Empower your creativity to pioneer astonishing innovation
Creativity, that amazing ability to make something. Innovation, those stunning reveals that change everything. These forces are inspiring but seem out of reach to so many of us. Let us help the creative innovator within you step forth with a trilogy of articles.
We all have creativity within us and can develop our creative thinking with exercise. In the job market of the future, this will be in high demand.
Innovation: creativity that brings value to businesses and the public
Aren't innovation and creativity the same thing? Although these words are often used interchangeably, they do, in fact, have very different meanings. Let's clarify what these words mean.
The Merriam-Webster definition of create is to produce products, behavior, or ideas. Novelty is often implied but the definition focuses on the act of making. A creative person is someone who makes things out of what is around them. Creatives are resourceful. You want your creative instincts to be aimed in the direction of effectiveness.
Enter Innovation!
The Merriam-Webster definition of innovation is to introduce something new. According to the Business Dictionary, innovations are new ideas or inventions that give value to a paying audience. For a business to accept an innovation, that innovation must be replicable, economical, and satisfy a specific need.
In short, creativity plus work results in innovation. Therefore, being innovative means you harness your creative ability. ~ Theodore Henderson, Forbes
When we think of creativity, we may think of art or music. Innovation may bring to mind new cars and thought models you would read about in books. The range of creativity and innovation goes from legendary inventions to the small ways we make our everyday actions more efficient. With the right qualities, you can use your creativity to build a life of value for yourself and others. If you don't believe you can be creative, prepare for a surprise.
Creativity is a muscle that can be developed or allowed to atrophy
Many people think creativity is a rare ability, gifted to a lucky few. This is a very common misconception. Almost all of us are born creative, and almost all of us allow our creativity to decline.
Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up. ~ Pablo Picasso, famous painter
This was the finding of an experiment run by George Land & Beth Jarman. Beginning in 1968 George and Beth gave 1,600 five-year-olds a creativity test, the same test NASA would use to recruit innovative employees. They retested this group of 1,600 children in 1973 when they were ten years old and again in 1978 when they turned fifteen. Finally, in 1985, George and Beth gave the test to 280,000 adults. These were the test results:
Exercise your creativity
Don't be discouraged. Believing that creative thinking permanently disappears is another common misunderstanding. Creativity is a muscle that most people let decline. These cerebral muscles can be rebuilt. There are many creative practices and exercises you can adopt to develop your creativity. Here are some favorites:
1. Add creative-time to your schedule
Dedicating time to creative ideas is mandatory for creativity. You can’t build muscle if you don’t take time to exercise. Creatives can dedicate a few hours a week or even hours in a day to creative exercise. Or you can dedicate time to creativity as ideas come to you.
2. Practice divergent thinking
Divergent Thinking is a problem-solving technique that aims to generate multiple solutions to a single problem. Take some time to ponder and write down all possible ways to solve a problem. Then, employ convergent thinking, bringing all the ideas together to form the single best solution to the problem. John Spencer expertly displays these processes in his video, Convergent Thinking Versus Divergent Thinking.
3. Learn something new
When working on a project, take some off time to learn something new and useful from a respected source. You can listen to audiobooks, take an online course, attend mastermind training events, and so on.
4. Make the same creation every day
I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. ~ Bruce Lee, famous martial artist
This exercise is attributed to Deanna deBara of 99Designs, draw the same thing every day. Whatever your creation is, you can make it every day. It could be a drawing, cocktail or anything else. Over time, you will develop improvements and variances to your creation.
?5. Add pressure and limits to a task
Sometimes limits and pressure can spur our minds to make breakthroughs. You could add a time limit to a task or try to complete the task using as few resources as possible. These limits challenge our minds, encouraging efficiency, ingenuity, and momentum.
6. Combine two unrelated concepts
This mental exercise is attributed to author and life-coach, Eben Pagan. Write down two items, industries, concepts, or things, then think of how they could fit together. Let's say, candles and catering. An example of that would be a catering company that also provided custom candle arrangements. It's okay for this to be ridiculous as it may prompt a breakthrough idea.
Articles with additional creative exercises
- 7 Fun Exercises to Quickly Improve Creative Thinking ~ Artwork Archive
- 10 creativity exercises to train your artistic mind ~ Deanna deBara, 99designs
- 32 Easy Exercises to Boost Your Creativity Everyday ~ Ayse Birsel, Inc.
Creativity is the skill of the future
Why Creativity is so important today: process-driven jobs are going away ~ Paul Petrone, Linkedin
As machines, software, and AI develop, they are taking jobs that were traditionally handled by humans. Manufacturing and transport are just a couple of fields where humans will be needed less and less. However, new jobs will replace the current ones. Future jobs will place increasing importance on creativity. Using your creativity to build innovation will bring value and help you stay relevant in a changing world. The benefits of developing your creativity are immense.
Now, more than ever, creativity is the competitive tool that’s going to make a difference. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a large company, or a solo creative person, it's what makes you stand out. ~ Warren Berger, author of 'A More Beautiful Question'
It won't be easy to develop your creativity, and innovation is even more difficult. In part two, we’ll explore the external and internal forces you must overcome when channeling creativity into innovation.
For your further reading into innovation and creativity
Special shoutout to Creativity Inc. It is the story of Pixar, including Pixar's proven tips on how to balance creativity with the running of a business. All creatives and business owners can benefit from reading this book.
- Breakpoint and Beyond: Mastering the Future Today ~ George Land & Beth Jarman, authors
- Creativity Inc. ~ Ed Catmull, founder of Pixar
- Innovation: The Most Important and Overused Word in America ~ Michael O'Bryan, Wired
- Opportunity: How to Win in Business and Create a Life You Love ~ Eben Pagan, an author
- The Trait That's Far More Important Than Creativity ~ Nicolas Cole, Inc.
- What exactly is innovation? ~ Michelle Greenwald, Forbes
- What really makes something innovative? ~ Rebecca Merrett, CIO
- Why Creativity Is More Important than Ever ~ Staff of IDEO, Tyler Florance and Warren Berger
- Why Creativity is Too Important to Be Left to Artists ~ ‘The Book of Life’
- Why Creativity is the Most Important Skill in the World ~ Paul Petrone, Linkedin
- Why Creativity Isn't Just Important For 'Creative' Jobs ~ Karen Young, Hays
- Why Innovation Is Crucial To Your Organization's Long-Term Success ~ Theodore Henderson, Forbes
- 7 Ways To Inspire Divergent Thinking In The Classroom ~ John Spencer, spencerauthor.com
- 11 brutal truths about creativity that no one wants to talk about ~ Benjamin Earl Evans, The Next Web
Written by Weston Davis
Writer and artist
Edited by Raindust
Editor and captions specialist. Services clients on the platform Fiverr.