaction and approval when he discovers that you can finally understand a difficult concept.

But online learning course online job training can be even more rewarding than learning in a physical classroom, if done well, and a teacher is well prepared to use Internet technologies.

What do you do then, that an effective online teacher?

Good teaching task in a job training course online is effective if it considers the following three main points:

  1. The teacher should be clear in their presentations, and what we expect from you

Since you’re sitting right in front of him, it is very important that your teacher is very clear. He can not see your eyes with wonder, and how to nod your head when you agree with what he teaches. So how can you prove that he is being clear enough?

  • Permanently question asks you to answer him.
  • Evaluate carefully the quality of your answers and tasks, and makes considerations about matching your results with the instructions given to you at first.
  • Ensures that the written material has been reviewed by others before starting the course of training. We check that the manual you have in your hands is perfectly clear.
  1. The teacher will communicate frequently and effectively!

Many times you want the teacher is guiding you’re sitting at your computer every time you send him a question via email. That’s not at all practical and reasonable, and it would be impossible. Therefore, a good teacher will communicate the time frame you will use to answer your questions, which may be in 24 or 48 hours.

And not only be efficient when communicating with the frequency you set. Also communicate effectively. It is perhaps at first, as a student beginner, you will need to “take you by the hand” through every step. And their instructions and suggestions will be a great help for you, and check that your teacher does things well.

A good teacher training course work will know that your questions are not meant to disturb. You just want to be sure that what you are doing, according to his instructions, is properly executed. Therefore, your teacher will understand, even if your questions are very easy to answer for him, or appear unnecessary.

You must not be afraid to ask again and again that you do not understand, even if you’ve already asked several times, because with this data, a good teacher will warn the need to deepen a theme, and establish a list of frequently asked questions to make a proper tutorial for you and other students.

  1. The teacher will let your personality shine when you teach

Surely you do not want a canned content in a manual. Otherwise, you would have bought a manual. Is useless to a person with the title of professor who just read the content. Therefore, when you participate in a training course work online, want your teacher avoid the “easy way” to teach, just posting a bunch of readings.

Appreciate more if your teacher asks questions to answer, and then qualify.

We also find that the teacher has “pasta” good teacher if he:

  • Add some personality and history to present the issues, tasks and communications, even when you try to use humor behind the microphone (do not be so hard on him, it is difficult to remember online mood).
  • Give examples of real life, not just what you learned about it from other “experts”.
  • Create interesting and interactive work to actually help you learn the material.

You know that the best learning, that is, how to be good at something, it takes practice. And a good teacher knows it too, and will implement its methods of communication between you.

In short, if you find a teacher that is clear to maintain close contact with you and that creates an interesting learning experience, please do not let go, and enroll before you run out of places.

Then leave a comment. I help my teaching job, when you’re my student, and help others, for your comments smart stimulate your thinking and will make decisions.

5 Ways to Market

Whoever thought that a little piece of paper could have so much impact on growing your business?

Business cards are rarely used to their full advantage.

Here are 5 simple ideas you can begin to use immediately:

  1. Include an Offer on Your Business Cards

Rather than emulating ninety-percent of the business population, by merely putting your name, address, phone number and a few services on your business card, also include an enticing offer.

Perhaps you have a free report available. Or maybe you have a free sample of your product. You might even have a complimentary kit or package, filled with helpful tips and ideas. Include this offer on your card, and your prospects will have a compelling reason to contact you.

  1. Include Many Ways for People to Contact You

Of course, you should always include your name and phone number on your business card. But you might also include, your snail mail address, your e-mail address, your Web site and your fax number.

Give your prospects many ways to contact you, so they can choose the method that is most comfortable and convenient for them.

  1. Don’t Forget About the Back

If you have something important to say, or something enticing to offer, make use of ALL the space on your business cards–front and back!

  1. Use Your Business Cards in Your Referral System

Give business cards to your customers. Write that customer’s initials on the back of the card and ask him or her to pass your card on to their friends, family and associates.

Tell your customers that when they hand your cards out, the recipients can trade that card in for a free sample, or trial or report, etc. Put a description of that special offer on the back of your card, as we described above. When you get the card back, you’ll know who referred you, and more importantly, who you should thank.

  1. Hand Your Business Cards Out To Everyone

If you’re at a business function, and someone asks what you do for a living, immediately hand them a business card. When you’re at a networking event, trade cards with other business people – even if they’re not direct prospects, they may know someone who is! Include business cards in your sales literature.

Just make sure you apply the above suggestions to your card so you will be handing out a compelling marketing tool, and not just a plain business card, like everyone else.

Have business cards with you at all times, no matter where you are. You just never know when your card is going to get into the hands of someone who is really interested in your products or services.

5 Great Degrees for Online Learning

Some degree programs work better online than others. This has to do with the nature of the work that goes into the degrees. For instance, chemistry classes don’t work well online because professors cannot check the work virtually. Thus you may be stuck on campus if you are getting a degree like that. If you are set on going to school online though, there are some degrees that work really well for distance learning. And of course, we made a list of those for you here so you can know what to look for. We wouldn’t leave you hanging 😉

Here are five great degrees for online learning.

Criminal Justice

Criminal justice degrees can lead to a number of jobs, and they are really easy to go through online you may have trouble learning about forensic science on the internet, but you can definitely learn enough to be a paralegal, police officer, court reporter, or something else along those lines. This is one of the fastest growing training fields online, and it is something you can easily get involved with. All you have to do is find the right school for you.

English or Journalism

Most degrees related to writing are also great online. All you have to do for these is read, write, and discuss information with other students, so why can’t you do that on the internet? There is a reason why English Composition is the most popular online class of any school, campus based or otherwise. It is because people enjoy the ease of getting through English online. If you are planning on becoming a journalism, English teacher, or writer in the future, you might be able to get all the training you need online.

Nursing

Nursing may not seem like an obvious degree for the internet, but it has become that over the years. Nursing involves dealing with patients in person, but the principles behind the career are all theoretical. In other words, you can learn about it without having to have someone there to guide you through the process. You could take your RN to BSN online, or you could just get a basic degree to start yourself off. As long as you plan on becoming a nurse, you can go to school online.

Mathematics

Mathematics does not require any hands-on training at all, which is why it is so fitting for the internet. You could go to school to become a mathematician and learn just as much or more online compared to the classroom. In fact, some math majors actually prefer the internet because it allows them to explore the ideas in their training even further. If you are planning to get a degree in math, you might as well go to school online.

Marketing

Marketing degrees are all about learning how to plan a campaign. They don’t require in-person training because the work for the job isn’t very personal. A lot of marketers actually work online, which means that you could condition yourself for the real world by going to school on the web. That’s right – the internet may actually be better for you if you are getting a degree in marketing. That’s just something to think about.

Even though just about any degree can work online, there are some that just seem to work better there than others. Think about what you want to do in life and figure out if that is going to require someone else to train you in person. If not, welcome to the World Wide Web.

7 Low Cost Ideas for Promoting Your Business

You don’t have to empty out your bank account to market and grow your business. Here are seven low-cost ideas to help you increase your sales:

  1. Write articles

Newspapers and magazines are always looking for free, interesting stories and articles that would benefit their readers. You could write articles and submit them to publications for consideration.

Always include contact information at the end of your articles so that people will know how to contact you about your services or products.

  1. Offer to be a speaker

Business and civic organizations are constantly on the lookout for people to speak at their meetings and get togethers. Make yourself available by offering to speak to these groups, for free, about your area of expertise. Pass out contact information to all attendees.

  1. Ask for referrals

Referrals are an excellent way to grow your business. Proactively ask for referrals from happy customers, business acquaintances, friends and family members.

  1. Start a web site

It’s a great time to jump onto the information superhighway and start a Web site for your business. If you’re on a budget, there are many books on the market that will help you design a Web site on your own.

Once you have a Web site, you can use endless free methods to get people to visit your site!

  1. Send press releases

Do you have something to offer that would be newsworthy? Perhaps, you’re offering a free service to the public, or maybe you offered a service to an organization without charging a fee. Newspapers are always looking for interesting tidbits of information for their readers.

When you have something newsworthy, simply type up a press release and send it out to as many newspapers as possible. Be sure to always include contact information when you do so.

  1. Network

Every person knows at least 250 other people. And each of those 250 people, know another 250 people, and so on. This should give you an idea of how important it is to network. Tell everyone you know about your business, and always have business cards on hand to pass along.

  1. Try e-mail marketing

Rather than trying to reach people through the US Mail, you may consider reaching them by e-mail -which is practically free – just the cost of your monthly Internet Service Provider.

Just make sure you build an opt-in list. This means that the people on your list have agreed to allow you to send e-mail to them.

This form of marketing can be very cost effective. You can either send to 1,000 people at $0.39 each using the US Mail, or for practically nothing when you use e-mail!

6 Web Site Content Tips to Attract Potential Customers Like a Magnet

  1. Provide Lots of Free Content:

The lure of the Internet is the promise of unlimited information–for free. Information on any and every subject known to man is accessible on the net.

If you want to attract potential customers to your Web site and you want to keep them coming back again and again, then provide lots of useful, interesting, or entertaining content for your visitors.

Of course, you want to make sure the type of content you provide on your Web site is directly related to your product or service. Otherwise, you’ll just be providing free content without any potential for selling your products or services to your visitors.

  1. Update Your Content Often:

If you want to get your prospect list and your customer list coming back to your site, your newsletter will help, but you have to give them a reason to come back.

That reason will be fresh and interesting content on your site. Putting new content on your site is a never ending process. It’s not something you do once and then forget about it.

  1. Check for Dead Links:

It’s very frustrating for Web site visitors to click on a link and find a Page Not Found message. Double check your page links and make sure there are no dead ones.

  1. Eliminate Under Construction Pages:

You see them all the time, and it is a real turn-off for Web site visitors.

Page Under Construction.

If your page is not ready for your visitors, then don’t put a link to it.

Imagine opening a store and inviting people into one of your departments and then telling them that “Oh, uh, actually, this room is still under construction. Watch your head on the way out.”

Many Search Engines won’t list you if they find Page Under Construction messages.

Wait until your page is complete and then put it on your site.

  1. Avoid Banner Mania:

If all you have on your Web site are advertising banners and more advertising banners everywhere you look, people are not going to stay and they won’t be coming back.

Focus on what your visitors want — interesting, fun, informative content.

One or two ad banners may be okay, just don’t overdo it.

  1. Provide In-Depth Product Description Pages:

We can’t believe how many Web sites just provide the title of their products or services, one or two features, and a price, and think that people are going to then buy from that skimpy amount of information.

You have to remember that your Web site visitors don’t have the luxury of entering your place of business, picking up and examining your product, and asking you lots of questions about its features and benefits.

The only thing they know on your Web site, is what you tell them. And when it comes to marketing, the more you tell, the more you sell!

The more expensive the product or service, the more you must tell.

The myth that you can sell products from your Web site with just a picture, name and price destroys a lot of Web businesses. Don’t let it destroy yours.

Managing Creativity and Innovation – Part 4

CONCLUSION

Creativity and innovation are key factors to a successful organisation as they do not copy ideas from other organisations but they merely innovate from existing ideas to produce an exclusive solution in the form of product or services (Burrus, 2013). Organisations who encourage its employees to be more creative and innovative are able to withstand the competition in today’s world.

 

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Appendixes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Managing Creativity and Innovation – Part 3

Conditions of Creative Thinking

Creative thinking does not happen automatically. Alexander Graham Bell has always been known for his invention of the telephone in 1876 (Strickland, n.d.) and the first successful cell phone was designed by Martin Cooper who was an executive in Motorola in 1973 (Seward, 2013). Fast forward to 2017, we have a wide variety of smartphones of various sizes and functions.

 

Image 1 – Evolution of mobile devices (Seward, 2013)

 

Martin Cooper was driven by his competitive edge against Bell Labs to design the first functional cell phone. He then proceeded to make a prank call to his competitor Joel Engel to prove his point (Strickland, n.d.). With that, it propelled the cell phone industry to where it stands today.

According to Proctor (2005), he cites that Mary Henle (1962) defined that creative thinking required five conditions which were “receptivity, immersion, seeing questions, utilisation of errors and detached devotion”.

To be able to think creatively, one needs to be receptive where one is required to disengage from one’s present actions and notice one’s surrounding that might present an idea (Proctor, 2005). The telephone invention has always been synonymous with Alexander Graham Bell as he holds the patent for it (History.com Staff, 2009) but his patent has been challenged by Elisha Gray who at the same time was also applying for the patent but Bell finally won (Anon, n.d.). At the same time, Philipp Reis from Germany in 1860 was also working on this invention but had faced issues with the invention (Lienhard, n.d.). While all three inventors had the idea, it was Bell who was finally successful as he was granted the patent for it and until today he is still known as the telephone inventor. Bell would not have been successful if he did not seek out ideas that surrounded him. Although he built his invention on ideas of others, he made it work while the others were not able to (Lienhard, n.d.).

Immersion is also another condition that requires one to fully be involved and spend countless hours on developing the idea (Proctor, 2005). Bell spent countless hours in his research and engaged in many scientific experiments and a profound champion for the deaf (History.com Staff, 2009). He was very dedicated to his work that he had poor health but it never deterred him from the inventor and scientist that he is (Anon, n.d.).

The third condition of creative thinking is seeing questions where it is linked to the fact that one’s thinking is unable to go further than the question posed. The limitations of one’s thinking due to the experience or knowledge becomes a deterrent but in creative thinking, the question is likely not the most important aspect of the process (Proctor, 2005).

On the fourth condition, the utilisation of errors which is defined by errors that eventually produce solutions and ideas (Proctor, 2005). Bell through his many years of experimentation with sound waves came about the invention of the telephone (Anon, n.d.). He was not discouraged nor was he bound by his knowledge and experience with his deaf mother (Anon, n.d.). He continued his efforts to patent his inventions and making his mark as the inventor of the telephone.

Last but not least the final condition of creative thinking is detached devotion where a copious amount of time and effort is put into solving a problem or developing an idea (Proctor, 2005). In his effort to invent the world’s the first telephone, Bell dedicated his time to research and experiment and other inventions before he arrived at a physical and working device (History.com Staff, 2009).

In multiple types of research, creative thinking can also be stimulated in difficult and stressful situations (Christensen, 2015). In order to stimulate creative thinking, it can be deduced that various elements contribute to this process when applied in problem-solving and coming up with creative solutions.

 

CREATIVITY TO INNOVATION

If an employee has a brainstorm session and thinks up a lot of new ideas, it displays creativity, however, there is no innovation unless something gets done. Someone must venture and bring something for a creative thought to be transformed into an innovation (Agbor, 2008).

It is necessary to mark the differences between the terms. Unlike creativity, innovation more refers to the cooperation of artificial structures and technological elements rather than the natural environment. It consists of computers, the internet, mobile phones, databases, and systematised processes (Lengrenzi, 2005).

It is crucial to highlight key aspects of creative thinking and innovation. Creativity stands out with:

  • ability to be tenacious despite complicated conditions
  • capability to retreat from an effort and come back later with a refreshed view
  • juxtaposing knowledge with previously contrasting areas

The two meaningful aspects which facilitate innovation:

  • slight continuous steps that include try-outs and errors
  • instant reorganisation of components or the view of new aspects (Lengrenzi, 2005)

As an instance of transition of creativity to innovation, the case of Peter Henlein should be taken. Before his innovation in watchmaking, there were other means how to calculate time such as movement of the celestial bodies or flow of water which were created by Su Sung (the year 1092) and many others. Peter Henlein, who is known as a father of modern clocks, could create springy strips made of steel. Being resilient enough, they can be bent tightly into curls. This innovation in watchmaking was fundamental and nowadays renowned all over the world (HistoryOfWatch, 2016).

To come up with a creative thought is one thing, but transmuting it into the innovation of a new creation or usage demands different individual features. These innovative people are required to have the type of mentality that can create the sequence of procedures which guide to favourable innovation (Amabile, 1988).

The case of improvement of the telephone can be discussed as an alternative example of the transformation. Johann Philipp Reis was the first creator who triumphed in creating an appliance called telephone. It allowed him to transmute hearable sounds into seeable signals. Having a special enthusiasm in the creature, Alexander Graham Bell continued working on it and eventually united the strength of electromagnetism with a gear of vibration. This was the foundation of present telephone technology. The situation accentuates how ideas emerge and how to set them on the new level (Abbott, 2016).

Transitioning creativity to innovation can be illustrated with the following scheme:

 

Scheme 1:  Transitioning creativity to innovation (Suvorova, 2012).

 

The creative process is the basic part of an innovation process. However, there are situations when innovative systems are not involved in creative activities (and creative structures are not capable of producing innovations). There cannot be an equal sign between innovation and creativity processes which take place in society (Suvorova, 2012).

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

Creativity and innovation are linked together to create a better product or a process for better service or procedure. There are many theorists that have tried to explain and define both ‘creativity’ and ‘innovation’ but most have different views but through this report, it is found that creativity is a part of innovation that will result in an invention or solution. In an application in a commercial setting, organisations have to take into consideration the possible blockages and resolve them to ensure a conducive environment to encourage creative inventions of products or services. Communication and collaboration between internal departments are essential in creating a smooth process to relate it to the external departments. All these factors should review and will lead a creative idea to an innovative invention.

Managing Creativity and Innovation – Part 2

THEORIES OF CREATIVITY

Wallas Model of the Creative Process

As it accords to the process, it would follow the logic order, whether the main point or the contents inside. In Wallas Model, it consists of 4 parts; preparation level, incubation, illumination and verification level respectively (Yuan and Shen, 2016).

 

 

Figure 1: The sequence of Wallas Model of Creative Process (Velikovsky, 2012)

 

Preparation Level

The level finds personal needs and desires, collects background information and seeks the solutions as well as focuses on the opportunity and tries to seek for a better quality of opportunities.

When Leonardo da Vinci was working in the restaurant, he found the problem of transporting food to the kitchen and to the customers, inventing conveyor belts. Also, when Duke ordered the food from the restaurant, it was cooled down. According to it, he contrived the large oven. As to ensure the safety in the restaurant, he invented sprinkler system. All the items were innovated, based on the need and desire; the criteria of acceptability are to meet its crucial target (Sullivan, 2011).

Incubation Level

After reviewing the problems, solutions and opportunities, the mind start processing all the information, that information internalised unconsciously but nothing appears outside. So, our mind contemplates and works it through. The time for this step is unknown, depends on individuals works.

When people around Da Vinci gave up thinking and performing, he still continued to think something new, some changes for the painting, after ages of struggling, he covered the famous painting-Mona, Lisa.

Illumination Level

Our mind will provide the basis of a creative response and idea briefly and also will flash into your mind to be awareness.

Verification Level

The idea and test implemented into activities that are held to demonstrate the individuals’ needs and criteria defined. The solutions are verified, elaborated and then applied to the physical behaviour (Wallas, 1949).

 

Divergent and Convergent Thinking

Creativity is the vital factor for future success, scholar achievement and plays a beneficial role in the development of the life-cycle process. There have been written a quite big number of articles about creativity, however, the interpretation of the definition is multiple and still not unique (Soghra, 2011). Different kinds of theories interpret the creativity as psychological mechanism, which forms authentic and relevant opinions, including Guilford’s psychometric theory released in 1950, Wertheimer’s Gestalt theory in 1959, Mednick’s and Eysenck’s associational theories in 1962 and 1995 correspondingly, Campbell’s Darwinian theory in 1960, social-psychological theory of Amabile in 1983, investment theory of Sternberg and Lubart’s in 1995, and cognitive theory by Martindale’s in 1995. Those theories help to develop and learn, and interpret our perception about creativity. Yet, the significant idea of contemporary understanding of creativity have been started in the 1950s by researcher Joy Paul Guilford, and in 1967 when he provided differences among divergent and convergent theories (Soghra, 2011).

Divergent thinking

Divergent thinking is a significant part of creative thinking. It doesn’t necessarily bring you the right and best solution, however by producing and contributing to a greater number of multiple solutions, some new thoughts may come to your attention. It’s may also be defined as a mind thinking technique used to create thoughts by sorting and handling a lot of relevant ideas (See Figure 2) which basically generated in an instinctive, random and unplanned, free-flowing way that is dissimilar to convergent thinking, which is well-organized and compelling. In a lack of time, there are a variety of decisions and alterations are generated and unanticipated contacts are drawn. Divergent thinking includes personality characteristics such as curiosity, nonconformity, persistence and risk taking, etc.

 

 

Figure 2.1: Divergent Thinking (Clayton, 2008)

 

Guilford’s described divergent thinking as the capability to comprehend views and ideas from a broad range of areas of inspection in order to obtain better perceiving of the external environment and world. Moreover, it’s been outlined four the fundamental aspects he accomplice creativity with fluency, flexibility, originality, elaboration (Soghra, 2011).

As an example of divergent thinker, we may say about Albert Einstein. He practised with having an intellectual training session on simple and ordinary questions. For instance, sometimes he imagined himself riding on a beam of light. Throughout the wide number of research experiments, he became to a conclusion of a theory of relativity. Such logic experiments are imagined a sequence of events to realise the idea of things are (Carlson, 2012).

Convergent thinking

Convergent thinking is a definition proposed again by Guilford in 1967, which has reverse meaning to divergent thinking. Convergent thinking is the mechanism of discovering a sole final decision of a problem that we are willing to settle. A lot of exams and quizzes that are being used at a school level, like as MCQ, spelling, math, and standardised tests, are a variety of convergent thinking (Williams, 2003).

 

Figure 2.2: Convergent Thinking (Clayton, 2008)

 

Thinking about one of the convergent thinkers of all the times we can say about Sherlock Holmes, a fictional character of author Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective history, who used his mind in and deductive and sequence way of thinking by sorting, investigating, and analyzing a number of different facts so that in the end it resulted in a very logic answering of certainly asked questions. (Soul Fields, 2013). Thus, creating of such smart character by the actor we may even suppose of his convergent thinking abilities to generate a number of ideas and problem solutions.

Peter Henlein was a locksmith expert in the area of watchmaking, the main invention of whom was a producing of springy strips of steel for clocks. In this situation, he tried to find out the best and final solution for multiple ideas and information generated by him throughout the process.

Summarising up all points that are stated above, we can say that both convergent and divergent thinkings are ‘two children of one family’ and play a key role in every day’s life. The difference I may conclude that convergent thinking is a mainly straight forward type of problem-solving decision, as our minds do not necessarily need our brain to be stressed much, while divergent thinking is more intensified and brainstorming way of thinking.