Thinking about Creativity |
One
characteristic of peak performance is the knowledge that you will never run out
of options. Come what may, you've got something you can try....
Knowing you can do it means that you have the confidence to try it another way if your first response hasn't worked, instead of throwing up your hands and succumbing to despair.... A related characteristic is a willingness to experiment. You will try different approaches; you are attentive to how well they work or why they don't work, and by experimenting, you develop a repertoire of options. (52) Mentally
Tough; The Principles of Winning at Sports |
Fostering Creativity | |
What
are the hallmarks of creativity?
constraints connections design resources
Creativity
is a heightened experience of life. Creativity is fostered by play, but it is
not killed by pressure.
Creativity
is generative; it attracts others to join in your work and makes a space for their
contribution.
Creativity
uses new connections to function through, because of and around constraints.
Creative
solutions are new and good and surprising. The best solutions are an elegant and
economical play between resources and design.
How
can you take stock of your available resources?
time, treasure, talent
Talent:
your own knowledge, information, skills, judgment (and others who will share theirs
with you)
Time:
time and space
Treasure:
money, connections to money, material goods and people who will give you free
stuff
Does
design matter?
economical elegance
The
argument between the scientists and the engineers: make it perfect vs. make it
work
elegant,
economical -- the most functional solution using the fewest resources
... but what
about beauty, proportion, harmony, attractiveness, good taste ...?
A Comparison:
Creative Limitations | Creative Conditions | Creative Pro-Action |
Things you have already encountered: materials, creatures, people | Encountering new things, people or creatures | Seek out new things, people or creatures |
What you believe about who you are and what you can do (your place in society) | An unsettled or fluid social struture (new jobs, new roles) | Re-define
the stakeholders in your task, event or thing. Role-play. |
Established ideas about a process for creating or producing a thing | Pressure on a traditional process or resources, discovery of a new resource | Re-evaluate the components of a traditional process |
Established ideas about what should be produced (what is good/valuable to do) | New social values about what is good to be produced or done | Bring to light the "hidden" received wisdom and question it. |
Expertise in a certain media | Development of new media | Try a new media for expression |
Fear of risk (if it ain't broke, don't fix it.) | A risk-taking society; or no big risk associated with change | Minimize risk; add time for incubation. |
Lack of instruments or systems of measurement | New instruments and new systems | Create new instruments or systems for measurement |
What
are your creative strategies?
recursive consideration of design & resources
Establish a goal -- create a constraint. Describe the "platonic ideal" that you are striving for. Incorporate the constraint into the design.
List all your constraints -- time pressure, geographical features, client demand, materials available, physics, what you believe about yourself, what you believe about your task, what you believe about your resources, what you believe about your team, what you know and what you think you know.
Change your perspective: Isolate all the elements in your project and move them into new relationships with each other.
Invert your ideas. Look for ways to turn your expectations and assumptions about your goals and each of the elements leading up to your goal inside-out.
Seek stimulation and silence: Go to a place that is creative and give yourself time to "incubate."
If you work on a team, find out who is stimulated by time-pressure, and who is stymied by time-pressure. Check out who values rules & traditions, and who does not. What will induce a team member to take a risk, and what will prevent him or her from taking a risk?
Be a good steward: Always use a resource to create a new resource. At a minimum, learn from your event.
Choose the generative idea that involves others and encourages them to add their resources to yours.
Re-examine
Your Goals: Learn when to "declare victory," end the effort, and try something
new.
What problems choke off creativity?
(Team)
Disagreement
between team members regarding need for new design.
Debate
on the value of (usefulness of or customer receptivity to) new design.
Team members
estimate risk-level differently, and (generally speaking) some team members more
willing than others to take risks.
Some
team members have a greater value for rules and traditions than others.
Disagreement
on design aesthetic.
(Individual)
No source
of stimulation
No
time for incubation
Constraints
seen as barriers rather than useful elements of the design (constraints as yet
untransformed): time pressure, geographical features, client demand, materials
available, physics, what you believe about yourself, what you believe about your
task, what you believe about your resources, what you believe about your team,
what you know and what you think you know