Creativity Information

Creativity And You


95 percent of what we know about the brain, we have learned in the last 20 years. So, your beliefs about creativity were probably shaped by faulty information.

For instance, many believe that only special, talented people are creative - and you have to be born that way.

Wrong.

The notion that geniuses such as Shakespeare, Picasso and Mozart were `gifted' is a myth, according to a recent study at Exeter University. Researchers examined outstanding performances in the arts, mathematics and sports, to find out if "the widespread belief that to reach high levels of ability a person must possess an innate potential called talent."

This particular study concludes that excellence is determined by five key elements:

  • opportunities

  • encouragement

  • training

  • motivation

  • practice (this one, most of all)

The research also indicates that few showed early signs of promise prior to parental encouragement, and no one reached high levels of achievement in their field without devoting thousands of hours of serious training. Consider Mozart who trained for 16 years before he produced an cknowledged masterwork.

Let me tell you a few more interesting facts about creativity:

- Research shows that everyone has creative abilities. The more training you have and the more diverse the training,the greater is your potential for creative output.

- Additionally, it has been shown that in creativity quantity equals quality. In fact, the longer the list of ideas, the higher the quality of the final solution. Typically, the highest quality ideas appear at the end of the list.

- The average adult thinks of three to six alternatives for any given situation. The average child thinks of 60.

- Creativity is an individual process. Traditional brainstorming has been proven ineffective because of fear of social disapproval.

- Groups are best for idea selection rather than idea generation.

All of this is interesting and enlightening but doesn't necessarily get to the root of the issue of creativity. I think there is one element even more important than the five mentioned above. Let me tell you a true story to illustrate what I think the prime factor in creativity is.

A New York publisher was concerned about the lack of creativity among his editorial and marketing staff. He hired psychologists to try to determine what differentiated the creative employees from the others. After a year of study, the psychologists discovered that there was only one difference between creative and non-creative employees: belief in their creativity. Creative employees believed they were creative, and the non-creative ones believed they were not.

So, you are creative, I guarantee it. All you have to do is believe me. Is that too much to ask?

Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR, http://www.hoover-ink.com. He has 26 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Brent Dees Financial Planning, Duke Energy, Levolor, New World Mortgage, North Carolina Tourism, VELUX and Verbatim.


MORE RESOURCES:

Anna Clyne's “Night Ferry” set to sail after a long creative voyage
The Classical Review
For her the creative process usually goes fluently, but the composer found writing a 20-minute work for large forces a much greater challenge. “The orchestra is such a beast,” she said. “I mean, it's like a massive elephant in terms of this mass of ...

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Spirited Traveler: Phoenix goes creative cocktail crazy
Chicago Tribune
Cocktails creativity is fast spreading. At wildly experimental Citizen Public House (http://citizenpublichouse.com/) located in the Old Town area of Scottsdale, a space that formerly housed the original Trader Vic's Tiki Bar in the 1970s, ...

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Medicaid challenge requires creativity
The Hill
While the goal of providing coverage for all those individuals is laudable, it makes finding creative solutions for the future of Medicaid more complex, as creating comprehensive policy solutions for all of those individuals as a group is daunting.

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Marketing Week

Yahoo! forms creative ad unit
Marketing Week
Yahoo! has created a new creative advertising unit to focus on editorial, video and other digital ad formats as it looks to keep pace with Facebook and Google in the competition for display advertising revenue. The new division, dubbed Yahoo!



Creative options for Valentine's dinner
The Dixie Sun
Valentine's Day is full of tradition, yet some of Dixie State College's students recommended getting creative when going out on dates this V-day. Valentine's day is a day to make your loved one feel super special. DSC recommended fun dates for your and ...



Rino's Kitchen creative space
Windsor Star
His aim is to offer an affordable but creative place, not so high-end but not a conventional diner either. Mainly, he wanted local ingredients that would enhance the place as a neighbourhood gathering spot. Thing is, while people started to drop by, ...

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Creative methods enhance seafood
Daily Trojan Online
Seafood charcuterie, like its pork and beef cousins, welcomes creativity and a do-it-yourself spirit. Humans have been curing and smoking fishes since man obtained a spear and learned, probably the hard way, that the stabbed fish required preservation.



Get creative with these Valentine's Day gift ideas
The Dixie Sun
Creative and thoughtful Valentine's Day gifts can be easy to create, and just as easy to give away. Sappy love song albums, mushy chick flicks and flamboyant flowers seem to dominate the gift giving section of the day of love.



Health officer takes on creative business
Huron Daily Tribune
Tenbusch said the best part of the business is the creativity that is involved and working with people to bring out their creativity. Eventually, she would like the business to be what her and husband do in retirement. “Right now we're getting the name ...



MEDIA ALERT -- SpiderOak Announces New 'Free Your Inner Creativity' Social ...
MarketWatch (press release)
To express support for a free and open Internet, SpiderOak is hosting the 'Free Your Inner Creativity' social media photo contest. Users who post their best photo interpretation of freedom to the contest album on SpiderOak's Facebook fan page will be ...

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