Blog 6: Thoughts on Creativity

Creativity to me is a state of being, or an ability to look at problems and see how to solve them in a way that may not be the current standard, but could be a better way. I think some people are either naturally gifted in the ability to see through the norm, or they were raised in a way that fostered their desire to question things that maybe other people wouldn’t think to question. Even if you weren’t gifted or raised in a creative environment, there is a possibility to continue to foster your creative side and learn your own creative capabilities. A lot of people are scared to try to unlock their creative side, with a fear of disappointment in their own outcomes, myself included. Many times it seems easier to hand off the creative problems to the “creative people”, and being satisfied in being a part of the solution in other ways. But other times you can be creative even when you least expect it. Steve Jobs said "creativity is just connecting things." I agree in the sense that creativity can be used even in the simplest of ways. You don't have to be in a creative job to use your creative skills.

Personally, the times in which I have felt most creative have been alone in nature, or in a group setting where I felt completely comfortable expressing my ideas without fear of judgment. I have felt uncreative in situations where I did not know some of the variables, like full information or the desired outcome.

I did an internship with an Austin tech start-up, and I started working with them just as they got their feet on the ground and started trying to build a presence on social media, in the press, etc. Due to their completely unstructured business model, I felt a lot of freedom as well as a lot of responsibility with the position I was in. I was able to have an influence on the business foundation, and that empowerment gave me motivation to be more creative in that space. I felt as though since I had no guidelines, no background, and no previous work to compare myself to, that I could use that to my advantage. The company feel was very conducive to creativity in general for a number of reasons. The founders were all great friends that also have a lot of respect for each other as well as a strong passion for the goal and mission of the company. Also, the environments in which we worked were all very informal and in our situation, led to more collaboration and eventually more creative ideas. In addition, I have worked in an environment where it was next to impossible to produce creativity. My boss made the work space intimidating and almost hostile to suggestions that could be “wrong”, and so no one was motivated to come up with new ideas.

I do think that I am capable of being creative by myself, as long as I do not feel pressured to be particularly creative, in the sense that someone is looking for an idea that no one has thought of. I think it is a lot easier to be creative when you aren’t trying so hard to be creative. If someone told me to “be creative”, I would have no idea what to do and would most likely come back with nothing, or at most something bad that would be pointless. But if I am given a problem, or even just a large pool of information about a certain thing, once I become familiar with the problem or situation it is much easier to think of interesting ideas. Thinking about a group within an organization, I think there is obviously a chance for creativity, as many things would have ever been created if it weren’t for this fact. If the group can separate itself from the overwhelming weight or pressure from a large organization, their creativity can blossom into great ideas. If they get caught up in trying to perfect each idea and tailor it to the restraints of the company before fully exploring where the idea can lead, there is no way that they will come up with anything inspirational for the company. The company can grow around big ideas, as long as the team is willing to dream about them. I am a big believer in dreaming big and seeing where you can go to reach that dream.

I think every problem has a different way to introduce creativity into the process of solving it. Even when you don’t think you need to be creative, you usually end up being creative inherently because of the problem solving skills or the introduction to a better way of solving the problem. Each problem you encounter will be unique. There can be no standard, cookie-cutter creative process to solve the problem. Many people have theories of how to be creative in different circumstances, and many of them can work to encourage creativity in a person or team. Of course you need different creative processes, because if you keep trying to solve problems the same way, eventually your own routine will hinder your ability to think outside of the box. Although you may know different processes, there is always room for more learning and knowledge, so you cannot always trust that we know the best way to approach a problem. If one approach isn’t working or fostering creativity properly, there may be research to be done to find a new process. Breaking up routine is a great way of getting people to break the mold of their own thought process.

Creativity is such a vague concept and can mean completely different things to different people and even in different circumstances. It is introduced in all lines of business, and is necessary to success, even if you don’t know it. I wish creativity had been encouraged and fostered more in my own schooling, and I plan on enabling my own children in their own creative processes, as it makes life more enjoyable when you don’t only see the face value of any given situation or problem. If you can see around the problem, you can enhance your own satisfaction out of life and become more optimistic.