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Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought.
-Albert Einstein-
It does not matter what field you go into; creativity and novel thinking are crucial to success. While many people equate creativity with the arts (music, painting, drawing, acting, etc.), it is an integral aspect of every field. Steve Jobs tapped into his creativity to align design and technology when he returned to Apple in 1997 and revolutionized the tech industry. Einstein tapped into his creativity when he published his theory of special relativity in 1905. He tapped into his creativity again when he realized this was an incomplete theory and expanded on it until the fall of 1915, when he published his theory of general relativity. In our modern era, some of the most fantastic creativity comes from insights and research in economics (I recommend listening to the podcasts Planet Money and The Indicator for a regular look at what is happening in the world of economics).
It comes down to this - your creativity is a necessary cornerstone of success. Creativity is your ability to encounter a situation and ask questions to develop novel solutions. When I use the word "novel," I do not mean groundbreaking, earth-shattering, amazing solutions that alter history. Creativity can come subtly, such as a teacher realizing a new way to approach a topic to improve retention or a transportation director realizing that their current bus routes are inefficient and using artificial intelligence to rethink their system. Creativity is the backbone of remaining competitive in the restaurant industry (check out this video on the creation of Taco Bell's Crunchwrap for a look into the wild world of fast food innovation). Creativity is the basis of success in any industry.
The challenge with creativity is that we often see it as a fixed skill - you are either born creative or not. This belief, however, could not be further from the truth. Anyone can improve creativity, and it can start at any point in your life. It only requires a mindset change, a switch from a fixed mindset (the belief that abilities and intelligence are static) to a growth mindset (the belief that we can improve our abilities and intellect). Once you have a growth mindset, it is just a matter of working to strengthen your creative muscle!
Key to Creativity #1: Experience A Lot!
Whether in science, the arts, or operating heavy machinery, creativity starts with a broad set of experiences. The more you pull in from all areas of human knowledge and experience, the greater your potential for creativity.
However, experience is not a simple I did it, now move on mindset. For example, consider being exposed to a culture other than your own. In college, I had the opportunity to spend a week in Colombia as part of a choral tour. It was a life-changing experience, and I still have stories from that trip. However, that was a shallow experience. Because I was only there for a week, I only began to experience life in Colombia. I returned with incredible stories and a fantastic experience. However, the experience left me with no deep understanding of Colombian culture, society, or politics. My overall understanding of the world remained the same. An experience can only add to our creativity if it comes from a deep dive into something to understand a new perspective or idea.
Let us compare this with my learning and research into the psychological types explained by Carl Jung and popularized by Katharine Briggs and Isabel Myers. I first encountered this system of understanding people in January 2009 and have been learning about it ever since. I have explored multiple views on the topic. I have read several books to learn more. I experimented with implementing the concepts of personality into my everyday teaching. This process of immersing myself in this study changed the way I operate in the world. The form of experience matters. The experience must seek a deep understanding and change how we see and exist in the world.
The question then follows: how do we develop this experience? We build our experience by accepting every possibility as having depth and something we can learn from it. As an undergraduate, I enjoyed my general education courses. While many people will complain about having to take these classes, I found my gen eds to be some of the most impactful studies to developing who I am today. My multiculturalism class gave me a critical eye on the portrayal of race and class in media. My fundamentals of politics provided me with the language to argue against policies I disagree with. My writing courses honed my voice and allowed me to combine my unique perspectives with strong language use. My sociology class opened my eyes to how the world shapes us in ways we do not realize. We develop and expand our experience by digging deep into everything we encounter.
This experience does not need to be what we directly experience. Reading is a core part of developing a broad base of experience. Regarding my classroom teaching, some of the most critical and groundbreaking books that changed my pedagogy had nothing to do with educating students. I can still name several of them that changed how I saw and approached my classroom. Ryan Holiday's The Obstacle is the Way. Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Daniel Coyle's The Culture Code. David Epstein's Range. Kate Fagan's What Made Maddy Run. Eugen Herrigel's Zen in the Art of Archery. Currently, I am reading Robert Greene's The Laws of Human Nature. It is expanding my understanding of human behavior and growth beyond what I previously knew. It is changing how I approach my life vision coaching and close relationships. Reading is a gateway to exploring your world and expanding your experiences.
Over time, you will begin to recognize which experiences will provide the most value. You can better hone these experiences by better understanding your personality, values, passion, and purpose in life. You will also find sources of information that you can trust to provide you with value. Early on, though, consume every experience and get as much out of them as you can. These experiences will be the key to unlocking creative ideas, insights, and revelations.
Key to Creativity #2: Upset Your Thinking!
When we encounter a challenge, our default is to try and solve it in a way we already know how. For example, you go to the gas station if your car is low on gas. We can solve this challenge without taking a creative path. However, we must find novel solutions we have yet to consider for more novel challenges. This approach means that to meet challenges we have never experienced, we must think in a way we have never thought. If the first step of developing your creativity is cultivating a breadth and depth of experience, then the second part is shocking our brain into connecting these disparate concepts into a new idea. There are a few ways to do this.
1. Ask Someone Outside of Your Profession
In my second year teaching high school, I was still struggling with how I wanted my rehearsals to look. I had done the standard thing of asking great band teachers what they do, and I had already brought a number of those ideas into my classroom. Something was still missing. I wanted to be excellent. I wanted to produce excellence. I wanted a fresh take. The boy's varsity basketball coach at my high school was (and is) a state legend with a history of cultivating powerhouse teams and winning state championships. Even a weak year for his team would be the envy of others. So, one day, I watched his first practice of the season. He had just announced the teams for the year, and he now had his players assembled in front of him for the season. He graciously allowed me to observe. I thought I would stay for 30 minutes and take a few notes. I ended up watching for two hours, only left because the weather was terrible that day, and I took two full pages of notes. That day, I changed my approach to teaching top performers. It sticks with me to this day. Sometimes, novel problems require perspective from someone outside of what we do.
2. Find a Mentor In a Similar Area
I knew I wanted to change the program's culture when I started teaching at my high school. It was not bad, but I saw parts that needed improving to take the groups to the next level. I had thought about it over the summer and read a few books, but I still did not know what to try, let alone a solution. I finally decided to call my cooperating teacher from my student teaching experience, Matthew Arau (now a professor at Lawrence University and the author of Upbeat! Mindset, Mindfulness, and Leadership in Music Education and Beyond). I knew Matthew to be a brilliant band director, and I witnessed his ability to create leaders out of every student. However, I did not know if he would have any ideas for my situation. So, I called him, which would become one of the most important conversations, if not the most important, from my first year as a high school band director. I explained my situation and my hopes for what I wanted to change, and without missing a beat, he recommended Daniel Coyle's The Culture Code, a book marketed as a business leadership and management book. It was a game changer and precisely what I was looking for. Sometimes, novel problems have an answer; we only need to ask a mentor for a spark to get our brains thinking.
Note: When it comes to seeking advice, as I did in the above example, the advice we receive often will not work for our situation. Every scenario is different, and we can not apply the exact solution to our challenge. However, take what a mentor provides as advice to spark ideas. You may agree with the advice and need to tweak it around the edges. The solution may completely miss the mark and not be directly applicable, but it can shock our thinking enough to go But this other thing may work... My caution is never to take exactly what someone tells you and apply it. You need to make it yours and applicable to your situation.
3. Take A Walk
This one is as simple as it sounds. If you are stuck on a challenge, take a walk by yourself. And not a 10-minute stroll, but a full 45-minute walk alone where it is quiet. There is a trail near me that most people do not use, and I can be left alone to my thoughts. I will walk 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back. The first 20 minutes clear my head as I mumble thoughts to myself. The 20 minutes back is where all my best ideas come from. Sometimes, novel problems require us to take a walk and clear our minds so the big idea can reveal itself.
4. Mess With Your Brain
New ideas that shake our world require thinking that shakes our world. One of my favorite tools for shaking up my thinking is from the musician Brian Eno. I cannot recall if I have ever heard a Brian Eno song. I do not listen to his music or know what he writes. However, I do know that, as with any creative individual, he experiences blocks of creativity. He developed a deck of cards titled the Oblique Strategies for these moments. Each of these 100 cards has a simple statement on it meant to switch up how you are thinking. When Eno hit a creative block or part of the song would not work, he would shuffle the deck, draw a card, and consider it. The cards say things like Don't break the silence or Retrace your steps. Rarely would the card provide an answer. Instead, these cards jar your mind and cause you to think of the problem from a new angle. For example, I was at a loss for what to write for a blog post last week. I start thinking about my blog posts days before I write them so I can brainstorm while driving or doing other mundane tasks. After three days of thinking, I was still at a loss. So I drew a card - it was something about What can be removed? Boom! Immediately, my brain started thinking along these lines, and I came up with the post I wrote, Make It a Rule: A Quick Guide to a Balanced Life.
These cards work for every situation, not just art. They work because the goal is not to provide an answer but to shake up your understanding of your current situation. Sometimes, novel problems require new ways of looking at them that we have not considered, and it takes an outside influence to change our perspective.
Final Thoughts
To be successful and find joy in what we do, we need to tap into our creativity. This short guide provides a lifetime of resources to develop your creativity. Remember these two areas for growing your creativity.
Best of luck with every new challenge you encounter!
Ready to learn how you can use insight into your personality and values to improve your life? Reach out today, and we will get started moving you from overwhelm and uncertainty to clarity and direction.
With love,
Tom Chapman, TruePath Discovery Coaching
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