There is no better time than now to get creative
The thirtieth episode from NoTosh’s email series, ‘The Provocation’
It seems that there is no better time than now to use the phrase, “there is no better time than now”. For schools, companies, and governments there’s a clarion call to do things very differently from the way we’ve always done them. We need to be better for the environment, for our economies, and above all, for each other. Today’s events are the final boarding call for a journey of greater creativity in the way we talk about and act on the issues of our time.
But what exactly constitutes creativity and how will it help us now?
Before answering this question, however, let’s first debunk what creativity is not. And while many readers will nod knowingly when they see the list, take a moment to consider if you only ‘know’ it intellectually or if you actually ‘feel’ it emotionally, because these are long-held beliefs that have often spanned thousands of years, which makes them almost ingrained in us.
Creativity is not a eureka moment.
It’s not an inherent gift, it’s rarely the result of the one persons’ work;
It isn’t necessarily born from people who get along working together;
It doesn’t arise solely from brainstorming, and;
It’s not made harder by adding constraints.
These are the things that even though we ‘know’ them, we sometimes don’t ‘believe’ them.
So, what is creativity then? First and foremost, creativity is not simply an idea. If you knew someone who generated a lot of ideas you might consider them imaginative but not necessarily creative. Being creative means something has to be created, and to create something, the brain needs to perform several different functions. Often the first one is Associating, that is, making unique connections across disparate fields of endeavour. It is the skill of associating that has allowed humans to be so adaptable over millennia.
Creativity also requires questioning, observation, and listening. These three attributes allow for the exploration and incorporation of different perspectives which enables us to surface more information from which to make associations. The same is true of networking and collaborating, which is used to garner other ideas and hear others’ connections. Finally, there is the need to make all this thinking and ideating real — and this can only be done through experimentation.
Being creative therefore means creating something: building, experimenting, creating. That’s quite different from designing, thinking, or talking about it, but never quite making the decision to act.
So, what are you waiting for? When it comes to being creative, there is no better time than now.
The Evidence
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