In his recent article published in FastCompany, Susan PepperCorn, an American creativity expert, explains what she believes are the 3 main pitfalls when it comes to creativity. Pitfalls that are often due to preconceived ideas, self-imposed obstacles, and which, when reported at the collective level - in any organization - cause real inertia to change and innovation.
But first, what are we talking about?
Here is what she says. But first, what do we mean by creativity? We often think of creativity as the ability to invent unique concepts.
However, Amabile and Burkus - 2 professors from Harvard Business School and famous for their creativity conference - see things differently. Amabile defines creative thinking as “the way people approach problems and solutions - their ability to combine existing ideas in new ways”, not to come up with new ones.
In his book, Burkus discusses 11 false beliefs about creativity that many people consider to be truths, even if they have been debunked by research. Here are three of these myths...
“Creativity, transformed into business or real innovation, is 95% of work and perspiration. To refine your idea, improve it by putting it to the test of reality.”
Myth 1: Creativity is transmitted (genetically)
If you haven't had a career in the arts, you may mistakenly assume that you're not a creative thinker—that it's something you either have or don't have at birth. As Burkus explains,”we want to believe that some people are born creative and that others are genetically equipped differently.“
That is simply not true. Also, if you buy into the myth that creativity is genetically pre-determined, you can find an excuse to believe that you are not as inventive and innovative as others.
Myth 2: Creative ideas should be original
“In the business world, originality is not enough“, affirms Mr. Amabile. “To be creative, an idea must improve a product or open up a new way of approaching a process.“It is rare for a novel invention to be entirely original.
“In the business world, originality is not enough. To be creative, an idea must improve a product, or open up a new way of approaching a process.”
Maybe you know that Johannes Guttenberg invented the printing press... but what is rarely said is that the technology used by Guttenberg already existed in the form of a wine press. The fact is that new creations are usually the result of combining existing ideas in new ways.
Myth 3: Creativity is born from a single flash of genius
Stories of creative ideas that happen in a flash are often romanticized, such as that of Benjamin Franklin attaching a key to a rope during a storm and discovering electricity, or the young Mozart sitting at his fortepiano and writing a symphony. It is easy to imagine that the brilliant ideas of others are the result of divine inspiration.
The problem with the”Myth of Eureka“, as defined by Burkus, is that it provides a convenient excuse to procrastinate while waiting for the perfect moment to happen. In reality, creativity involves weeks (or months) of incubating ideas. And above all a lot of work and sweat.
This is a key message that I repeat very regularly in my innovation conferences: creativity is 5% of the job. The eureka moment is 5% of the job. It's the sexy moment, it's the moment we see in the movies. But that hides a reality: creativity, transformed into business or real innovation, is 95% of hard work and perspiration. To refine your idea, improve it by putting it to the test of reality.
A very happy creative year to you all!
Alexis Botaya, creativity and innovation speaker.
- My creativity podcast on Majelan
- My Create to Innovate Challenge on WelcomeOriginals
