It would be ironic to answer the few questions for this
blog in paragraph form, size 12 font, no embellishments, no pictures, no
original ideas. You can of course understand the pressure I feel to make a blog
post about creativity… well, creative. Let’s give it a shot.
What is creativity?
(I know. I’m not off to a good start with the
standard definition-in-the-first-sub-heading. Bear with me.)
Creativity is all about thinking outside the box- coming
up with new ways to use something, new ways to catch someone’s attention, new
solutions to a problem.
Innovation is a product of creative thinking. I think
that in our technological, rapidly changing, sensory overload society, the
standards for creativity and innovation are insanely
high. Especially if you want to make any difference, or if you want anyone
to notice.
Here are some examples of ideas that could be categorized
as creative, but I think they kind of missed the mark.
If you search “creativity” on Wikipedia (and yes, I did do that), you will find this
picture... The description below it says:
...an electric wire reel reused as a center table in a Rio de Janeiro decoration fair. The creativity of this designer in reusing this waste was used with good effects to the environment.While I support recycling, I don’t think this is more than just marginally creative! After all, it pretty much already looked just like a table. It did not take much imagination.
Here’s another example:
The challenge here on Project Runway was to use car parts
to innovate a new garment. This one is woven out of seatbelts. It looks
fashionable and well-made. However I wouldn’t categorize it as innovative for
two reasons. First, the “rules” specified the use of car parts, limiting
imagination. Second, seatbelts are probably among the most fabric-like parts of
a car. Looking for something that resembled conventional materials for clothing
further limited this designer in creativity.
Again, I only point these out because I think the
standards for creativity and innovation are really high if you want to make any
impact.
In my opinion, these next people are pretty great at thinking
outside the box:
Take a look at this ad:
I don’t think I ever would have guessed that this story
in an Indian commercial was meant to sell investment services. But they thought
enough outside the box to catch my attention, which is a crucial first step.
What settings foster
creativity?
I can tie these previous examples into what I think about
individual vs. organizational creativity. In general, I believe there are distinctly
different benefits from both situations, and either could bring about worthwhile
innovation in the right setting.
- Individual
The wheel-as-a-table idea to me represents a flaw with
individual creativity. There is no one else around to help you brainstorm, build
off of your ideas, and make them more innovative.
On the flip side, creativity in an individual setting can
be more limitless (like the sidewalk artists).
I tend to most enjoy
being creative in an individual setting. This is because 1.) I take more risks
when it is just me on the line (I am scared of doing something that would in
any way negatively affect other people), and 2.) I personally need to a lot of
time to think, process through ideas, and look for inspiration if I am going to
come up with a good, unique idea. So I prefer plenty of time, a relaxed or in
some way inspiring location, and few restrictions in order to be really
creative (whether on a project or problem solving, or in art or music).
I think creativity is rarely easy. Like I mentioned
before, this world has high standards to be entertained, engaged, or even
remotely impressed. It takes work.
I was creative when I worked for a non-profit as an
intern, and I was given the task of organizing our auction. With complete
freedom, I felt that I developed a unique organization structure, and made it
more fun than had I been given many guidelines. That being said, sometimes I
really like instructions to get me started, or other people to work off of. For
example, if I am being graded or evaluated, I feel limited in my creativity by
the grader’s expectations, and tend to look to other people for validation in
my ideas.
- Organization
So in that way, an organization structure can be
limiting (like the structure put on the project runway designers). But as I have already mentioned, it is of value to bounce ideas of
others and improve and further innovate each other’s ideas, which is a benefit of working together in an organization.
When I worked with Macy’s, my fellow intern and I worked
together to develop new games to motivate our employees. We found that in
brainstorming together, both of our ideas were better than had we worked alone.
Macy’s also really fostered our creativity, giving us
minimal guidelines on our projects. Being trained as we are to follow
instructions, this was daunting at first. But we soon gained our footing, and
developed unique ideas, and innovative recommendations to present to our
district team at the end of the internship (things like new training programs
and store wide announcements we created). The Indian ad is another great example- advertising is a structured process, but it is the goal for people to work together to come up with something unique
I think this is my most effective setting for creativity- when I have people working with
me to brainstorm, but little pressure to fit within certain guidelines.
I definitely think there is more than one process to
solve every problem. Should we trust ourselves to just know when we need one
approach or another? No, probably not. But that's not necessarily bad. I actually think we often get
stuck in one method of solving a problem, and don’t even consider another way
could be better.
This girl has now solved her soup-is-too-hot problem. (Bonus points just for trying!)
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