Creativity.
Creativity
Creativity is a word that is often thrown around, but rarely examined. What does it mean? What is it good for? How can we tell if someone is creative or not? How can we inspire our own creativity?
First let’s get clear: we are all born creative. It’s in our DNA. Yet, predominant “western” culture studies have shown that the word “no” is heard by children 20 times as often as the word “yes,” indicating that the way we learn “appropriate” behavior is by limiting our options of how to walk, how to eat, how to interact with others, and so on. In order to express our creative self we must reconcile our individuality with the patterns and customs of our family, society, and culture, which means repressing certain urges and encouraging other, more ‘normal’ behaviors.
Even with our potential we aren't all always being creative. To be creative takes a concentrated and sustained effort to think, feel, and do things in new ways, and it is often a more efficient use of our energy to do things the way we always have. And yet, we all have to think outside the box sometimes. When we are creative, we are analogous to a plant that spends a massive amount of energy to bloom; it might not be easy, but it’s worth it… AND it’s fun. This flower is our unique creativity, and no one else has a form quite like our own.
WHAT IS CREATIVITY?
The best response to this question is another question: “What is creativity for you?” Take a minute to answer this question and write down your ideas. It is likely that each person’s answer will look slightly different. Now that you’ve examined your thoughts, here’s one possible definition:
Creativity is…
combining / transforming / metamorphosing / journeying / growing opening / playing
with existing things and ideas
to produce something original and of value.
This definition is quite broad: for example “value” could be referring to the value it has for ourselves, for someone else, or for the whole wide world. Our creativity may be of immediate and short-lived value, or of future or long-term value. Don't hesitate to investigate more, or create your own definition that suits your reality. In order to better understand how creativity is imagined today, it can be helpful to explore memes regarding creativity from the past and see how our understanding has developed over time.
Ancient cultures often imagined creativity to be related to the divine. Humanity has the capacity to cross the threshold between waking and dream. When people access their creative states, they are bridging the two parallel universes. The ancient Greeks famously relied upon muses: personified beings who came and went as they pleased, bringing inspiration with them, and leaving writer’s block behind when they disappeared. During much of written history creativity has been assumed to be the birthright of some few people, whether through nature, nurture, or divine providence.
This way of thinking holds up genius as an ideal, and develops tests that measure a person’s potential to achieve greatness. When used to single out children from a young age it encourages division and undermines the intrinsic self-worth of those deemed unworthy of special treatment. This is commonly referred to as the “first generation” understanding of creativity.
In the middle of the 20th century the “second generation” emerged, seeing creativity as something innately human that can be studied, described and fostered within all human beings. This revolutionary idea was shortly followed by the understanding that creativity is not the same as intelligence: IQ tests do not predict creativity. Early pioneers J.P. Guilford and Paul Torrance defined aspects of creative thinking and a widely used test to measure them.
From this moment there has been much scholarship and experimentation seeking to better understand creativity, and how to identify people who have better access to it. The most popular fruit of this period is brainstorming, a term coined by Alex Osborn. This rudimentary technique remains widely used, yet much more relevant is his later work with Sidney Parnes that develops integrative thinking processes and a method for Creative Problem Solving. Other pragmatic models for creative problem solving include Edward de Bono’s lateral thinking tools and the use of synectics by George Prince.
The “third generation” understanding of creativity rejects the notion that creativity is either a strike of serendipity or a hard-fought and statistically measurable intellectual process. The theories from this generation of creative scholars open up our understanding about the uniquely personal aspect of creativity. Specifically, they challenge the notion that creativity must be focused on productivity or economic gain. To be creative requires the expression of a constructive attitude: essentially our ability to be ourselves in the world.
By the end of the 20th century, as social consciousness grew, so too did our ideas about how creativity should be manifested. This “fourth generation” of creativity researchers and facilitators such as Mihalyi Czikszentmihaly and the IDEO.org team began to focus less on the exact nature of creativity and more on how to promote it in groups, communities, and societies. The basis of this work is the development of respectful relationships with oneself and others. Current focus seeks to coordinate between public, private, community, and education sectors so that we can move toward achieving sustainable lifestyles. Though it can be inspired and expressed in infinite ways, we believe that creativity produces fruitful results through actions that transform reality.
HOW CAN CREATIVITY BE USED?
Most commonly, creativity is associated with artistic expression. According to this concept, our greatest challenge is how to be artful in everything we do, from domestic chores to intricate industrial design, relationships to finance, and so on. Scholars speak of four areas where creativity is applied: person, product, process, & press. It is hard to identify something that we do that couldn’t be done better with a little creativity.
Despite this, much of the time we prefer to follow habitual patterns rather than invent new ways of doing things. Before looking at why this happens, we need to understand what’s going on in our brains when we’re being creative.
NEUROLOGICAL BUILDING BLOCKS OF LEARNING AND CREATIVITY
Creativity science has come a long way in the last 50 years and even further in the last five. Assuming that creativity is a largely cerebral phenomenon, it is easy to understand how developments in Functional MRIs have opened new doors into understanding a wide variety of the processes that can lead to creativity.
For our purposes, the most important thing to understand is the way neurons communicate to each other. When we’re born this communication is somewhat random and inefficient. As we do things repeatedly we get positive results, and so we get better at them little by little as the neurons involved get better at communicating with each other. By adulthood we’ve cemented into place the neuronal pathways to do certain things like brush our teeth, so that these processes become more or less automated.
The more cemented, or less “plastic” our networks are, the harder it is to do new things. Try making simple but challenging activities a part of the daily routine, such as toothbrushing with the non-dominant hand, walking a different route, and other memory games. The more we challenge ourselves and our brains on a daily basis, the better we are able to cope with newness and change.
IMBALANCES
In today’s society there are many things that present challenges to a person seeking to express their true self through creative actions. Here are a few key observances:
CIRCLE OF FEAR
In order to innovate together we must channel our fear of being creative. When we don’t feel creative, our energies are out of balance: we are creative but to be creative we have to transcend this fear. Often fear happens when we don’t know how to do something: ‘Because I don’t know how to do it, I don’t do it. Because I don’t do it, I don’t learn. And if I don’t learn, I’m right back to the beginning, knowing nothing.’ That’s how the vicious cycle goes. Again and again. How do we break it? How do we get into a cycle of learning?
First we have to analyze the cycle of fear to see how we can break the cycle at the most strategic spot: ‘Even though I don’t know how, I just have to do it. And once I do it, and I reflect upon what I’ve done, I learn. Then as I practice what I’m learning, I generate knowledge and eventually I know. Once I know how to learn, it gives me the confidence to do new things, even though I may not know how.’
THE SCHOOL OF ERROR
This simple model was created by Imagitlán co-founder Siddhartha Meneses as a way to help middle school teachers and students understand the importance of error in the classroom. It has a set of simple rules designed to inspire reflection on traditional models of success and talent, and how they can often interfere with a sincere learning process. We can emulate this ourselves by embracing and giving gratitude for our perceived ‘failures’, reflecting and offering ourselves feedback as much as possible, and remaining open to trying again.
THE LEARNING LABYRINTH
Much like the traditional labyrinth in the diagram, when we set out to learn something there are no dead ends. We will almost certainly come upon unexpected twists and turns in the road, but forward progress will always get us to the center. What we find there will most likely be a surprise, as we ourselves will be changed by the process, and we’ll have to move on to the next learning labyrinth. The most important thing is continuing.
CREATIVE ENVIRONMENTS
While it is important to understand any internal imbalances that may be contributing to a feeling of creative blockage, sometimes you just need a change of scenery. In the words of Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi:
"It is easier to enhance creativity by changing conditions in the environment than by trying to make people think more creatively."
One of the most important aspects of Kula Collective teacher trainings is the way we foster a creative environment. This refers to a place where all the participants are motivated to share ideas without fear of judgment, and to critique and build upon ideas without taking things personally. Researchers refer to this as the physical, social, and cultural environment in which creative activity occurs (Sternberg and Grigorenko, 1997; Harrington, 1999)
You may have noticed how a creative person can make the environment around them more creative, or how you feel more creative when you’re in a creative environment. This points to the importance of each individual’s contribution to creative environments in our schools, work, and homes. The tools and activities we use are specifically designed to foment the trust, respect, freedom, and curiosity that make up these environments.
If you feel a creative blockage within yourself, try changing your perspective! This is a slight change in your environment that can activate new neuronal pathways. Changing seats, walking in circles around a room, or doing a headstand will open new channels of creativity! We are all innately creative beings; if our environment is helpful and our intention strong, we are all capable of becoming channels of imagination into form.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
What is creativity for you?
What conditions encourage your creativity?
What conditions stump your creativity?
What ideas do you have around your own ability to create?
EXERCISES AND ACTIVITIES
Word game: In partners, take turns to say a word, any word, alternating as fast as you can. Reflect afterwards. What did you notice? What was challenging? What helped flow?
Walking game: Try walking in as many different steps as you can. Continue even when you think you have run out of ideas. What do you notice about this game? How do you feel afterwards?
Practice lunar and solar thinking to solve a problem. Before lunar thinking, try one of the above exercises to expand your creative capacity. Notice the tendency to want to ‘solar your lunar’. Can you stick to purely lunar thinking, followed by purely solar thinking?
Try new things! Brushing your teeth or writing with the other hand. Going different routes. Trying new activities or things you wouldn’t normally do. Get creative in everyday moments and see where it takes you!
References
Mihalyi Czikszentmihalyi, 1996
Sternberg and Grigorenko, 1997; Harrington, 1999
http://www.creativeeducationfoundation.org/
https://www.ideo.org/
The use of synectics by George Prince
Edward de Bono’s lateral thinking tools
Sternberg and Grigorenko, 1997; Harrington, 1999