Are You A Creative Clown?
(Continued)
by Bruce "Charlie" Johnson
An oil company realized that some of their managers were more creative then others. The company hired psychologists to study their managers hoping to learn to either screen applicants so they hired more creative people or to teach their current employees to be more creative. The psychologists studied everything they could think of including birth order, educational background, geographical area born and educated in, age, marital status, and even eye color. The only thing they found the highly creative people had in common was that they thought they were creative. The only thing the less creative people had in common was that they thought they weren't creative.
Self-fulfilling Prophecy
So, however you answered the first question, you are probably right. Why is this so? Because it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. That is an idea, which may be true or false, but because you think it is true, you act as if it is true, which makes it become true.
The nature of creativity is such that the first ideas you have for a problem come slowly and may not be too good. Eventually though better ideas start to pour forth.
When somebody who thinks they are uncreative approaches a problem, they evaluate the first ideas right away, decide they aren't any good, and declares that only proves they were right, they aren't creative. They then stop trying.
A creative person delays evaluating ideas because they know the critical
process shuts off further ideas. They are confidant they will be able to
come up with a good idea so they patiently wait for as many ideas as possible to
come. They don't stop with what appears to be the first good idea
because they know a better one might be coming. Then they evaluate their
ideas, choose the best, and declare that only proves they were right, they are
creative. Then they go on to the next creative task.
Perception
Part of the problem is perception. A couple of years ago friends
introduced my wife and me to bird watching. We were amazed at all the
different birds we suddenly saw around us. The birds were there all the
time. We weren't looking for them so we didn't perceive them. To us
they didn't
exist. When we started looking, we found them.
The same is true with creativity. Every one has creative ideas. Some people overlook their creativity, so they aren't aware of it, and it doesn't seem to exist. According to Hausner and Scholsberg, "Creativity can be easy to overlook -- precisely because it is so natural." When people start looking for ideas, they experience their own creativity, and become aware how creative they really are.
Exercise
Another reason people who think they are creative become more creative is exercise. Just as your physical abilities become stronger through use (exercise), your mental abilities become stronger through use. The more you use your creative ability, the stronger it becomes. Just like physical exercises have been created for your muscles, there mental exercises that have been created for your creativity. Some strengthen your abilities, and others lead to increased mental flexibility. People who think they are creative enjoy experiencing that creativity so they tend to seek out mental exercises which leads to them being better able to use their creativity. This brings us back to the self-fulfilling prophecy. People who think they are uncreative don't try mental exercises because they think they can't do them. They allow their creativity to atrophy through lack of use.
So how creative a clown are you? That is up to you. What ever you
decide will become your reality.
© Copyright 2005 by Bruce "Charlie" Johnson. All rights reserved.
Excerpted from Creativity For Entertainers Volume One: The Creative Process.
For more information on Creativity
see the Creativity For Entertainers trilogy
written and illustrated by Bruce "Charlie" Johnson
click here for further information
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