We have a preconceived notion about creativity. Most people associate the word creativity with art or design. What exactly is creativity? Can it be used in all types of work? Can creativity be learned or is it a talent possessed by only a few?
Left Brain vs Right Brain
Before answering these questions, let’s first understand which part of the brain processes creativity.
According to a theory by Nobel laureate Roger W. Sperry, the right brain is more visual and intuitive. It’s sometimes referred to as the analogue brain and has a more creative and less organized way of thinking. It is for a fact that people with a dominant right brain are congenital creative.
There’s a simple test to know which part of your brain is dominant – When you put your palms together and your fingers are crossed, does your right thumb stay on the top or bottom?
If your right thumb was on top then you are right-brained and vice versa.
The left-brained people are more verbal, analytical, and orderly.
Learning creativity is like learning a language. The way native speakers are fluent at it, similarly, right-brained people may find it easier to do things creatively but it can still be learned through practice by anyone, all we need is the right environment.
Barriers to Creativity
Just like creativity is learned, creativity can also be lost, when the barriers to creativity turn more dominant. Here are some of the reasons that hamper creative growth.
1. Myth: Creativity is a Talent
The myths around creativity are the biggest hindrance in fostering a creative environment.
People believe creativity is a talent and that geniuses like Stephen King, Elon Musk, Mozart were ‘gifted’ with it, but what they don’t know is that it took 16 years of regular training for Mozart to perform a masterpiece, Elon Musk had to go bankrupt in 2008 and use personal wealth to keep the company going.
Embracing failures and learning from them is what makes a genius.
2. Perfectionism
Another barrier to creativity is perfectionism.
If you worry about being perfect, you may never begin. Choosing unconventional methods to solve problems can bring setbacks that were never known and perfection can not be achieved when there’s uncertainty.
One should see opportunities in shortcomings and use them to build upon ideas, the more diverse the mistakes, the more potential the creative output will have.
3. Quest for Uniqueness
Ours is a developing world with cutthroat competition in almost every field. If your product/service is not unique, it’s simply a commodity.
In 2012, Google launched a very unique product Google Glasses which was a failed attempt to catch the public eye. The glasses posed privacy concerns, got banned from public places, and reported bugs. After two years of disappointing sales, it was clear consumers did not need Google Glasses.
This tells us that creative innovations require more than just a unique idea. They require in-depth research, testing, improvising, implementation, feedback, and further improvisation.
A World Without Creativity
To understand the importance of creativity, let’s imagine a world without one.
If we stuck to what we do in conventional methods without thinking of other ways that were never thought of before, we won’t have progressed. Steve Jobs wouldn’t have thought of creating devices with touchpads instead of keys, Elon Musk would’ve never thought of living on Mars, Vincent Van Gogh won’t have painted The Starry Nights, metaverse wouldn’t be a reality.
Consider everything you’ll use in the next few hours: your phone, laptop, automobile, computer, kitchen, and bed – all of which were made possible by deep and divergent thought and an outlandish creative concept.
It’s incredible how much we rely on creativity.
Creativity is going to be the most demanded skill in the future.
The rising complexities in the workplace call for CEOs and teams who can lead with creativity, draw connections between people, places, and things that would not ordinarily be connected, and combine ideas to make operations speedy and flexible.
30 Days of Creativity - Amazon Product
This 80 pages workbook is for artists and people looking to boost their creative selves. Written by Johanna Basford, in a way that gives instant and deep satisfaction to the creator, that gives creative confidence.
Check on Amazon: 30 Days of Creativity: Draw, Colour and Discover Your Creative Self
The Power of Collaborative Ideas
Holding on to great ideas gives us control but opening arms to newer possibilities is what helps move bigger things. With the advancement in various spheres, the issues faced in society are also becoming complex and necessitating the need for collective action.
It is time we realize that we have reached a point where the problems themselves are so layered that our individual solutions alone cannot address them.
There’s a need to inculcate a culture of experimentation in innovation rather than working on a silo mentality. The more we assess commonalities and accept differences, the more we can reduce effort and duplication. It requires us to actively reach out and learn from others who may have complementary capabilities in different domains.
This change from a competitive mindset to a collaborative one is the only way to ensure the welfare of all.
Creativity at Workplace
People believe that the work process becomes incompatible with creativity, although being creative is both a science and an art.
To make creativity a part of everyday business, an organization should establish the importance of creativity and reinforce it on a regular basis so that employees feel that ideas are valued and rewarded. To provide all teams with the time and energy to be creative, it is important that we build an atmosphere, establish a culture, and have a strategy.
We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we create the world.
—The Buddha
We amplify what we think about the most. Our subconscious mind is the most powerful state of mind consciousness. It accounts for the majority of our brainpower and, if managed properly, can change our life or help us achieve anything we choose.
Your habits and conduct are shaped by every event you have in your subconscious mind. As a result, taking control of it allows us to access its full potential. The workplace environment can be carefully designed to foster productivity, innovation, and creativity in the team by enriching the subconscious mind with positivity and growth.
Work environments are becoming more and more unconventional these days to boost creative thinking, for example, Google offers its employees creature comforts with a rock-climbing wall next to the copy machine.
And this firms the belief that to think outside the box, you need to be outside the box.
Boosting Creativity
Do you know the infamous story of the bumblebee? Research shows that the bumblebee’s body is too heavy and its wing span too small, so it is scientifically not possible for it to fly. But the bumblebee is unaware of this fact and it keeps flying anyway. A firm belief in ones own abilities and not giving in to the limitations is what helps achieve the impossible. When you are trying something new, it is important to have confidence in yourself and trust the process.
If you have been thinking about a problem all day and don’t seem to find any way out, also known as, creative block; it’s advisable to relax and distract your mind from the problem. Stop thinking about it and your brain will unconsciously process it for you while you are distracted. Research by psychologist Ap Dijksterhuis actually shows that creative work breaks are important to boost productivity; when your brain cannot solve a problem consciously, the unconscious mind definitely will.
An idea is never truly your own. We must accept the reality that we are not the only ones attempting to develop a specific idea. It is important to overcome the fear of sharing ideas, which will allow you to receive direct input from potential clients, which I believe is crucial. Rather than being intimidated by competitors, you should aim to learn as much as possible about their execution, strategy, experience, strengths, and flaws.
How Creativity Helped Shape My Business?
Ever since I was a kid, I had the zeal for adding uniqueness to whatever I do and making them more meaningful, be it science projects or math assignments.
This zeal grew into an urge of starting something of my own and in April 2020 I started my own business. I got inspired by the strings arts that I first saw on a stall at DLF Saket, Delhi, and thought of replicating the art form on scrap wood. Thus, I started commissioning customized string arts on upcycled wood and grew it into a business @woo_darts fetching 100+ orders in just six months.
These scrap woods otherwise end up in landfills or bonfires contributing to pollution but string art helps give them a new life.
Through this business, I was able to bring home the importance of handmade products and inspire many souls to start their own homegrown businesses. Adding meaning to what you do is as simple as embracing your originality, being honest to the purpose, and a touch of extraordinary.
Here’s a video of my journey:
This article is written in the way I perceive creativity. It might have a different meaning for any and everyone but I hope it helps highlight its importance. Please drop a comment to add your perspective to this. Keep reading!
“Our subconscious mind is the most powerful state of mind consciousness” – Very True. We even have a concept of diffusive thinking, where rather than deliberately and consciously focusing on the problem, we take a walk or maybe sleep over it and let our subconscious brain find the solution.
Overall, amazing article 👏
Thanks for sharing!