What’s Creativity and Why Do We Need It?

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. — Steve Jobs

When you try to be creative, what comes to your mind? What do you think makes you creative and what do you consider creativity? Perhaps, you might design something artsy or come up with unique strategies to improve your sales performance. If you are a mom, you might try to come up with new recipes for your kids who don’t like to eat vegetables.

Ever since I have been accepted into a business school in Europe that focuses on marketing and creativity, I have been exceptionally sensitive to the term, ‘creativity’. Every time I hear people mention it, they make me wonder why many of us are so obsessed with this magical keyword and constantly try to apply its advantages to our workplaces and daily lives.

To get you more excited to come to the office every morning, your CEO might suddenly say “Let’s build a bike path in our office so you can bike around in the office whenever you feel stressed!” Or your French teacher might decide to take you out for a five-minute walk at the end of your French class so they can point at flowers or stores and teach you how to say it in French while giving you the time to get some fresh air.

Though business organizations are where creativity seems to be wisely used, creativity is also being used in other areas such as education, environmental protection, and everyday life. For today’s topic, I would like to write about how creativity is playing an important role in the two of the key areas above: business organizations and education.

First of all, how does Creativity at Work define ‘creativity’?

Creativity is the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. Creativity is characterized by the ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, and to generate solutions.

Creativity in Business Organizations

NYU-Stern professor Kim Corfman simply puts that “higher creativity leads to greater innovation within the organization and thus, greater success over the long run.” A 2010 IBM survey of more than 1,500 CEOs from across the world rated creativity as the most important factor for future success. Therefore, creativity is becoming a very important skill for leaders in the organizations.

One of the most important steps of cultivating creativity in the organizations is to understand that every employee has a different personality and work style, therefore they are inspired in different ways and by different things (possessing individual creative needs).

Hacking Creativity, a recent study by Red Bull’s High Performance Group and Vibrant Data, found out what drives creative thoughts and success in the workplace. Based on the study, there are four things the organizations can do to promote creativity among diverse employees:

Offer private work spaces. 60% of respondents said they are most creative in private environments. That doesn’t necessarily equate to solitary work since 30% of this group also said they were highly collaborative in these private spaces.

Give your team some time outdoors. Whether it’s working from a local park or stepping away from their desk for a short five-min walk, employees are more creative when they’re allowed to connect with nature. 64% of respondents said spending time outside is important to their creative processes.

Set parameters. ‘Thinking outside the box’ may not always return the best results. Quite surprisingly, more than 50% of survey respondents said they were more creative when they were forced to work within the bounds of rules.

Allow for adaptability. Solid planning is not the only way to achieve your business goals. Some of the most creative individuals go into a project without crafting a clear strategy. The majority of respondents indicated that they are open to chance opportunities that may change their directions. That way, when facing any obstacles, they are quick to re-frame their approaches.

Creativity in Education

We live in a world where things are constantly changing and evolving. If schools only focus on embedding STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) at all levels of the school curriculum, they might be too late to realize that something is missing.

Quoting the whole paragraph from Forbes:

The U.S.-author, Daniel H. Pink has declared the Information Age to be over. In his view, the so-called Conceptual Age has long since begun. Pink holds that “as a result of the excess in spoiled consumer societies, the relocation of global production to Asia, and automation, the economies of the U.S. and Europe can only generate the value they need in the 21st century through creative commodities and ideas/innovation.”

Pink strongly believes that focusing more on developing right-hemisphere potential — and corresponding values like intuition, creativity and empathy — is essential. He thinks that the time has come for talented people with these attributes to take up leadership positions.

Teachers should definitely provide students with the opportunities to develop practical solutions to the challenges they might face in the future and encourage students to undertake studies in the STEM areas. However, they should keep in mind that at their heart, creativity is also a way to cultivate innovation and find solutions.

STEM can’t stand alone. Children need a more well-rounded and quality education which enables them to make better decisions. And these decisions could positively impact the world and the way they live. The right solution is STEAM (STEM + Art).

Perhaps, many of us might not have been conscious about this for a long time, however in recent years, we are really learning that art and science have long been developed collaboratively and they must continue working together. 3D printers, animation and virtual reality are all great examples of it.