About creative-thinking
creative-thinking is a structured ideation skill for people exploring multiple concepts or angles. It separates idea generation from selection and planning.
Key features
- 01Separate generation from selection
- 02Prime, Diverge, Connect, Harvest phases
- 03Tag ideas by flexibility and novelty
- 04Use varied creative triggers
- 05Select top ideas and next steps
Use cases
- 01Explore names, concepts, features, or campaigns
- 02Generate alternatives beyond an initial idea
- 03Expand a thin option list
Install
Copy the command and run it in a terminal.
npx skills add https:/ / github.com/ ysskrishna/ ai-agent-skills --skill creative-thinkingAfter installing, type/creative-thinkingin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.
Bundled filesreferences/example.md
Details
From the project READMECreative Thinking
Defer judgment while generating. Keep generate (Prime, Diverge, Connect) separate from Harvest (pick and plan).
When to use
- The user wants variety: names, concepts, features, angles, campaigns, designs.
- The user says the first idea is not good enough and wants more options.
- A choice is coming and the option list is still thin.
Skip: a single delivered answer with no exploration, audit-only teardown, mechanical execution. If the user is stuck in a rut and wants deliberately odd angles, a provocation-based approach fits better than plain divergence.
Before you start
- State in one block: Creative brief (goal, audience, constraints such as time, tone, taboos) and Pass (Prime, Diverge, Connect, Harvest).
- Gather first. If you can read the project, brand docs or earlier attempts, do it so ideas fit the context. Ask up to 3 questions only for what tools cannot answer.
- Light path. Small ask: 6 ideas, 2 mashups, 3 picks. Default sizes: Diverge 10-15 ideas, Connect 3 mashups.
- If the user is stuck on one framing, add a Perspectives beat before Diverge: Optimist, Skeptic, Outsider, two reframes each, no cross-critique yet.
Phases
1. Prime
2-4 bullets: what would a delightful or surprising success look like? What must not be violated?
2. Diverge
Quantity first. Tag each idea F (flexible reuse of something existing), N (novel twist) or W (wild, may be impractical).
Use at least two triggers from: analogy (unrelated domain), constraint flip (remove or add a rule), user fantasy (absurd ideal), time shift (past or future), scale shift (micro or macro).
3. Connect
Combine ideas: A + B -> hybrid concept in a few lines. Fewer than Diverge, never just one unless the brief is tiny.
4. Harvest
- Top picks: 3 ideas with a selection rationale tied to the brief.
- Next creative step: for example a storyboard, a user interview, a spike, a moodboard.
- Parking lot: 2 promising ideas deferred, and why.
Pitfalls
- Criticizing during Prime, Diverge or Connect. Park risks for a separate pass.
- Ten variations of one idea. Check that triggers produced different directions.
- Ideas that ignore the brief's constraints. Re-read Prime before Harvest.
- Claiming user research happened. Label any benefit as hypothetical.
Worked example: references/example.md.
Checklist
- Brief and Pass stated (Perspectives if used)
- Diverge uses two or more triggers; ideas tagged F, N or W
- Connect has several mashups
- Harvest: top picks, next step, parking lot
- No criticism before Harvest