Author: kshyatt

Common Misconceptions About Creativity

by kshyatt, posted in Creativity

Here are the most common misconceptions about creativity. If any of these are your own assumptions, you may be limiting your creativity (and that of others around you).

  1. Creativity means being original. Everybody wants “out-of-the-box” thinking, the WOW ideas that come from seemingly nowhere, have never been done before, and change everything. That’s great, when it happens (and if the resources are available to make something happen as a result). So, what about being creative “inside the box”? Especially if budget is limited, people and resources scarce and time is pressing? Re-thinking something we did before with just a tad of thinking differently creates new products and processes every day. Some of us tend by nature toward out-of-the-box thinking; some are the opposite. Very often, one perspective needs the other to get to something new that works. Be on the lookout for both kinds of creative thinkers and get them together, often.
  2. Being creative means what you come up with is useful. Plenty of ideas that eventually lead to ground-breaking innovation sit around for a long time until they find an application. On the other hand, what we expect is what we usually get more of. History is full of examples of creative innovations that were, at first, thought to be useless because they didn’t fit today’s agenda. Look for ways to protect the “useless” ideas and put them away for safe keeping. If they’re not useful now, they might come in handy at just the right time. Sometimes, just stretching the creative muscle for the heck of it by doing something the boss might think is useless frees up mindspace for other, productive things. Sometimes those things can lead to surprising results, now or later. But, creativity is what it is. It doesn’t necessarily lead to anything at all. Frequently it leads to unintended consequences and unimagined benefits. It doesn’t come from directives to be creative. It doesn’t have a use. It just is.
  3. Creativity comes from creative problem solving processes. There are a lot of creative problem solving processes that provide helpful structures for loosening up our thinking, shifting the paradigm, and getting people to step away from negative judgments for a short while and let it all flow. But creativity thrives in the wild, regardless of what kind of creative animal you are, and is fed by passion. Put people on the track of what they are energized by and creativity will flow.
  4. Creativity comes from talent. Often the case, but talent is too often wasted. And the people who assume they can’t be creative use it as an excuse not to try things. Creativity comes far more from people who question their assumptions, about themselves and their abilities and how they add value. True. it’s far easier to learn something when you have natural talent. So, what’s your talent?
  5. Being labeled “creative” is always a compliment. (Isn’t it?) In fact, you may have experienced a time when it wasn’t. Especially if people around you think that creativity always means thinking out of the box, and out of the box can be scary and threatening if a new idea is asking for things to change too much, too quickly. What’s more to the point is discovering not whether (because you are) but how you are creative and how your creative animal likes being fed. You need too to be able to see how people around you are creative and get them the care and feeding they need. The labeling part is not too helpful. Finding out how everyone is creative is helpful. It can take a lot of creativity just to get across a busy street. If we all couldn’t do that in some way or another, we wouldn’t be here.

So, being productive means getting a handle on creativity.

Everyone is creative. It’s up to you to figure out how and get people with different creative styles together.

Creativity is energy. It’s not a product. It can lead to new things in the real world when the right conditions are in place. These conditions can vary depending on who you are want you want to do and what kinds of resources you may have.

The best process for getting creativity juiced up is to get people juiced up. It’s that simple (and that difficult).

There are a lot of hidden talents out there that need discovering. There are all kinds of ways to do it. The most important thing is to find out what kinds of natural talents you, and your people, possess. Start asking questions, find out what turns people on. Almost no matter what it is, there are ways to get some of it.

Go for it. Find ways to feed your own creativity. Find out what you really want to learn and go after it. When you are giving energy to what you really want, creativity is a natural outcome. As natural as breathing.

We all do it.

Creative Style, Talent and Skill

by kshyatt, posted in Creativity

“Creativity? Hey, I’m not an artist. But I would like to be more creative.” We often hear this from people we are about to work with. What’s behind that sort of statement is usually a misconception, mixing and confusing several concepts that psychologists have described very well. Few people are aware of this, so here is a clarification:

Creative style, Skill, Talent: These are different from each other, and they operate independently of each other. Yes, they do interact, and yes, can support and enhance each other. But they are not quite the same.

Creative Style: Everyone is creative (let’s spell that out: EVERYONE). The thing to remember is that each of us has a unique creative style. This ranges along a continuum of styles from “adaptive,” “inside-the-box” (think: process improvement – make what’s ‘in the box’ efficient, and very often, elegant) to “original,” “outside-the-box” (think; create a new box, or better yet, a whole new type of container – which may completely ignore the original problem some people thought was going to be solved). Each of us sits somewhere along this continuum. No matter where we are, those who are more ‘adaptive’ and ‘practical’ than we are perceive us as more ‘out-of-the-box;’ and to those who are more ‘novel’ and ‘original,’ we appear as more ‘in-the-box.’ These perceptions are in fact the result of measurable, cognitive preferences – like being right or left handed. And, and each style has its strengths and limitations. (Just think about a few of the people you work with.)

Talent: Everyone has some. Talents are not restricted to art, of course. And they can lie undiscovered or undeveloped for years. For a broad assessment of major talents, try the Gallop StrengthsFinder assessment. Purchase the book Now Discover Your Strengths http://www.amazon.com/Discover-Your-Strengths-Marcus-Buckingham/dp/0743201140 . Be sure to purchase a new copy, which includes a code for one-time-only access to an online survey. You will receive a list (and definitions) of your top five Strengths, which for all intents and purposes will also identify your unique talents. According to Gallup, “A talent is a naturally recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied.” Having a talent does not imply that you actually have developed skill or flexibility in applying that talent, but at the minimum, you will have the potential for developing that talent. Talent development is possible – and it takes some work. Most of us depend on the same tried and true behaviors or skills which are the applications of our talent(s). The good news is that knowing what your talents are is the first step to developing them into skills.

Skill: Skills are behavior, the things we can really do. Skills can be learned. True, if you have a talent, your potential for excellence in the skills supporting it is greater than if you don’t have that associated talent. But we all are called upon to do things that at first we don’t do well; and we can learn how to achieve mastery. It’s also true that we enjoy doing things most when we can employ our natural talents. And you know that simple memorization will likely not provide you with depth of insight or meaning. You know the drill: practice, practice, practice.

At the Creative Intelligence Lab we help people integrate all three of these important factors, and we throw in a fourth factor:

Values: Values are, really, your highest priorities. When you identify your real priorities, you have the master key to what motivates you. Think of values as packages of energy, which when triggered, are guided by your creative style, enhanced by your own particular talents, and applied through your skills. Then, mountains get moved.

Effective and lasting development requires an integration of all of the above. It also requires a commitment, because true development takes effort. But, when it mixes in the stuff you really are, it’s also fun.