Creativity in the Workplace: A Personal Reflection
This blog post will discuss my personal reflections on the course MGMT 2275 as well as my progress and creative growth that came from taking this course.
“Self-reflection entails asking yourself questions about your values, assessing your strengths and failures, thinking about your perceptions and interactions with others, and imagining where you want to take your life in the future”.
— Robert L. Rosen
I initially signed up for this course because I needed another elective course. Looking at my options I decided to go with this course because I have always enjoyed being creative and I felt like this course would be a great opportunity for me to explore and grow my creativity.
Engaging vs. Distancing Parts of the Course
The part of the course where I was most engaged was when I was creating my deliverables for the first two units. These projects were a great opportunity for me to reflect on all of my progress and learning. I was able to synthesize my experiences and learning and it was very beneficial to me. I also really loved how with these projects I got to be creative and use my imagination. I was able to create projects that were fun for me to make since I could apply creative elements that made them more personal. I believe that these projects represent some of my best work. I also enjoyed meeting with my group and completing the class tasks together. It was very helpful to collaborate and discuss with my teammates. I learned a lot from them and had fun as well. I feel that overall throughout this course, my creative abilities have improved greatly.
The part of the course where I was the most distanced was probably completing the quizzes and tests. Although they were relevant and included lots of important information, I wasn’t able to truly be creative. I know I had a solid grasp of all of the concepts but I felt that some of the tests were difficult and a bit more objective than creative.
The What? So What? Now what? Reflective Model
I will be using this reflective framework to guide a critical reflection on my learnings from this course.
“Critical reflection occurs when we analyze and challenge our presuppositions and evaluate the appropriateness of our knowledge, understanding and beliefs, in light of our present contexts” (Kenny, 2014).
What?
This course provided me with insight and practice with countless creative principles. Through the readings, group discussions and projects I learned so much about creativity and had many opportunities to practice applying these principles.
So What?
This is significant because all of the learning I took away from this course is practical and related to real life. The learning we did was more than simply for the purpose of completing the assignments. I genuinely believe that this course and its content will positively impact me and my creative abilities in the long run.
Now What?
In the following parts of this blog post, I will be talking about the skills, abilities and concepts from this course that I will be taking with me in the future. What I learned is important and will support me in being a lifelong creative person.
Which process will be the most useful in the future?
The Creative Process
A process that I think will be very useful in the future is the creative process. Before this class, I had never heard about this process. I had the opportunity to learn about this as well as practice applying it many times during the semester. Each time I practiced it got easier and I got a better grasp of how to implement it. The creative process is iterative which means that “unless the solution is perfect, there is normally a need to repeat the steps of the process to refine the solution or innovation” (Hans, 2020). I found whenever I faced setbacks or obstacles, applying the creative process was a fantastic way for me to reassess the problem and find valuable ideas to help me solve whatever problem I was facing.
What skills, abilities, and concepts will you take away from this course?
The Importance of Idea Generation
This course showed me how important it is to brainstorm and capture all of my ideas. We practiced this both individually and in our groups. I learned that idea generation is a process. It is important to not stop thinking of ideas just because you came up with one good idea. “Great ideas come from many” (Hans, 2020), therefore the more ideas one can generate the more likely they are to create great ones.
Processes such as mind-mapping, collaboration, idea-dumping and capturing all ideas are all skills that I will use in the future to help me to generate more good ideas. I will also use the skills I have learned concerning selecting the best ideas according to criteria and creating a plan to implement my ideas. Being innovative and using my imagination will help me to execute my plan and use my ideas to overcome any challenges I may face.
Learning From Failures & Taking Risks
Before beginning this course I really struggled with the fear of failure. This consistently held me back from my potential. I tend to strive for perfection and worry that mistakes will have a negative impact on me. This course allowed me to start to let go of these feelings. I learned that everyone fails and that failure is actually a very important and beneficial part of learning. We are so limited in our abilities if we don’t allow ourselves to fail. When we fail, we can learn from what happened and avoid these mistakes in the future. Failing is truly the only way we can grow as learners and people.
Along with this, I learned that taking risks is important. We shouldn’t avoid taking risks just because of the possibility of failure. Taking risks and trying new things is how we are able to see improvements. I have learned that it takes courage to take risks but that courage is what powers innovation and growth. Through this course, I was able to start to see how challenges can become valuable opportunities and that I shouldn’t be afraid of a challenge. Whether I fail or succeed, I will learn from the process and overall be more successful.
What will you still remember 5 years from now that you learned in this course?
5 years from now, I likely won’t even remember the name of this course, but many of the skills I learned will definitely stick with me long term. I will remember that creativity is and should be fun. I will engage in fun activities that power my imagination and I will implement fun and creative touches into my personal life and my work. I have already noticed myself taking more risks and having a more positive outlook toward challenges. I know that because of this course I am better equipped to use my strengths and opportunities to my advantage to help me overcome any setbacks or obstacles that I may face. The most important thing that I will remember from this course is that …
I AM CREATIVE!
I am much more confident in my creative abilities than I ever have been, and I believe that this confidence will stick with me and help me to grow even more!
References
8 lessons from history for generating great ideas. Next Big Idea Club. (2015, November 20). Retrieved from https://nextbigideaclub.com/the-10-key-insights-from-steven-johnsons-where-good-ideas-come-from/1909/
Boydstun, C. (2017, June 24). Reflection for growth: End-of-the-year wrap up. Vision in Practice. Retrieved from https://visioninpracticeblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/08/reflection-for-growth-end-of-the-year-wrap-up/
Hans, K. (2020, September 1). Principles of Creativity in the Workplace «Table of Contents». Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/creativityintheworkplace/table-of-contents-77daed3c54b6
Hans, K. (2020, September 11). 19 The creative process can be learned. Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/creativityintheworkplace/19-the-creative-process-can-be-learned-1e6c3b99b6ee
Heather. (n.d.). Um rhetlab. Frameworks for Reflective Writing . Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/olemiss-writing100/chapter/frameworks-for-reflective-writing/
Kamara, S. (2020, February 20). Traditional teaching vs. learning through failure: Which works best? — blog. SAM Labs. Retrieved from https://samlabs.com/us/traditional-teaching-learning-through-failure/
Kenny, N. (2014, July 30). The What? So What? And Now What? of Critical Reflection. TI Connections. Retrieved from https://connections.ucalgaryblogs.ca/2014/07/30/the-what-so-what-and-now-what-of-critical-reflection/
MadCap. (n.d.). I’m Creative Sticker. Just Stickers. Retrieved from https://juststickers.in/product/im-creative-sticker/
McColman, C. (2020, September 3). Imagination, creativity and spirituality (they go together well). Anamchara. Retrieved from https://anamchara.com/imagination-creativity-and-spirituality-they-go-together-well/
Nathan, S. (2021, January 19). What?, so what?, now what? activity for group presentations. Life Design Log. Retrieved from https://lifedesignlog.com/what-so-what-now-what-activity-for-group-presentations/
Pluym, L. V. (n.d.). Resolutions that stick: Embracing a growth mindset. Resolutions That Stick: Embracing a Growth Mindset. Retrieved from https://blog.bennettday.org/growth-mindset
The Psychology of Creativity: The Creative Process and how to develop creative skills. Mind Help. (2022, February 4). Retrieved from https://mind.help/topic/creativity/
Robert L. Rosen Quote. Quotefancy. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://quotefancy.com/quote/1712939/Robert-L-Rosen-Self-reflection-entails-asking-yourself-questions-about-your-values
