*Shall I start with some irony? I can't think of a creative title for my post on creativity. Perhaps I need to take a long shower. ;)
Being an only child, I feel like I had to learn creativity from an early age. I had (and still have) a desire to be constantly entertained or engaged, so my mother was constantly thinking up ideas to help keep me occupies. Books, puzzles, tea sets, microscopes, games, projects, art, etc... I was a needy kid! However, I think this really helped build my creativity from the get-go. I was constantly being exposed to something new, and largely had to take full responsibility for having a good time in the process.
In elementary school, I attended a "gifted & talented program"called REACH. My favorite part of the program, in addition to getting to leave my regular school once a week, was "Right Hemisphere." The teacher turned off the lights and let us lay down and close our eyes as she read us a story or described a situation. Then, when we were ready, we'd get up and create some type of art project that represented what we had experienced. Talk about creativity overload! Plus, this was something I could excel at and that pretty much sealed the deal for me + creativity. (To demonstrate contract, me + sports = fail.)
Throughout school, I was happy to take on any type of art, music, or writing project - anything where I could do something outside the norm. Ironically, once I got to college, I decided I wanted to be a lawyer. After spending two years as a file clerk at a law firm, it should come as no surprise that I switched my major to marketing instead of pre-law.
In my professional career, I rely on my creativity for everything I do. I am perfectly accepting of my lack of mathematical skills because I know I can bring something different to the table. (This has to be true, otherwise I'm totally unsure how I ended up with a consulting internship.) This leads me to my next point, which is organizational creativity. While I absolutely feel that individuals are capable of being creative, I more so feel that groups within organizations are also capable of being creative - that is given the right environment for the right goal.
When one typically thinks of the right environment, I'd imagine a mental picture of a creative space with plenty of natural light, and lacking cube-farms. However, thinking about the movie "Office Space," creativity thrived in this environment! It was just not the type of creativity that management would want. (Or that was legal, of course.) But for the "right" type of creativity, it certainly helps to have environments that foster group creativity. Open spaces for meetings, good communication channels, etc... these are all helpful to generate the right mentality. However, it is the group itself that ultimately will produce creativity.
In my experience, groups with diverse backgrounds, who have been exposed to things outside the issue they are trying to solve, have been more effective. In my past job as the marketing director at a disaster restoration company, I had to work with groups every week to solve problems and create marketing initiatives. We worked best when we left the office (which had no windows and was located in a warehouse) and essentially got away from our workplace. We made sure to remain open to each other's ideas - being respectful - and as a group, we came up with some really cool initiatives. When we were forced to stay in the office and brainstorm under the eye of our founders, creativity was always stifled.
My own biggest takeaway from working with groups in various organizations was that one of the biggest driving factors to creativity was the openness of the rest of the organization. When I had bosses that encouraged new and innovative ideas, the better the ideas where. When I had bosses that didn't want creativity, I felt unmotivated and stifled.
I found Jonah Lehrer's "How to be Creative" article very interesting. While of course I don't have any scientific expertise, everything that he said seemed reasonable to me. I agreed with the way he describes different types of creative problems and processes, especially based on my own experiences. I definitely related to the "feelings of knowing" regarding coming up with a solution. It never occurred to me to differentiate whether I need to keep working at an idea or to step away, but I'm looking forward to trying this out! I also am interested to try and recognize where I stand in the "ability to calculate progress" arena that Lehrer references. I worry that we should just trust ourselves to know where we stand in the process and how to approach it without experience. But, I think with adequate experience, we can train ourselves to recognize where we are and how to better attack a creative problem/process.
Another point I agreed with was Lehrer's recommendation to have people without implicit knowledge of a problem join in the problem solving process. I have personally witnessed outsiders bringing new ideas and thoughts that spurred creative solutions. I also enjoyed his story about Yo Yo Mama playing an "unplayable" note on the cello. I truly believe that we are our own biggest boundaries. When we don't even think about what we are or aren't capable of, we can do so much more!
I wanted to add one more point based on our class discussion. I am a HUGE fan of improv classes! They very much help spur creativity because you learn the skill. Also, they teach you that it is okay to fail. I honestly feel that our creativity is hindered at work because we don't want to look stupid, or to fail. Improv helps teach that failing is totally normal - and in fact encouraged! So... a quick fix to generate some creativity - take an improv class. I highly recommend them.
Being an only child, I feel like I had to learn creativity from an early age. I had (and still have) a desire to be constantly entertained or engaged, so my mother was constantly thinking up ideas to help keep me occupies. Books, puzzles, tea sets, microscopes, games, projects, art, etc... I was a needy kid! However, I think this really helped build my creativity from the get-go. I was constantly being exposed to something new, and largely had to take full responsibility for having a good time in the process.
In elementary school, I attended a "gifted & talented program"called REACH. My favorite part of the program, in addition to getting to leave my regular school once a week, was "Right Hemisphere." The teacher turned off the lights and let us lay down and close our eyes as she read us a story or described a situation. Then, when we were ready, we'd get up and create some type of art project that represented what we had experienced. Talk about creativity overload! Plus, this was something I could excel at and that pretty much sealed the deal for me + creativity. (To demonstrate contract, me + sports = fail.)
Throughout school, I was happy to take on any type of art, music, or writing project - anything where I could do something outside the norm. Ironically, once I got to college, I decided I wanted to be a lawyer. After spending two years as a file clerk at a law firm, it should come as no surprise that I switched my major to marketing instead of pre-law.
In my professional career, I rely on my creativity for everything I do. I am perfectly accepting of my lack of mathematical skills because I know I can bring something different to the table. (This has to be true, otherwise I'm totally unsure how I ended up with a consulting internship.) This leads me to my next point, which is organizational creativity. While I absolutely feel that individuals are capable of being creative, I more so feel that groups within organizations are also capable of being creative - that is given the right environment for the right goal.
When one typically thinks of the right environment, I'd imagine a mental picture of a creative space with plenty of natural light, and lacking cube-farms. However, thinking about the movie "Office Space," creativity thrived in this environment! It was just not the type of creativity that management would want. (Or that was legal, of course.) But for the "right" type of creativity, it certainly helps to have environments that foster group creativity. Open spaces for meetings, good communication channels, etc... these are all helpful to generate the right mentality. However, it is the group itself that ultimately will produce creativity.
In my experience, groups with diverse backgrounds, who have been exposed to things outside the issue they are trying to solve, have been more effective. In my past job as the marketing director at a disaster restoration company, I had to work with groups every week to solve problems and create marketing initiatives. We worked best when we left the office (which had no windows and was located in a warehouse) and essentially got away from our workplace. We made sure to remain open to each other's ideas - being respectful - and as a group, we came up with some really cool initiatives. When we were forced to stay in the office and brainstorm under the eye of our founders, creativity was always stifled.
My own biggest takeaway from working with groups in various organizations was that one of the biggest driving factors to creativity was the openness of the rest of the organization. When I had bosses that encouraged new and innovative ideas, the better the ideas where. When I had bosses that didn't want creativity, I felt unmotivated and stifled.
I found Jonah Lehrer's "How to be Creative" article very interesting. While of course I don't have any scientific expertise, everything that he said seemed reasonable to me. I agreed with the way he describes different types of creative problems and processes, especially based on my own experiences. I definitely related to the "feelings of knowing" regarding coming up with a solution. It never occurred to me to differentiate whether I need to keep working at an idea or to step away, but I'm looking forward to trying this out! I also am interested to try and recognize where I stand in the "ability to calculate progress" arena that Lehrer references. I worry that we should just trust ourselves to know where we stand in the process and how to approach it without experience. But, I think with adequate experience, we can train ourselves to recognize where we are and how to better attack a creative problem/process.
Another point I agreed with was Lehrer's recommendation to have people without implicit knowledge of a problem join in the problem solving process. I have personally witnessed outsiders bringing new ideas and thoughts that spurred creative solutions. I also enjoyed his story about Yo Yo Mama playing an "unplayable" note on the cello. I truly believe that we are our own biggest boundaries. When we don't even think about what we are or aren't capable of, we can do so much more!
I wanted to add one more point based on our class discussion. I am a HUGE fan of improv classes! They very much help spur creativity because you learn the skill. Also, they teach you that it is okay to fail. I honestly feel that our creativity is hindered at work because we don't want to look stupid, or to fail. Improv helps teach that failing is totally normal - and in fact encouraged! So... a quick fix to generate some creativity - take an improv class. I highly recommend them.
