The last four months have been an enlightening experience for me. I've just completed another class towards my masters "Creativity Assessment," We (my wife and I) have moved a thousand miles from where we grew up to St. Thomas, and, as always, I've managed to get involved in an array of interesting projects.
So, what was the big enlightenment? The other 5th P - "Proof." I say the other 5th P, because Persuasion has already been proposed as an addition to Rhodes' model. Persuasion is a key addition because it implies leadership. Leadership, which ultimately leads to "Proof" of our creativity. After all, we are reflecting on Creativity, - the act of creating.
How can we assess proof? What is the measure of having achieved a creative act or just a mundane task. What is the measure of a creative product, as opposed to a non-creative product? To explore this, let us consider the concept of "Impact." Perhaps, we can measure how creative we are being by how much (and what type of) impact we have on our surroundings.
Sometimes, this is easy to assess. The automobile, for example, or the personal computer has had a tremendous impact on how we live our lives. Sometimes, this assessment of impact isn't as easy. A thoughtful toast at a friend's retirement party may not influence all the world, but it may have a deep impact on that one individual. Another example could be a funny email that has a low impact, but that may circulate amongst a million people. How do we measure exactly how creative these acts are in relation to one another?
As a theory, let us propose that impact can be measured on two axises; amount of impact per individual & amount of individuals impacted. (Perhaps we can even extend the axises to include negative numbers for acts of destruction, as opposed to creative acts.) What are your thoughts on this theory? What are your experiences with impact? Try to think of the impact of your actions on the people around you and around the world. What can you say about your creativity when you consider what type of impact you have on the world?
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Four Ps of Creativity
The study of Creativity is broken down into a framework that consists of 4 Ps. Person, Process, Product & Press.
In studying Creative People we attempt to identify the traits of these individuals. We try to assess different styles of creativity (adaptive vs. innovative (Kirton)). We also try and understand different learning styles of people, because we believe everyone is creative. Applications for this type of learning can be used in Team Building or fostering creativity in an individual or an organization.
There are many Creative Processes. Perhaps, the most intuative and natural is CPS or Creative Problem Solving. There are many other processes as well, however I believe the common element amongst all of them is the seperation of generating ideas and judging them. Most of us simultaneously ideate and evaluate, which can hinder creativity. Infact, most people believe that creativity comes through an "AHA moment" when the perfect idea presents itself, as opposed to creativity being the outcome of a very deliberate process. In fact, companies like IDEO use these processes to consistently and deliberatly innovate.
Creative Products are probably the least studied in the field of Creativity. They are generally looked at as the artifacts of the creative process, however more work is being performed on analyzing what makes a product creative. Consesus at the moment dictates that it has to be both novel and useful. Applications of understanding creative products can include new product development and also the development of new processes.
Press, from the Latin, refers to the Psychological Climate. Ekvall has performed extensive study in this area and has identified 10 Dimensions of Creative Climate. The 9 dimensions that support creativity are Challenge, Freedom, Idea Support, Trust / Openess, Dynamism / Liveliness, Playfulness / Humor, Debate, Risk-Taking, & Idea Time. The dimension of Conflict can hinder creativity in an environment. An understanding of these dimensions can be applied at the office, at home, or in the class room to foster creativity.
By understanding this framework we can evaluate, recognize and change our situations to have more deliberate innovation and actually feel happier and more fulfilled in life. It is my belief that being creative is our natural state and a quick look at history and human progress demonstrates this point quite well. Often times we feel unhappy and stressed when we are not being creative, see no progress and our options are limited. Understanding how to return to our natural state may be part of the key to our happiness.
In studying Creative People we attempt to identify the traits of these individuals. We try to assess different styles of creativity (adaptive vs. innovative (Kirton)). We also try and understand different learning styles of people, because we believe everyone is creative. Applications for this type of learning can be used in Team Building or fostering creativity in an individual or an organization.
There are many Creative Processes. Perhaps, the most intuative and natural is CPS or Creative Problem Solving. There are many other processes as well, however I believe the common element amongst all of them is the seperation of generating ideas and judging them. Most of us simultaneously ideate and evaluate, which can hinder creativity. Infact, most people believe that creativity comes through an "AHA moment" when the perfect idea presents itself, as opposed to creativity being the outcome of a very deliberate process. In fact, companies like IDEO use these processes to consistently and deliberatly innovate.
Creative Products are probably the least studied in the field of Creativity. They are generally looked at as the artifacts of the creative process, however more work is being performed on analyzing what makes a product creative. Consesus at the moment dictates that it has to be both novel and useful. Applications of understanding creative products can include new product development and also the development of new processes.
Press, from the Latin, refers to the Psychological Climate. Ekvall has performed extensive study in this area and has identified 10 Dimensions of Creative Climate. The 9 dimensions that support creativity are Challenge, Freedom, Idea Support, Trust / Openess, Dynamism / Liveliness, Playfulness / Humor, Debate, Risk-Taking, & Idea Time. The dimension of Conflict can hinder creativity in an environment. An understanding of these dimensions can be applied at the office, at home, or in the class room to foster creativity.
By understanding this framework we can evaluate, recognize and change our situations to have more deliberate innovation and actually feel happier and more fulfilled in life. It is my belief that being creative is our natural state and a quick look at history and human progress demonstrates this point quite well. Often times we feel unhappy and stressed when we are not being creative, see no progress and our options are limited. Understanding how to return to our natural state may be part of the key to our happiness.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
from a distance...
We usually think of distance in terms of physical space, but it can often be length of time or even emotional separation. We have all experienced moments of clarity when we manage to get an objective perspective of our situation, but all too often we get caught up, or too involved in our own situation to see the whole picture, identify all the opportunities and make the best decisions. So what's stopping us?
Judgment. All too often, we are judging ourselves, judging others, judging the situation. We blame ourselves for being sad and thus pile anger on top of the sadness to make the situation worse, or we think someone is a little strange and thus lose out on making a great friend. This judgment is catastrophic for creativity and change. After all, our judgments are based on what we already know, creativity and change (by definition) are both outside of the realm of what we already know.
So, in order to create a climate which fosters creativity, be it for ourselves or for an organisation, we must learn the first rule of creativity, "defer judgment," at least for a while. Eventually, we will need to make a decision and good judgment will be crucial, but we will have given ourselves the distance to maybe learn something new about ourselves, our organization or the world.
When has judgement cost you an opportunity or made life harder?
When have you been able to succesfully defer judgment? What was the result?
Have you ever noticed someone else too involved in their own situation to see the big picture?
Judgment. All too often, we are judging ourselves, judging others, judging the situation. We blame ourselves for being sad and thus pile anger on top of the sadness to make the situation worse, or we think someone is a little strange and thus lose out on making a great friend. This judgment is catastrophic for creativity and change. After all, our judgments are based on what we already know, creativity and change (by definition) are both outside of the realm of what we already know.
So, in order to create a climate which fosters creativity, be it for ourselves or for an organisation, we must learn the first rule of creativity, "defer judgment," at least for a while. Eventually, we will need to make a decision and good judgment will be crucial, but we will have given ourselves the distance to maybe learn something new about ourselves, our organization or the world.
When has judgement cost you an opportunity or made life harder?
When have you been able to succesfully defer judgment? What was the result?
Have you ever noticed someone else too involved in their own situation to see the big picture?
Relevancy of this Blog
The purpose of this blog is to share thoughts on the topic of creativity in relation to innovation and change leadership; both on a personal level and within organizations. Please participate by sending me questions, starting discussions and sharing your thoughts. As always, I look forward to learning with you.
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