No-one can teach creativity; but anyone can learn to be creative.

This year, I started a new routine. Each day I take a piece of paper, a pen, think of a title and write 10 down ideas on the subject.

Coming up with new ideas is good practice. A few ideas is easy; 10 ideas is actually quite difficult.

The hardest thing about anything is getting started. Such is the fear of failure that many people arrive at a state of paralysis before they even begin. Therein, creativity dies.

There is something magical about taking the first step. Fears ease. Momentum builds. Ideas improve. And then, as if from nowhere, you have the potential for something previously unimaginable.

The best ideas are rarely a spark of genius.

They are old ideas replayed. They are new ideas born from old ideas. They are a collection of disparate ideas melded together, as if by magic.

People often question how others are able to come up with such innovative ideas. It’s as if creativity belongs to the few, that it’s not a commodity to share: An “If I wasn’t born with it, there is no way to acquire it” mentality.

This is not the case. Creativity is being brave enough to try. It is having no fear of failure. It is getting started.

Creativity is sharing.

If you share ideas, you will be creative. If you do not share ideas, your creativity will die.

Growing up, my biggest fear was sharing. Others seemed so creative. I wasn’t. I had fears.

• “What if others are not thinking the same?”
• “What if people don’t like my ideas?”
• “What if I sound stupid saying the obvious”

These thoughts bounced around my head meaning nothing ever escaped. Ideas slipped by unheard. Opportunity was inevitably lost.

To learn creativity, we must remove fear. No-one wants to fail. However, not wanting, and being scared, are two very different things.

Fear is a learned response. So we must not teach fear.

“What is on the other side of fear? Nothing.” — Jamie Foxx.

When we are young, there is too much judgement on success and failure rather than promotion of trial and error. There are too many situations of right and wrong rather than exploration and learning. This pressure creates fear. This fear inhibits creativity from a young age.

People are not born creative. They develop creativity through a culture of sharing and a feeling of safety. Creativity is learnt through experience. If we don’t experience it early enough, we will not learn and we will believe we lack the ability.

A teacher cannot break creativity down into component parts and teach it; but a teacher can create an environment in which creativity can flourish.

Education needs to focus on fostering this environment so that new generations learn creativity and avoid fear.

Creativity is the same as any other skill. It takes time. It takes practice.

Practicing new thoughts. Practicing how to share thoughts. Becoming a storyteller and realising that, in fact, anyone can be creative.

“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values and agenda of an entire generation that is to come.” — Steve Jobs

If learnt early enough, it seems natural. If left until later, it seems impossible.

Picasso created upwards of 50,000 artworks over the course of his life. Mozart penned over 600 compositions. Not all of these were great. But they led to greatness.

Not everything will work but it’s alright to speak up. Find a story and you will find reward.

The modern world will rely on people who have ideas and people who can share their story.

Technology may take jobs but ideas will create new ones. Technology may power the economy but ideas will remain the bedrock on which society is built.

We still see big business made off people’s fear of sharing, off a fear of public speaking. This is a fundamental flaw in society. Children have learned to fear to speak. This fear has spilled out into their adult lives and now they must pay to overcome.

We must reverse this. We must encourage sharing from a young age; we must set an agenda for creativity and communication.

I have now started to share my ideas. Some of these ideas are now slowly bearing fruit.

If only I had learned this years ago.