Why we are not Creative
Most people don’t consider themselves creative. Why not? “Why aren’t more of us channeling that creative energy? Blame it on the gremlin—that invisible source of self-doubt that sits on our shoulder and reminds us of every negative adult, teacher, boss, etc. or other influence that discouraged us from embracing those bolts of inspiration. The gremlin holds us back. He fills us with fear and tells us to keep our thoughts to ourselves. He makes us believe that letting our creativity out will make us look foolish or doom us to failure. At the end of the day, the only sustainable competitive advantage—for individuals and companies—is creativity.” Josh Linkner, from Disciplined Thinking. In short, we fear rejection, so we don’t try.
It’s okay to be Uncomfortable
And just like you run for the first time, where your lungs are on fire, you get shin splits (excruciating pain in your shins) and you feel like you are dying, working on creating ideas will feel very uncomfortable. But is not just being uncomfortable with creating ideas.
“Not all creatively relies on panic, of course. But research by the cognitive psychologist Gary Klein indicates that roughly 20% of creative breakthroughs are preceded by an anxiety akin to the stress that accompanied frozen development. . . Effective brokers aren’t cool and collected. They’re often worried and afraid”
If it is so Uncomfortable, why do it? Because the payoff is worth it, and it doesn’t have to be drudgery.
Why Creativity is Important
“If you can solve a problem that is common for any group of people, you can make millions”, says Donny Deutsch, former host of the Big Idea television show. Think about. Creativity is what has created products that have changed the world, from the automobile, to the airplane to the smartphone. But there is an even more important reason.
Technology is going to replace jobs, or, more precisely, the people holding those jobs. Few industries, if any, will be untouched, according to Joseph Pistrui in the Harvard Business Journal.
Knowledge workers will not escape. Recently, the CEO of Deutsche Bank predicted that half of its 97,000 employees could be replaced by robots. One survey revealed that “39% of jobs in the legal sector could be automated in the next 10 years. Separate research has concluded that accountants have a 95% chance of losing their jobs to automation in the future.”
So, whether you are in corporate or in your own business, technology can have a negative impact on your livelihood. But by being creative, you can use new technology to your advantage to create new services and new products.
While most people are concerned about (scared?) of having to be creative to be successful, it need not create angst. We’ll go through the steps on how to be creative.
How Creativity Works
Creativity is connecting the dots
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it–they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things,” said Steve Jobs.
Creativity is taking ideas from different sources and putting them together in a unique and usable way.
“Almost all the creative papers had at least one thing in common: They were usually combinations of previously known ideas mixed together in new ways. In fact, on average, 90% of what as n the most “creative” manuscripts had been published elsewhere—had been picked over by thousands of scientists.” says Charles Duhigg in Smarter, Better, Faster.
Need LOTS of Ideas
Just like Madison needed a wealth of information to draw from to architect the US Constitution, so too will you need a wealth of information to create ideas, and you will need lots of bad ideas to create good ones. “Creativity is not a lightning strike”, says author Ryan Holiday.
And to keep your business growing, you’ll need to come up with new ideas.
Sarah Blakely, founder of Spanx, which generates over $250 million a year in sales, says, “I keep an idea book. It is at 99 pages, single spaced and a lot of the ideas have nothing to do with Spanx”.
Absorb a lot of Content
Along the same lines of making creativity fun, keep at it, even if the ideas aren’t flowing. There are two reasons for this.
- Getting lots of input can be valuable in creating great discussions. “Lincoln and his cabinet began a 27-hour journey and they were anxious about all the work they had left behind. As the hours passed by, they warmed to Lincoln’s high-spirited discourse and began to relax. General Viele marveled how Lincoln was always the center of the circle gathering on the quarterdeck, keeping everyone engrossed for hours as he recited Shakespeare, “’page after page of Browning and while cantos of Bryon. Talking much of the day, he interspersed stories and anecdotes from his ‘inexhaustible stock’”, from Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin. Whether you are trying to solve a problem for your business, create new business ideas, or to engage and inspire your team, having a wealth of material to draw upon is important.
- You never know when you will need the input. James Madison considered to be the father of the US constitution read and studied (need stronger words) various forms of government. Not as part of his university (Princeton), but on his own with a keen eye on what worked and didn’t work in the various types of government. “At age twenty-nine, Madison became the youngest member of the Continental Congress, and within a year, the small, soft-spoken, shy young man had emerged as a respected leader of the body. It was a tribute to his hard work and understanding of the issues. No one ever came to a meeting more prepared than Madison.” If Madison had not rigorously studied governments, the US would likely look very different today.
You should bounce those ideas off other creative people. Madison and Jefferson spent extensive time together discuss political ideas.
Creativity Process
Think You are Creative
First Step change your mindset. You are creative it you think you are creative. Stephen Key said, “Everyone is creative. Being creative is simply looking at something from a different perspective. It is looking at it through a child’s eyes.”
“It is much more than having a positive attitude”, says Bernhard Schroeder. “It’s an outlook or internal belief that you are and can be and will be creative. It is a deeply personal, and it informs how you interact with your creativity from everyday work-related ideas to life-changing goals”.
The reason you should think you’re creative is that ““Only 10% of our creative potential is determined by genes”, www.sciencedirect.com “Brain Research, volume 1069, issue 1, Jan. 19, 2006 p, 190-197. You are not born with creativity. It is a skill that you can develop, if you choose to, much like years ago when it was thought that leaders are born, not made. Other studies have shown a bit less than 90% of creativity is an acquired skill, “Studies have shown that creativity is close to 80% learned and acquired” according to HBR professor Clayton Christensen. “By making the system a part of your daily routine, you can expect to increase our creative capacity by 20, 30 or 50 percent.”
How to make it a Part of Your Daily Routine
Wait a minute! “Why do I want to make it a part of my daily routine. What do I want invest time on a daily basis for this when there are so many other pressing matters? I just need one good idea.”
If life were that easy. First, in order to have one good idea, there needs to be a lot of bad ideas. The idea of a brilliant insight that comes after a few minutes thinking just isn’t realistic. Coming up with ideas will take a lot of hard work. It is no different than trying to run a marathon. You don’t get off the couch and run 26 miles. You run a bit farther each day and with dedicated training you’ll be able to run a marathon in a year; doesn’t happen overnight. Anything worth having takes time, whether you want to be a chef (just ask my son who spent 2 years in culinary school) or play the piano well.
Make it Fun
Sitting in a chair, trying to come up with creative ideas and doing could lead to boredom and the creativity sessions to an end, so mix it up. However, start off in the chair.
“Take note of a color that you love. Imagine as many things in that color as you can – especially things that aren’t normally that color .” Says Karen Patten. This will enable your right brain to get the juices flowing.
Spend time in your thinking chair, but go beyond that. Get outside, go to a bookstore, pick up a book in a category you normally don’t read. Go to a museum, visit a library. You can even start your own book club; review and interesting book with others. Get your creative juices flowing.
Review and Reflect on Ideas during daily sessions
While it is good to have lots of good ideas going into our mind, our minds are horrible at being able to retrieve it. Daily reflection on what you have learned is important for utilizing the information. Ask yourself, “what did I learn to day? How can I use this information?”
Categorize and file this information away for further use so that it can be readily retrieved.
Creativity is Best when you have a Target
While getting lots of good input from a variety of area, it a good idea to have focused thinking. Think about a problem you are trying to solve (increasing revenue, scope of a new book, turning around customer losses) and write out exactly what you are trying to solve. Be as specific as possible. Think of ideas to solve that Problem Statement and write them down. Come up with 20 ideas. The next day, review those 20 ideas, put down your thoughts on each of the ideas. Write down additional ideas that come to mind. Brainstorm on Problem Statements consistently and evaluate them. Discuss them with your team. Get their ideas. Make creativity a way of life.
Let me know how you start the creative juices flowing. Send me a comment at alan@babyboomercashnow.com