How to Stimulate Creative Thinking via Comparisons

You may recall lessons in elementary school in which you were asked to note the differences between two items. For example, what is the difference between a horse and a car? Or, which one of the following doesn’t belong: triangle/square/surface/oval? A lot of our early education was focused on the differences between certain facts. There’s nothing wrong with that, except that when we look for differences, the focus is typically on logical thinking. On the other hand, when we look for similarities, the focus shifts to creative thinking.

Here's an example: What are the similarities between a brick and a rubber band? At first glance, that seems to be an impossible task. “There’s nothing similar between those two items,” you might exclaim. But, dig a little deeper and you will begin to see possibilities. Here are a few similarities for your consideration:

• Both are made from organic materials.
• Both have right angles.
• Both can be used to hold things down.
• Both are inexpensive.
• Both can be obtained in a hardware store.
• Both need the letter “b” to make sense.
• Both come in a variety of colors.

By looking for connections between two very dissimilar objects, you are exercising your creative potential. Instead of looking for the obvious (as you were asked to do in school), with this re-framing you are looking for the less obvious, the less certain, and the less recognizable. This is creativity at its finest.

Exercise #1:

Try some of the following. What are three similarities between:

1. An apple and a bulldozer.
2. A slipper and a pencil.
3. A window pane and a shovel.
4. An oak tree and a fan.
5. A computer keyboard and a rice patty.
6. A driveway and a lighthouse.
7. A piece of coal and an email.
8. A stapler and a motorcycle.
9. A billboard and a diamond ring.
10. A fire hydrant and grilled cheese sandwich.

Exercise #2:

Here’s a different approach. Obtain a pack of 5x8 index cards, some cellophane tape, and a tall stack of old magazines. Take a pair of scissors and cut out as many pictures as you can. Don’t look for any particular type of picture or photograph; the only restriction is that it must be less than 5x8 inches. You may want to set a predetermined goal ahead of time; for example, 100 pictures. Afterwards, tape each picture to a card and then turn all the cards face down.

Source: Alexas_Fotos/Pixabay

For a quick creativity activity, randomly select two cards (you can’t see the pictures on the other side), turn the cards over, and see if you can determine four to five similarities between the two pictures. For example, I recently turned over an illustration of a mountain gorilla and a photograph of an old-fashioned dial telephone. Here are some of the similarities I generated:

• Both are endangered.
• They both make noise.
• They both are difficult to locate.
• They both have black circles.
• They both have a protruding “belly."
• They both have carbon components.

What else can you come up with?

Exercise #3:

Here are some words/items for your consideration. Randomly select any two. Then, jot down several similarities between the two selections. Remember, there are no “right” or “wrong” responses—the “connections” are entirely up to you.

Basket, fork, river, elevator, camel, bugle, curtain, ditch, sheet, caravan, easel, gutter, bonnet, hose, mesa, garbage, chariot, balloon, tent, flower, carton, orange, quarter, ballot, cork, popcorn, magnet, knife, manuscript, ship, menu, socket, garage, book, mattress, lounge, constable, cereal, orchestra, ham, baseball spoon, yam, jar, razor blade, cemetery, advertisement, mouse, robin, jellyfish, tick, word, puzzle, walrus, coffee, speaker, grass, snow, letter, clip, toaster, pipe, skyscraper, tree, basket.

Consider this random pairing: What are some of the similarities between a mouse (the animal) and a toaster?

• They both have compartments for food.
• They both have a tail.
• They both come in different colors.
• They both generate heat.
• They both work day and night.

By focusing on similarities (rather than differences), we exercise our minds to look at items in a more creative way. This activity, done every week or so, can help you generate creative possibilities quite often unrelated to mice or toasters (or mountain gorillas and telephones). Try it and you, too, will begin generating creative responses you never knew were possible.