In an ever increasing knowledge based society we need more than ever to embrace creativity and original thinking to innovate if we are to stay competitive and yet there are alarming signals everywhere that we have lost our natural born ability to be truly creative individuals. Every where you look you can see the reality of conformity, the imitation copy products, the standard uniform look and people everywhere accepting the Status Quo of their environments and settling for less in their lives because they feel powerless to change them. Play is a significant factor in creativity and innovation yet our societies permanent preoccupation with 'busyness' and information overload prevents this. That is why you will see the more enlightened brands out there trying to kick-start creativity in the workplace by designing colourful well lit offices, play labs and collaborative spaces to generate ideas and explore new ways of thinking and working.
All successful entrepreneurs appreciate the critical importance of creativity and innovation in designing a unique product or service. They are generally individuals who will think differently from the norm and they are not frightened to follow their instincts. They will question, challenge and seek knowledge to find new solutions and ways of thinking to old problems.Often their ideas are way ahead of their time but they will not be phased by this because they have an over-riding willingness to take risks and to try new things even if they do occasionally fail. All great entrepreneurs are visionaries and dreamers who have the imagination and the desire to change the world.
Creativity
Scientists are only just beginning to truly understand the complexities of the human brain and how it really works. Research in the 1970s by Sperry and Ornstein discovered that each side of the brain appears to have primary responsibility for certain thought processes. They discovered that in the majority of cases the left side of the brain is primarily responsible for logical thinking such as sequence, analysis, proof reading documents and list forming whereas the right side of the brain is primarily responsible for more intuitive thinking such as imagination and daydreaming and feeling a rhythm or recognising colour and shapes.
We stereotype like crazy based on this with women constantly referred to as more 'touchy feely' (and nine times out of 10 they are) but unable to read maps and work technical gadgets properly and men who are bored to tears with their wife or girlfriends conversations even though they switch off and never really listen in the first place (in my experience!)
According to John Gray in 'Men are from Mars Women are from Venus' a mans' sense of self is defined through his ability to achieve results (left brain) whereas a womens' sense of self is defined through her feelings and the quality of her relationships (right brain). Of course this is a sweeping generalisation and there are exceptions to the rule.
In a very small proportion of people it is difficult to find any dominant side when completing different types of thinking/activities with actual brain activity appearing much more random. It was always assumed that creative thinkers were predominantly right-brain thinkers but actually it has been discovered that they are actually 'whole-brain' thinkers. An obvious example of a creative thinker would be;
Einstein-A scientist, an activity more usually associated with the left side of the brain but Einstein was actually nearly thrown out of school for daydreaming. His theory of relativity was born out of a daydreaming moment about riding sunbeams through space.
Research has shown the effects of growing up on creativity. In one study the ability to generate 'original' responses to questions was measured by comparing these to standard answers. Here were the results;
Age 5 and less than 90% originality
Age 7 and over 20% originality
Adults 2% originality
Play is an essential component to brain development and in turn human development and survival. It is a significant factor in creativity and problem solving as well as social and communication skills. All too often in schools and work these days there is no room for play and far too much emphasis on a left-brain way of thinking. From an early age we begin to conform to normal standards of behaviour and to approach tasks in a way we consider normal and which follows the rules. To become more creative we have to learn to use our whole brain and the full range of emotional and logical intelligences at our disposal and that means that occasionally its good to daydream and a playful fun and stimulating work environment will generate great ideas.
The following story highlights the point.
The Little Boy
Once a little boy went to school. One morning when the little boy had been in school a while the teacher said; 'Today we are going to make a picture' 'Good!' Thought the little boy. He liked to make pictures and he could make pictures of all kinds, lions and tigers, chickens and cows, trains and boats. He took out his box of crayons and began to draw. But the teacher said, 'Wait' 'It's not time to begin!' And she waited until everyone looked ready.
'Now' said the teacher 'We are going to make flowers' 'Good' thought the little boy. He liked to make flowers and began to make beautiful ones with his pink and orange and blue crayons. But the teacher said 'wait!' 'I will show you how'. And it was red with a green stem. 'There' said the teacher, 'now you may begin'. The little boy looked at the teacher's. Then he looked at his own flower. He liked his own flower better than the teacher's but he did not say this. He just turned his paper over and made a flower like the teacher's. It was red with a green stem. On another day, when the little boy had opened the door from the outside all by himself.
The teacher said 'Today we are going to make something with clay'. 'Good!' thought the little boy. He liked to make snakes and snowmen, elephants and mice, cars and trucks and he began to pull and pinch his ball of clay. But the teacher said, 'Wait! It is not time to begin!' and she waited until everyone looked ready. 'Now' said the teacher 'we are going to make a dish'. The little boy liked to make dishes. He began to make some that were all shapes and sizes. But the teacher said,' Wait!' 'I will show you how' and she showed everyone how to make one deep dish. 'There' said the teacher 'now you may begin'. The little boy looked at the teacher's dish and then he looked at his own. He liked his dishes better than the teacher's but he did not say this. He just rolled his clay into a big ball again and made a dish just like the teacher's. It was a deep dish and pretty soon the little boy learned to wait and to watch and to make things just like the teacher and pretty soon he didn't make things of his own any more.
Then it happened, that the little boy and his family moved to another house in another city and the little boy had to go to another school and the very first day he was there the teacher said, 'Today we are going to make a picture' 'Good!' thought the little boy and he waited for the teacher to tell him what to do but the teacher didn't say anything she just walked around the room. When she came to the little boy she said, 'Don't you want to make a picture?' 'Yes' said the little boy. 'What are you going to make? 'Said the teacher. 'I don't know until you make it' said the little boy. 'Why, any way you like' said the teacher. 'Any colour?' asked the boy. Any colour, said the teacher. 'If everyone makes the same picture and used the same colours how would I know who made what and which was which?' 'I don't know' said the little boy and he began to make a red flower with a green stem.
Creativity - Are We Losing Our Ability For Original Thinking?
Kath Roberts would describe herself as a 'talenteur' because her business is about attracting like minded souls who want to create a life of more passion and purpose and to utilise their talents to help themselves and others and who choose to define success in their own terms. She coaches others who have decided to follow her lead and set-up their own home business selling personal transformational development tools.Her business is dedicated to showing others how you truly can be successful from home and have a life too.For more information please visit her website at http://www.alchemy4thesoul.com.
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