Becoming Creative Again
In my last article, The Top 3 downsides to the pilot mentality, I discussed our lack of innovation and creativity as pilots. We spend so much time in a controlled environment, that when we're forced to actually create something new, we often struggle.
Some of you might be noticing this right now. If you've lost your job and you're trying to think about what your next opportunity might be, you might be finding that no matter how hard you think about it, you keep drawing a blank. All you can come up with is delivering pizzas, flipping burgers, or working at the supermarket. Not super creative.
You're noticing firsthand how your lack of creativity is directly impacting you.
The interesting thing is that we're all inherently creative. Oftentimes, I'll hear people say, "I'm just not a creative person." But it's not true, we all have creativity innately in us. It's just that it's a muscle that you have to work and stretch to keep it active.
When I'm trying to encourage someone to get back into their creativity, I'll often ask them, "Did you play when you were a child?" And of course, everybody says, "Yes." And then I'll say, "What sort of things did you play with?" And most of the answers are exactly what you'd expect, "I played with LEGO." "I played with model airplanes." "I used to go and play outdoors for hours with my friends." "I would go playing in the field." "I would go biking around my neighbourhood."
My favourite definition of play is "doing something for no reason". When we play, we just play because we play. We don't play to get fit. We don't play to make money. We don't play to get any where or any thing.
When you were a kid, you just phoned up your friend and said, "Come over and play."
And that's what you would do, you'd go to your friend's house and play. And in those moments of play, you probably had some of the most creative moments of our life. You created a whole made up world with your friends. You created new games. You found fifty different ways to use a stick. Creativity and play are very closely aligned. When we're being truly creative, we just create for the sake of creating. We're not trying to get anywhere. We're doing it for the joy of creation.
That's what you have to remember when you're trying to think about your next job, or business idea or whatever it is you're going to do next. Trying to "think" about is the least creative way to go about it.
Here's my challenge to you: Remember the thing you used to do when you were a kid?
- Did you use to draw pictures and do coloring in?
- Did you paint?
- Did you use to play with LEGO?
- Did you go biking for hours?
This week I challenge you to go and spend an hour doing just that thing. Not for any reason, not to get it perfect. Not to get anywhere, but just to play and just to express your creativity in that moment.
Once you've done it, I want you to write down two or three things you notice.
How did you feel? What were you thinking about? Were you thinking about anything at all and how did it feel different from trying to solve a problem?
This is a sample from “Getting Creative” a training module in The Pilot Realignment Program.