Creativity #1: What is Creativity Tathagat Varma Knowledgepreneur http://thoughtleadership.in

How many artists in the room?

“The higher the grade, the fewer children raised their hands…Every school I visited was participating in the suppression of creative genius”.

Pablo Picasso

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.

Tom & David Kelley

Most people are born creative. As children, we revel in imaginary play, ask outlandish questions, draw blobs and call them dinosaurs. But over time, because of socialization and formal education, a lot of us start to stifle those impulses. We learn to be warier of judgment, more cautious, more analytical. The world seems to divide into “creatives” and “noncreatives,” and too many people consciously or unconsciously resign themselves to the latter category.

Before we start…

 What was the most creative thing you did in the last one day? week? …ever?

 Why do you think it was “creative”?

 How do you define “creative”?

What is Creativity?

  the state or quality of being creative.

  the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.

  originality, progressiveness, or imagination

  the process by which one utilizes creative ability

Dictionary.com

So, what is Creative?

  having the quality or power of creating.

  resulting from originality of thought, expression, etc.; imaginative: creative writing.

  originative; productive

  Facetious. using or creating exaggerated or skewed data, information, etc.: creative bookkeeping.

Dictionary.com

Osho

Creativity has nothing to do with any activity in particular – with painting, poetry, dancing, singing.

Anything can be creative – you bring that quality to the activity. Activity itself is neither creative nor uncreative. You can paint in an uncreative way. You can sing in an uncreative way. You can clean the floor in a creative way. You can cook in a creative way.

Creativity is the quality that you bring to the activity you are doing. It is an attitude, an inner approach – how you look at things.

So the first thing to be remembered: don't confine creativity to anything in particular.

Creativity means loving whatsoever you do – enjoying, celebrating it, as a gift of existence! Maybe nobody comes to know about it. Who is going to praise Paras for cleaning this floor? History will not take any account of it; newspapers will not publish her name and pictures – but that is irrelevant. She enjoyed it. The value is intrinsic.

Osho…

"So if you are looking for fame and then you think you are creative – if you become famous like Picasso, then you are creative - then you will miss. Then you are, in fact, not creative at all: you are a politician, ambitious. If fame happens, good. If it doesn't happen, good. It should not be the consideration. The consideration should be that you are enjoying whatsoever you are doing. It is your love-affair.

The questioner asks: 'I believed I was uncreative.' If you believe in that way, you will become uncreative – because belief is not just belief. It opens doors; it closes doors. If you have a wrong belief, then that will hang around you as a closed door. If you believe that you are uncreative, you will become uncreative – because that belief will obstruct, continuously negate, all possibilities of flowing. It will not allow your energy to flow because you will continuously say: 'I am uncreative

Steve Jobs

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things.

Edward de Bono

Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.

Ken Robinson

Creativity is putting your imagination to work, and it's produced the most extraordinary results in human culture.

Edwin Land

An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.

Wikipedia

Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and somehow valuable is formed.

So, let’s go again…we are all creative!!!

Creative or not?

Creative or not?

Creative or not?

Creative or not?

Creative or not?

Creative or not?

Creative or not?

Creative or not?

Creative or not?

Creative or not?

Creative or not?

Creativity or not?

Creative or not?

So, when is something “creative”?

http://vandewerk.nl/boost-creative-thinking/#more-2336

What Creativity is NOT?

 Creativity is NOT offensive

 Creativity is NOT abrasive

 Creativity is NOT complicated

 Creativity is NOT easy

 Creativity is NOT meaningless

http://www.thecreativealliance.com/creativity/5-things-creativity-not/#

Recap

  Creativity is about how we think, how we solve a problem in a novel and meaningful way

  Anyone can be creative. In fact, we are all creative – we just need to bring it out of us!

  Next topic: Creativity Development in Humans

References

http://brainpickings.org/2013/09/06/what-is-creativity/

http://osho.com/highlights-of-oshos-world/what-is-creativity

http://www.ted.com/topics/creativity

http://hbr.org/topic/creativity

http://www.coursera.org/learn/creativity-innovation

http://www.coursera.org/learn/ignite-creativity

http://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/creativity

http://www.coursera.org/learn/creative-problem-solving

http://www.quora.com/The-Arts-What-standards-are-used-to-determine-if-something-is-creative-or-not-and-what-triggers-inspiration

Books

  Orbiting the Giant Hairball – A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace, Gordon MacKenzie

  A Whack on the Side of the Head – How You Can be More Creative, Roger Von Oech

  The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery