Creativity is a State of Mind

Your View of Creativity Impacts Your Creativity

There are two camps of thought regarding creativity. One camp believes that creativity is an innate ability and an individual’s creative potential has fixed limits. The other camp believes that creativity, like all skills, is malleable and capable of growth and improvement through effort. Interestingly enough, which ever camp you adhere to impacts your ability to engage and enhance your creativity.

Throughout our lives we come across people we consider to be “creative.” These individuals appear to have an innate ability to approach problems from different angles and see connections and relationships that have been overlooked. We will stand in awe of their creative abilities and accept the fact that some of us are simply blessed with a creative mind. If this is your view, that creativity is an ability randomly imposed on us by the creative gods, then you are doing yourself a great disservice.

New research established that creative training had a greater impact on individuals who believed in the malleable/growth view of creativity versus those who believed creativity was a fixed/innate ability. In his research, Maciej Karwowski, Ph.D., found that individuals in the growth/malleable camp behaved more creatively when primed than those who were in the fixed/innate camp. Although it is possible to hold both a fixed and growth mindset, when the fixed mindset was low, the growth mindset clearly translated into higher problem solving effectiveness. A growth mindset increased the probability of individuals engaging in creative tasks and finding creative solutions during problem solving activities.

This research also found that people who believed creativity was conditioned by effort rather than inborn quality tended to perceive themselves as more creative.

Bottom Line: Creativity is not a randomly imposed burden. It is a skill available to all those who seek it. Creativity, like walking, swimming, and talking, takes time to develop. But before you begin to develop it, you first have to believe you can be creative. Believing this is the first major step to engage your creative side.