Salvador Dali’s Creative Thinking Technique | Michael Michalko, The Creativity Post

How to conjure up dreamlike imagery from your subconscious.

That's the synopsis of this article, but the article is not just about creating images for use in artwork. It includes real-life examples of how two businesses used Dali's creative thinking technique.

Michalko writes:

Dali was intrigued with the images which occur at the boundary between sleeping and waking. They can occur when people are falling asleep, or when they are starting to wake up, and they tend to be extremely vivid, colorful and bizarre. He experimented with various ways of generating and capturing these fantastical images.

Summarized, here is Michalko's description of Dali's technique:

• Think about your challenge. ...
• Totally relax your body. ...
• Quiet your mind. ...
• Quiet your eyes. ...
• Record your experiences immediately after they occur. ...
• Look for the associative link. ...

Based on other reading I've done about creativity, I think that last step is key, however a person reaches that step. In dealing with any challenge creatively, from painting a landscape to solving a problem at work, a person needs to look for links and connections.

Michalko's suggests these related questions and others, apparently from Dali:

• What puzzles me?
• What's out of place?
• What disturbs me?
• What are the similarities?
• What analogies can I make?

Michalko writes:

The images you summon up with this technique have an individual structure that may indicate an underlying idea or theme. Your unconscious mind is trying to communicate something specific to you, though it may not be immediately comprehensible. The images can be used as armatures on which to hang new relationships and associations.

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This article is featured in today's (July 18) Creativity Connections, my daily online paper available at the Creativity tab above and by free email subscription.