Aha Moment Monday
What’s your creativity quotient?
I remember being in a “Creativity” class years ago where the facilitator gave us an exercise in creativity.
After giving everyone one minute to write down their answers he asked individuals to divulge how many ideas they came up with.
A pattern emerged that people on the left-hand side of the room generated far fewer answers than those on the right-hand side of the room.
How could that be? Was it that the right-hand side of the room was indeed more creative?
The answer revealed itself when the facilitator admitted that, unbeknownst to his audience, participants received different sets of instructions.
The left-hand side of the room received a paper that, at the top, instructed, “In one minute, write down as many things as you can think of to make your pen even better”
The right-hand side of the room received a paper that, at the top, instructed, “In one minute, write down as many really creative things you can think of to make your pen even better.”
One obvious issue is that those who were allowed to freely stream their ideas without self-censorship or judgment developed many more ideas than their counterparts who had imposed parameters.
The not-so-obvious issue is about the origin of the creativity itself.
What makes some people better than others in generating ideas, playing an instrument, building campaigns, writing poetry, developing slogans, solving equations, designing dresses, conceptualizing architecture, or assembling power teams?
Is the source of the creativity the individual or an external force?
Aha – “Art has shown that universal expression can only be created by a real equation of the universal and the individual.” ~ Painter Piet Mondrian
You can ready yourself by studying your craft and practicing your skills but the creative process is incomplete until you allow yourself quiet opportunity for the consciousness of mankind to flow through.
While there are surely ways you can better engage your brain and stimulate your creativity – writing with your less-dominant hand, walking backwards, changing up your environment – allowing yourself to be an instrument of the universal mind has significant influence on bringing new solutions forward.
The catch? Sometimes that takes time.
Brainstorming at the boredroom – oh, excuse me, “boardroom” table has two flaws.
One, that typically nothing about the environment has been changed to spark new ideas.
Two, that forcing creativity in real-time limits the depth of what you can actually achieve.
Plant your questions like seeds in your mind and have confidence in your brilliance to bring that great idea forth.
After all, your resource pool is the universal mind with the other 7.5 billion people on this planet.
Take that, boardroom!
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