Cultivating Creativity
“It is the creative potential itself in human beings that is the image of God.” -Mary Daly
-Creativity is not a purely personal process. Creativity flourishes in an atmosphere where original thinking and innovation are encouraged and stimulated. It fades in atmospheres where dialogue and interaction are stifled. Cultural conditions can stifle and kill creativity. If ideas are not encouraged, or when encouraged they are ignored, the creative impulse does one of two things; It goes out, or it goes maverick. It deserts the organization or it subverts it. Creativity can work for you or against you.
-Creativity is incremental. New ideas do not necessarily come from nowhere. They draw from the ideas and achievements of those that have gone before us or are working in different fields. In the same way that making original work depends on technical skills, conceiving new ideas is often promoted by knowledge of the achievements of others - by cultural literacy.
-Cultural change is not linear and smooth. It can be tumultuous, complex and drawn out. New ways of thinking do not simply replace the old at clear points in history. They often overlap and coexist with established ways of thinking for long periods of time. This complex and convoluted process of change can create many tensions and unresolved problems along the way. Cultural change is like the process of personal creativity. It occurs as a series of successive approximations.
-Cultural change is not strictly logical. Creativity and innovation should be seen as functions of all areas of activity and not only as confined to particular people or processes. The challenge is to promote processes of systemic innovation rather than of isolated specialist achievement.
Out of our minds – learning to be creative
-Sir Ken Robinson (Senior Advisor to the J. Paul Getty Trust, advisor on creative strategies to governments and companies worldwide).
Because the Holes are Round
“You cannot govern the creative impulse; all you can do is eliminate obstacles and smooth the way for it" -Kimon Nicholaides
The Impossible Question: Is there a ‘right” answer for a creative challenge?
Puzzles, riddles, mindbenders. Usually, no matter how tricky, involve linear thinking and one single correct solution. However, in the advertising and design world a solution to client’s problem may be considered “right” if it works, but rarely takes the form of only one solution.
Here’s where the impossible question comes into play. There is no specific right answer, but there is definitely bad, good and great answers. And every client knows it when he sees it.
These “logic puzzles” test such things as “bandwidth, inventiveness, creative problem solving ability, outside the box thinking”
Such things that are used in coming up with creative campaign or creative impactfull images…
Answering these questions means encountering and surmounting obstacles.
Here’s an example:
Why are manhole covers round rather than square?
The answer interviewers consider the best is that a square cover could fall into its hole, injuring someone or getting lost underwater. This is because the diagonal of a square is 1.414 times its side. Should you hold a square manhole cover near-vertically and turn it a little, it falls easily into its hole. In contrast, a circle has the same diameter in all directions. The slight recess in the lower part of the cover prevents it from ever falling in, no matter how it's held. A more flippant answer (not that this question merits any other kind) is "because the holes are round:' Maybe that's not so flippant: Holes are round, you might claim, be cause it's easier to dig a round hole than a square one.
Another answer is that a person can roll a circular cover when it needs to be transported a short distance. A square cover would require a dolly or two persons. Perhaps a lesser reason is that a round cover need not be rotated to fit the hole.
How Would You Move Mount Fuji?
-William Poundstone