Post 6: My Thoughts on Creativity

Ray Bradbury, arguably one of the most imaginative and creative novelists of the 20^th century, once said of creativity, “Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.” I heard this quote and was troubled because I am a thinker. I analyze every situation to the point of exhaustion and look at things from multiple angles trying to figure them out. In Bradbury’s point of view, I shouldn’t be trying to do this, but must simply do it, which is overwhelming when I think about it. Am I not creative?

Luckily for me, another excellently imaginative and creative writer, Dr. Seuss, contradicts Bradbury by saying, “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if you only try!” Naturally, reading the authors’ inconsistent definitions of creativity made me start to think. There isn’t one specific definition of creativity; every person has a unique idea of what the word means. Maybe that’s the point; even the definition of the word is free and inventive.

My personal definition of creativity is to develop something different, something that’s never been done before. This can be a physical object, a service, a solution to a problem, or simply an idea. Creativity doesn’t require artistic ability, but in my opinion does require you to use your personal experiences as starting points and ideating from there to build something great. It does require thinking; however, not self-conscious thinking like Bradbury says because many times we have to step outside our comfort zones.

I had one experience with creativity last weekend, when I planned a brunch for 200 people at my sorority house.  I was essentially the event planner for the event; I ordered tables, chairs, and flowers, planned the menu, coordinated delivery times, sent invitations to parents, and collected RSVP’s.  All of these decisions required some thinking, but the area that required the most creativity was discovering a way to fit all the tables as well as 200 chairs in our mid-sized dining room comfortably. I had to create several maps of potential table options and make sure each fit in with our measurements, but eventually I figured it out and the event was a success. This is an example of how creating simple solutions to problems can exhibit creativity.

However, we can also be creative, and probably more creative, in groups and teams. One time I worked on a team where we had to develop a new name for a line of cakes and cookies. We had an ideation session in an open space that allowed room for movement and helped keep ideas flowing. At first, our ideas were awful; no one would ever want to buy the desserts with the names we were giving them. However, all our session required was one mediocre idea during brainstorming. After one of us found this, we collaborated and built off of each others’ ideas to create a name that not only was catchy and attractive, but would also ideally sell products and help us to develop a brand.

Sometimes, though, working in teams can limit creativity; good ideation and thought processes depend on creating a comfortable environment and good team dynamic. One time I worked in a team where one member would personally insult my ideas and turn down my suggestions in a rude way. After the first few times, I stopped contributing ideas, as did some other members, and our project and grade suffered as a result. This was a hard lesson to learn, but it is useful to understand the most helpful kinds of team dynamics.

Finally, we entire organizations can be creative. I experienced this when working at Frito Lay last summer.  This company is constantly relying on developing new innovation that sells, which requires a collaborative culture that encourages new ideas. In order for such a large company to grow in such a competitive market, the company constantly has to be searching for new ideas. They do this by encouraging discussion between people of all levels in the company and the contribution of hundreds of ideas before narrowing down and testing the good ones.

After considering these experiences, I definitely think it is possible to be creative by myself. I actually enjoy being creative in a problem-solving sense. However, I think I specifically am more capable of being creative in a group. I strongly believe there is something to be said for taking one person’s idea and using the entire group’s suggestions to form something great. Therefore, during all innovation and ideation sessions I think an entire team of different types of people with different backgrounds, experiences, and opinions should participate. In addition, there are different types of problems each individual is better at solving as well as different types of details each is better at analyzing; when you place these people together in teams the real opportunity arises.

Creativity is something that can’t be defined exactly, but neither can its process. There are so many different meanings of the word, so many different ways to be creative, and so many outcomes of the creative process, but at the end of the day creativity in general drives greatness and helps society progress.