Well said. Humans are all creative perhaps not “big C’ creative, but we all have an innate creative ability. Research shows that to be creative you must believe you are. A Harvard Business Review (HBR) study of its database of 6,000 professionals who have taken the Innovator’s DNA assessment further supports the supposition that you must believe in your creativity to make it so.

The study found that those who agree with the survey statement “I am creative” consistently create new businesses, products, services and processes that no one has done before. Because they see themselves as creative, they are. HBR data further suggests that if you change your “I’m not creative” mindset, you, too, can become more consistently creative.

As cartoonist Hugh MacLeod says, “Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten. Then when you hit puberty they take the crayons away and replace them with dry, uninspiring books on algebra, history, etc. Being suddenly hit years later with the ‘creative bug’ is just a wee voice telling you, ‘I’d like my crayons back, please.”

I applaud you for putting your students on the road to creativity.