1. Only special talented people are creative.
2. Being creative is hard.
3. Problems are in our life to make it more difficult.
4. I am not creative.
5. Innovation is the domain of geniuses.
6. I have to have brand new ideas in order for me to be considered creative.
7. Brainstorming is hard work.
8. Only artists need to be creative.
9. Using structured creative techniques will hinder my ability to be creative.
While my lecturer show us this slide, which contains the Myth's list of creativity.. I am quite amazed because I did think these are the obstacles (exclude: 3, 7, 8 and 9) for me to be creative. To be honest, I don't think this is a myth at all, until my lecturer demystifying those myths to us.
Only special talented people are creative:
While it is true that it seems like people like Mozart or Picasso are more creative then others, if looked at closer, their creative genius will reveal a lot of very HARD WORK, rather then innate talent. Usually people, who demonstrate higher then average creative abilities, also work much harder then the average person.
Being creative is hard.
Yes it is. Actually it isn't being creative that is hard, it is WORKING ON DEVELOPING that ability. Once we learn how to easily channel creativity, it becomes second nature to us, as easy as breathing.
I am not creative.
There is no such thing as people who are not creative. If you feel that creativity comes to you with a lot of effort, it is more likely that your creative ability is in a dormant state. Creativity works similarly to muscles in our body. When we use them all the time, the muscles are toned and fit. As soon as we stop exercising, the muscles become flabby and our body accumulates fat around them for protection. To have creativity easily accessible to us, we should use it on a regular basis. The more we use it in our daily life the easier it will flow.
Innovation is the domain of geniuses.
Behind every great innovation however, are many years of HARD WORK. We often do not see this, but if you talk to anybody who truly succeeded, you will find out that they did so after many hardships and struggles.
I have to have brand new ideas in order for me to be considered creative.
This is the greatest secret that no creative professional talks about. "THERE ARE NO NEW IDEAS!" Most great ideas are a combination of old concepts presented in a fresh, new package that provides us with a sense of novelty. There are exceptions when an idea is truly unique. Those do happen, but majority of creative endeavors are improving upon concepts that already exist or putting several old concepts into a new combination .
Therefore, creative is:
Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others. From Human Motivation, 3rd ed., by Robert E. Franken
Ways that "creativity" is commonly used:
1. Persons who express unusual thoughts, who are interesting and stimulating - in short, people who appear to unusually bright.
2. People who experience the world in novel and original ways. These are (personally creative) individuals whose perceptions are fresh, whose judgments are insightful, who may make important discoveries that only they know about.
3. Individuals who have changes our culture in some important way. Because their achievement are by definition public, it is easier to write about them. (e.g., Leonardo, Edison, Picasso, Einstein, etc.)
Here is a video which being played in our class as for today:
To summarize, CREATIVITY is an ATTITUDE, an ABILITY and a PROCESS. To know more, you can click here to read the overall elaborations.
