Generativity is a tricky thing. It's when you work to achieve a desired outcome indirectly. The indirection helps to hide the desired outcome from your conscious mind. This can be important, because your mind has a tendency to interfere with the desired outcome. It's an example of Le Chatelier's Principle - Systems tend to oppose their own function.
Timothy Gallwey, a tennis coach, tells of a great example of generativity. He observed that direct verbal instructions such as ‘Keep your eye on the ball’ are ineffective because players find it hard to keep the direct advice sharp in their minds and at the same time to follow the advice. Instead Gallwey told the player to say the word "bounce" when the ball bounced in front of them and then the word "hit" as they hit the ball. Players found this alternative advice much easier to retain while playing. And since you have to watch the ball carefully to know the exact moment when it bounces and when you hit it it has the side effect of helping you keep your eye on the ball!
