My entire professional and educational life has been focused on creativity, so far. I am not going to pretend that I can cover all of it in one post that might be called a book. What I am going to try to do with this write up is to cover how I have come to think about creativity and how it should be something that is much more accessible and open to everyone. I have experienced some moments when people who are in a “creative” role push out those who are not. Or people who think it’s impossible for them to create since they are not in the right job function.
4 Myths About Creativity
I strongly disagree with the idea that only some people are creative, I think that creativity is a foundational part of being human being and one that we should all embrace.
To dig in a little deeper I want to get into some common myths or misconceptions about creativity and how it is used in the world. I want to stress that anyone and everyone is creative.
Creative Myth: Only some people are creative
This may be the biggest one I have heard that stops someone from pushing to try new and different things. This persistent idea that there is this tiny subset of humanity that is perfectly set up to create and do new and different things. I will contend that this is societal pressure not a natural innate issue. I feel this way from having seen children play together, they are always creating new and different games and ways to interact. I have yet to see some subset of tiny accountant or engineer children who refuse to try new games. Now having the chance to do so is important, if you are trapped in a terrible situation of poverty or crime it is hard to be joyously creative. Even in those moments creativity is there, how to survive, how to find little bits of joy. I contend that the urge to create is a core human driver.
Creative Myth: Only some jobs are creative
On the surface this myth has some merit. If you are working in an accounts receivable role and you need to take numbers in, confirm they are correct and track them accurately most employers would not want you to get “creative” with the numbers. Nor would auditors down the line. You can exercise creativity by finding new ways to organize data, new ways to share it. Or presenting it in a unique way that may highlight an issue or something going really well. If you have a great streak of on time payment or a constantly increasing income make that known in a new way.
The counterpoint would be the classic creative type roles. In my case Product Design, I recently had a discussion with a coworker that started with “those guys in creative must just be having fun all day long” now I am not one to complain about my job if I can avoid it. Sadly that is not the reality. Creative energy is used in big spurts often to push through to a new idea, or to get around a thorny issue. However to end up at the moment you need hours and days of hard work that may just be finding and organizing data. Or going through old ideas to see what as worked or not worked. Creativity is part of everything, but it is not everything! A tool in your toolbox.
Creative Myth: Creative ideas come from a special place
The secret idea place. Is it on the left brain? Right Bright? Down the middle? Maybe it sits near the heart full of fire and passion. Mine may be in my stomach and is activated by the perfect mix of fuel. Just need the right food and drink, anything is possible. In reality I find that the special place for ideas is a notebook, or digital note. Filled with moments that you have experienced in life which sparked ideas. I find it very useful to keep a list with me at all times to track any possible ideas or problems that would spark solution ideas. Having trouble in an app? Could you solve it? Can’t fit all of your groceries in your hands on the way inside, maybe write down the idea for a huge plastic hook? Living life is the best incubator for ideas, and very often the best ideas come from problems you are having. If you are having them it is very possible someone else is too. So sadly there is no special “idea” place in your brain you can get to with focused meditation, that will give you daily million dollar ideas, but you can create a great running list to look back at over time.
Creative Myth: The super creative (Steve Jobs type)
Steve Jobs is the first name that comes up when there are these discussions about a true creative genius! The idea that there are a small number of people in the world who are the true creative font and they cannot be matched. Steve Jobs is one of the most iconic visionaries of all time and at least of my lifetime. I feel that his true gift was believing in his ideas so strongly that he could not be stopped no matter what. The creative solutions he worked on were almost secondary. His drive to push and perfect the bit of an idea was the great thing he possessed. He likely had thousands of other ideas that did not make it to the end of the road. But he edited those down to a great final moment like the iphone. Other people had tried similar systems before but he perfected it frankly. So while there are surely one of a kind people in the world I do not think creativity is a thing we can assign. All people have a store of it, or can develop it. Which is what I want to help people do! Grow their creative muscles.
Stay Focused, Stay Creative.