Creativity > Edition 4 - Creativity is learning - and it may fail

Hi and welcome to Day 4 of the Cultivating Creativity pop-up newsletter - 31 days of ideas about creativity and then it's gone!

Creativity is a learning process.

When we create something new we might fail, we may succeed, but we will always learn. We will learn about ourselves, our own capabilities, the willingness of leaders and managers to support creativity and innovation at work – and whether what we create finds its place in the world.

Creativity is therefore a learning process.

There is always a risk, when we create, that we get it wrong, or it doesn’t go well, or we don’t create what we see in our minds, but in all of this are lessons that can make us better. Lessons that can make the business better. Lessons to use next time.

The size of the potential failure is important – especially so at work where we may be “creating” with other people’s time and money.

In business we must be careful. Careful that the consequences of our creative and innovate endeavours aren’t career ending or business ending. This requires studying and carefully thinking through the consequences. It means looking at what could go wrong and deciding how to mitigate something. It means caring about what you’re trying to create. It means testing it and validating it, but not letting that stop the creative process.

It’s hard - and some companies accept mistakes more willingly than others. Too much fear of failure though and we’ll potentially sanitise the ideas, move too slowly, worry too much about getting everyone’s feedback and ultimately struggle to unleash creativity and innovation. It’s a supremely hard balance when we’re “being creative” in our work. You see this often - companies demanding innovation and creativity - yet at the same time creating a culture of fear over mistakes.

Creativity often leads to mistakes. Mistakes are an opportunity to make ourselves and the business better. If we're scared of making a mistake, the chances are we'll never create anything of value.

In our personal lives it’s likely more straight forward. Many of the decisions, outcomes and consequences can be more easily ascertained, understood and controlled.

But when we create - we learn. We learn about ourselves, we learn from the process, we learn from the outcomes, we learn from others, and we learn how to make ourselves, the creative process and the business better.

And in our personal lives, when we use our natural creative mind and muscles, we learn what it means to be alive.

Humans are designed to be creative; in art, in our day to day lives, in how we solve problems. We are humans. We are all creative. And we all need creativity when the world no longer seems rational.

Check out this great video by Ethan Hawke on why, when our emotions can overwhelm us, do we seek comfort in poetry, dance, film, theatre, books and other creative outlets.

At the heart of creativity though is learning. Learning about who we are and what we're capable of. So, as Ethan Hawke states "give yourself permission to be creative". And if you're a manager or leader - give people the space, time and permission to create - and accept that creativity can lead to failure - so, go easy.

Thanks for joining this 31 day pop-up newsletter. I hope you are enjoying it.?Please consider subscribing to?The Manager?(a weekly newsletter),?my YouTube channel?or sitting the online?Super Power Communication Course.