Crew project

In 1968, George Land and Beth Jarman conducted an experiment with children. They asked 1,600 5-year-old children how many uses they could come up with for paperclips. They then retested those children at ages 10 and 15. And they tested a group of adults, finally.

The proportion of people who scored at the “Genius Level” on this test was:

• 5-year-olds: 98%
• 10-year-olds: 30%
• 15-year-olds: 12%
• adults: 2%

Despite the common belief that people become less imaginative and less creative as they get older, 20 Lithuanian participants of the welcomed-back educonf ‘I am an Entrepreneurial Mom’ tried to prove the opposite. Ladies came up with more than 40 different ideas on paperclip usage and its compatibility with different environments and belongings, scoring nearly 20%.  

“The results of that experiment highlight the importance of divergent and convergent thinking”, Skaidre Vainikauskaite-Tomaseviciene, a CREW project manager and developer of its Training Course on Communication and Self-improvement skills, explained introducing the intellectual outputs of the first Erasmus+ project coordinated by Lithuanian NGO Versli mama.

“Divergent thinking is about imagination, i. e. the ability to think about all of the possibilities. Meanwhile, convergent thinking is about discernment and choice-making, i. e. from all of the possibilities, which might be the best choice?”, she said, explaining that both thinking patterns happen in 2 different parts of the brain, with the divergent part of the brain firing with numerous ideas, and the convergent part filtering and discarding all the “dumb” ones before they are even fully thought through or expressed. 

It’s a protective mechanism from all the education people have received that has focused on finding the “right” answer as fast as possible and the repercussions if you don’t. Unfortunately, some ‘right’ answers, especially made choosing a career path at an early age, may turn out to be wrong ones later.

“Don’t be afraid to change Your professional path, because our ultimate goal is to feel happy with our choices”, dr. Janina Radvile, a coach and author of the motivational book ‘It is never too late to live’ encouraged, presenting on CREW Training Course on Career Management Skills she was the developer behind. 

Evaluation of personal digital skills under the leadership of CREW lecturer Vilma Dainiene provided local multiplier event participants with a clearer view of their readiness for professional changes, given the cyber demands of a rapidly changing labor market.

The participants of the traditional educonf for entrepreneurial moms’ creativity and resilience boosting also paid the site visit around Vilnius service business vocational training centre which has been hosting the event. An hour-long tour provided participants with a better understanding of modern labor market demands as well as inspiration and encouragement for further collaborative projects.         

The educational conference ‘I am an Entrepreneurial Mom’ took place on the 24th of August, 2022, in Vilnius service business vocational training centre, Didlaukio str. 84, Vilnius. It was organized as a local multiplier event for the adult education project “Creativity, Resilience, Empowerment for Work” (#CREW), financed by the Erasmus+ program of the European Commission, No. 2020-1-LT01-KA204-077916. The duration of the project is 2020-2022. NGO VERSLI MAMA implemented the project together with partners from Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Spain, and Italy.

Photos by Crew team.