CREATIVITY SKILLS

Creativity isn’t only about design and art and beauty. It’s also about using new ways of thinking and structuring something. It’s putting the pieces together to get a better outcome. 

Creativity can be categorized into 3 sections.

Artistic Creativity
You don't have to be an artist for your work to have an artistic element.
If you work for a small company, the artistic task might fall to whoever agrees to do it. These tasks include designing logos, writing advertising copy, creating the packaging for a product, or drafting a phone script for a fundraising drive etc.

Creative Problem-Solving
Creative problem-solving stands out as innovative. A creative problem solver will find new solutions, rather than simply identifying and implementing the norm. You might brainstorm new ways.

Creativity in STEM
Some people think of science and engineering as the exact opposite of art and creativity. However, the opposite is true. The field of STEM (i.e., science, technology, engineering, and math) is highly creative.



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How to develop our Creativity Skills ?


1.Commit Yourself to Developing Your Creativity

The first step is to fully devote yourself to developing your creative abilities. Do not put off your efforts. Set goals, enlist the help of others and put time aside each day to develop your skills.

2.Become an Expert

One of the best ways to develop creativity is to become an expert in that area. By having a rich understanding of the topic, you will be better able to think of novel or innovative solutions to problems.

3.Reward Your Curiosity

Reward yourself when you are curious about something. Give yourself the opportunity to explore new topics.
Sometimes, the true reward of creativity is the process itself, not the product.



4.Be Willing to Take Risks

When it comes to building your creative skills, you need to be willing to take risks in order to advance your abilities. While your efforts may not lead to success every time, you will still be boosting your creative talents and building skills that will serve you well in the future.

5.Build Your Confidence

Insecurity in your abilities can suppress creativity, which is why it is important to build confidence. Make note of the progress you have made, commend your efforts, and always be on the lookout for ways to reward your creativity.

6.Make Time for Creativity

You won't be able to develop your creative talents if you don't make time for them. Schedule some time each week to concentrate on some type of creative project.

7.Overcome Negative Attitudes that Block Creativity

Positive moods can increase your ability to think creatively. Focus on eliminating negative thoughts or self-criticisms that may impair your ability to develop strong creative skills.

 8.Brainstorm to Inspire New Ideas

Brainstorming is a common technique in both academic and professional settings, but it can also be a powerful tool for developing your creativity. The goal is to generate as many ideas as possible in a relatively short span of time. Next, focus on clarifying your ideas in order to arrive at the best possible choice.


Be Self-Accepting. Be Open-minded. Make Mistakes – Mindfully.
Find the Connections.Do Something!!!

HOW TO FACE AN INTERVIEW

How to Face an Interview 

Be prepared: 

Do Extensive Research on the Company 
You should thoroughly research the company you are interviewing with, as you want to make sure you understand the business and anticipate the kinds of questions the interviewer may ask.

Anticipate Questions You Might Be Asked 
It’s important to think early on about the questions you may be asked so that you can prepare an polish answer.

Review Your Facebook and Other Social Media Postings 

Employers often review Facebook and other social media sites to get information and background on prospective employees. So make sure to review your online postings and pictures and delete any information that is not appropriate.

Dress Appropriately for the Interview
You want to dress appropriately and professionally for the job interview. 

Arrive Early and Prepared for the Interview 

Bring the Necessary Documents 
You should bring 5 or 6 copies of documents with you for the interview, in case the need arises. Such documents could include:

Copies of your resume
A list of references (including each person’s title, company, and contact information such as phone number and email address)
Copies of reference letters singing your praises
Work samples such as writings, design layouts, etc. (but make sure you aren’t providing confidential information of your existing employer)

Facing the interview: 

overcome fear 
self confidence 
Be honest 
Prove how better you are than others 
Be pleasant to employer 
Leave a thank you note while leaving 
Be a good listener, and never interrupt. 
Don’t bring up salary or benefits … but be prepared to answer the Dreaded Salary Question directly if asked

STORY WRITING

STORY WRITING

Task : write a story
Number of rounds per each group: 4 rounds
Rules :

• All the members has to face back to the white board.
• Can write only one word at time.
• Cannot communicate with each other

Objective : write a meaningful story in a less time

In our PPD session we did above mentioned activity by getting into 3 groups. Each group had given a marker pen to write the story.

Our group has being trying to write a story about a ghost in a childs dream. It was very hard to make a meaningful  story without communicating. But we somehow managed to make the story. But it was not very meaningful one.

After completing the story we read all stories. each and every group have done the same thing as our group. that was a great activity which teach us communicating is very important for any kind of group activity.

Things that we learned :

1. Without communicating a group work cannot be done as expected.
2. Communication is a must to our success.
3. fixing a half ended activity might be hard if we have no idea about how the previous guys have done it.

PAPER ROCKETS

 PAPER ROCKETS

Mterials : 6 A4 sheets

Task : Make highest numbers of airplanes fly over the given length

Time : 23 minutes

Number of members : 8

Rules : No other papers can be used and after the given time 2 members of each team has to fly those planes.

On our PPD(personal progress and  Development) session we have given the above task by our madam. There were only two groups. We planned our strategy by the weight of the paper and other environment issues like wind and so we did test drives to get the idea about the size of our planes and also to overcome our issues.

we  made 36 rockets and 23 got over the margin. Our team won the game even though our team had less members.

Things we learnt by this activity:

1. Time managing
2. Work as a team
3. Overcome obstacles
4. Choose the best members  to compete with other teams(eg:- to fly the planes)

LOOKS BACK

LOOKS BACK

"We must become the change we want to see "

                                                              -Mahatma Gandhi-

At first day of PPD session I had no idea about what was PPD. That was the beginning and now I'm explaining you all how great and valuable that subject was.

 Personal Progress and Development is known as PPD. I got improve my skills thanks to PPD.

                                       

 I had a chance to add so many things to my life and take my life into a whole new level.We did both individual and group activities.We created a blog about each day and shared our experiences with others and also explained achievements of new skills and improving them.

Some of the activities which we did are lava river,paper tower, stand on the paper ,barter puzzle , life goal etc. Below mentioned are the things we gained and improved from these PPD sessions.

• time management                                
• self confidence                          
• communication skills
• leadership
• problem-solving ability
• organising
• face unexpected situations                    
• help each other 
• have positive attitudes
• improve potential
• achieve our goals

At the we had a chance to have a out bound training for 2 days in Trincomalee navy camp.It was a new great experience for all of us .We learned new things and enjoyed every second of it.
We had a wonderful dinner with the navy officers and had a chance to visit navy museum as well.
                                         

So at last when I look back from the position where I am now I can say that I have climbed my ladder of life a bit with the help of these skills that I learned and improved each day.
                                               

BARTER PUZZLE

Barter Puzzle

Puzzles are especially good for improving short-term memory. And also improves the ability to solve problems creatively. Puzzles help to develop our visual special skills aswell. It also may help to lower our stress levels and improve our attention.

We solved a Barta puzzle in our PPD session.

We solved a puzzle of 100 pieces and 20 pieces of our puzzle are mixed with other two groups and we had to negotiate with them to get our pieces.

We had a time frame of 30 minutes. In the middle of sloving the puzzle the instructor gave us a distraction. We successfully faced all the situations but unable to solve within the time.

There were 3 groups. group no3  won the game.

Things that we learned,

• Time management.
• How to work as a group.
• How to negotiate with others.
• How to protect our own things.
• How to face unexpected situation.

LIFE GOALS

Life Goals

                    "The harder you work for reach your goals
                      The greater you'll feel when you achieve those"

A goal is an idea of future or decided result that a person or group of people envisions, plans and commit to achieve.

We can devide goals into several categories. For an example goals can be devided as
short term goals (within 5 years)
long term goals (more than 5 years)

Not only that but we can devide goals into 3 parts
1-personal goals
2-academic goals
3-professional goals

we did a goal setting activity for our ppd session. my future goals are mentioned below according to categories.

• Personal Goals  

Travel Around Europe
Watch a football match at old trafford-Manchester.
Build a house
Get a car
Have a good wife and happy life

• Academic Goals 

Complete my degree with a higher GPA

• Professional Goals

To be a skillful software engineer
Start my own bussiness apart from my job.