What Happened to Our Creativity?
Who’s the most creative person in the world? A four-year-old child, of course. Four-year-olds are known for asking an endless array of questions (“Why is the sky blue?” “Why is the dog barking?” and “Why does Mommy keep having so many babies?”). But, by the time that four-year-old has turned into a nine-year-old, her natural creativity has been curtailed or significantly reduced. And, then, that nine-year-old grows up into a 22-year-old, graduates from college, gets a job, and discovers that her once dynamic creative spirit has completely fizzled.
What happened?
Simply put, our natural sense of creativity has been swept out of our minds by a system of common myths, educational practices, and mental expectations more concerned with getting right answers than with fostering creative expression. We have been taught to be mentally compliant; we have not been trained to generate a plethora of creative solutions when faced with intellectual challenges or job-related problems. In so many ways, our thinking has become “McDonald’s-ized” - it’s standardized, predictable, and convenient. “Thinking outside the box” is not what we do well.
People from all walks of life purchase an array of books and read a succession of articles looking for an essential nugget of innovative thinking – How can I generate lots of creative ideas? Many folks think that creativity experts have some “inside secret” that gives them an advantage. In a way, they do. They utilize proven methods and dynamic strategies for jump-starting their brains and firing up their “mental generators.” Big box bookstores have entire sections devoted to the subject of creativity - a response to our never-ending quest for more innovative thinking in our lives.
But, those creativity books often leapfrog over a necessary and essential question: What causes us to be “non-creative” in the first place? We were creative souls when we were very young; but, now, in our adult years we find ourselves wrestling with issues, conundrums, and challenges that demand creative thought; but we often discover that our creative “wells” have dried up. Why? Interestingly, it’s a question that’s never been asked before.
I believe creativity is a constantly active verb rather than a passive noun. You don’t “get” creativity – it’s not something you pull off a shelf, use for a while, and then return to its original location. But, in order to be creative, you need to know what has been holding you back from generating innovative and dynamic ideas. You also need to know that creativity is not a result, it’s a rethinking.
As someone who has written over 150 books, I have observed several reasons why we feel at a loss for ideas and how to propagate them. First, we have erected a series of mental roadblocks – roadblocks that keep our lives organized, but ones that inhibit the creative process. These barriers include behaviors such as looking for single right answers, always being logical, avoiding ambiguity, following the rules, and eliminating play from the workplace.
Second, we have been subjected to educational practices that frequently quash our creative instincts. As children, we are naturally imaginative – that is, until we’re told to “color inside the lines.” The inventor Marvin Camrus, who holds more than 500 patents, said it best: “I think little children tend to be creative, but the more education you get, the more the inventive spark is educated out of you.” No less an authority than Albert Einstein famously stated, “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” Most of us want to recapture that childhood imagination and creativity and are amazed to discover how it has evaporated over time.
Interestingly, creativity is never lost, it has just been locked away as we go about our regimented and standardized (read: adult) lives. Unfortunately, many of us equate creativity with knowledge; that is, the smarter we are, the more creative we can become. Nothing could be further from the truth. Creativity guru Roger von Oech says, “…the real key to being creative lies in what you do with your knowledge.” In short, society has put a premium on how much “stuff” we have crammed into our heads, and considerably less emphasis on what we are able to do with all that knowledge.
The third reason why so many of us are non-creative is that the practices and procedures of our workplaces “de-value” creativity. Businesses have a tendency to perpetuate all the common myths of creativity (incentives enhance creativity), promulgate a rash of “killer phrases (“We tried that before.”), emphasize conformity over innovation, and standardize the work environment. As a result, innovation is curtailed and creativity is de-emphasized.
Never before has creativity been so valuable and so necessary in our personal and professional lives! But, often when we’re faced with a personal problem or professional challenge our “creative fires” just aren’t there. We’re frustrated! We’re discouraged! We’re exasperated!
To re-energize your own imagination consider 1) how your teachers mistakenly quieted your inherent creativity; 2) how your boss has erected invisible barriers that mitigate against creativity; and, 3) how your own mental barriers (“But, I’m not creative.”) reduce your capacity for dynamic new ideas. Those personal insights will have much to say about how you can rekindle and reignite your own creative fires.
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This article is a very short excerpt from a book (“Fizzle: The Hidden Forces That Crush Our Creativity”) currently being written by Anthony D. Fredericks.