Creativity is one of the most sought-after personality traits in the modern world. The presence of this quality is welcomed among young professionals; hopes for success and a career are associated with it. Creativity is required in business, in school, and in any field of professional activity.
However, constantly using this concept, people often vaguely understand its meaning, knowing only that creativity is somehow related to creativity. Let's understand this phenomenon and the possibilities of its development.
What is creativity?
Let's figure out what a creative person means. Creativity is a special personal quality that allows you to effectively engage in creative, creative, innovative activities.
Creative people are those who are able to find new and optimal ways to solve problems. They can see a problem from different angles, sometimes seeing it in a way that no one has seen before. However, creativity is not only innovation and creativity, it is a constructive way of thinking that brings practical benefits in various activities.
Developing creativity
There are several ways to train your brain and tune it to create something new. Here are the two most commonly used:
Brainstorming is an effective approach where a group of people gather and each person takes turns expressing their ideas. This can continue for several hours, and then the excess is “cut off.” The openness of the participants is important here, so that no one is afraid of “blurting out something wrong.”
Method of focal objects . This is the improvement of the object being worked on using the characteristics of other random objects. The combination of ideal characteristics with an object can reach the point of absurdity. The essence of this exercise is to create the ideal object.
What is the difference between creativity and creativity?
Very often people confuse these concepts or use them as synonyms, without thinking about the true meanings of the words. Creativity is also the ability to create new things. However, the concept of creativity refers to art and aesthetic creation, and creativity refers to the area of utilitarian, practical application. These two properties of the human personality can intersect, but do not have to be combined and do not stem from one another.
Modern professions, especially those related to innovation, require creativity - the ability, based on accumulated experience and knowledge, to generate new ideas and methods that optimize the work process or create a unique product. The concept of creativity includes such qualities as determination, the ability to take risks, intelligence, resourcefulness, and quickness of thought. Also, creativity is always accompanied by a broad outlook, because without one, it is difficult to come up with a new solution to a problem.
Substitution of concepts
The word “creativity”, together with its cognates “relatives” (creative, etc.), is often used inappropriately, so it has acquired other meanings, in particular, it has become synonymous with absurdity and absurdity.
This is an unfounded substitution. For example, a person who wears strange-looking clothes may be driven by a desire for originality, a lack of taste or a sense of proportion, but certainly not by creativity.
This concept is used to justify erroneous decisions, actions, and actions. A bad haircut, a poorly tailored suit, an incorrectly drawn up document is a reason to hear: “Nothing, but creative!”
There is also an ironic subtext. For example, a colleague hung a poster with strange content over his desk. What can I say about this? - “Creative!” Wanting to emphasize the “modesty” of the results of the creative process, they say: created.
Professions for creative people
Creative thinking is needed in many fields, including business, advertising, science, art and politics. Nowadays, in many job offers you can find a message that the employer is looking for creative people for various positions.
Creativity in business is the ability to adapt to new management styles and change in accordance with changing market conditions. Business, especially small or medium-sized ones, does not tolerate conservatism. Nowadays, the development of business technologies is proceeding very quickly, new advanced training courses, new trends in personnel management, and so on are constantly appearing. Creativity in business is needed for mobility, speed of decision-making and innovation.
Creativity in advertising is the ability to present a product in a new way, from an unexpected angle. In the modern world, a person receives an overwhelming amount of information per day. Advertising specialists no longer know how to attract the attention of a potential consumer without causing irritation in an overly intrusive or flashy way. It is to solve such problems that creative people are needed in advertising. The advertising message must be of high quality, interesting and informative.
Creativity in the service sector is the ability to find new approaches in communicating with people. This area of application of creativity requires not only a good knowledge of people in the everyday sense and developed intuition, but also an accumulated store of knowledge in the field of psychology and sociology. For the sales sector, it is important to be able to present a product in such a way that a potential buyer wants to purchase it; in the hotel business, the design of rooms or, for example, features of guest service can be creative.
Creativity will find a place in almost any profession if it is subordinated to purely utilitarian goals and not confused with creativity. Most often, creative people are those who, in addition to a developed imagination, have knowledge in the field of economics, management, production technology, and so on.
Creative in the professional sphere
Highly valued in many professions, creativity has considerable practical significance. Photographer, marketer, designer, event organizer, SMM manager - the list of specialties that require creative individuals can be continued for a long time.
There are calculations showing that in the near future up to 60% of professions will become unclaimed - people will be replaced by robots. Only those areas where creative thinking is required cannot be replaced by artificial intelligence.
The staff of advertising agencies, design studios and other similar places often has a “profile” position - creative director. He leads art groups, generates ideas, and is responsible for the final creative product.
Creativity has become a “stamp” on the resumes of a variety of professions, from general director to manager. What do employers mean by this quality, and how to avoid mistakes when filling out this column?
- The main thing is not to overdo it, relying only on creativity. Practice shows that most employers view this quality with a grain of salt. For example, a brand manager is, first of all, a person who masters brand promotion technologies, and only then a creative person.
- A statement about the ability to think outside the box must be supported by real creative achievements (as an option, use a self-invented slogan or logo as an example).
- It is preferable to decipher the concept indicating specific skills and abilities. “I can develop an unconventional product positioning strategy” - this phrase will convince a potential employer that he has a good employee in front of him and should hire him.
Not every position requires creativity from the person filling it. A creative accountant will most likely not please the employer.
Ways to develop creativity
What does the word creative person mean? Creativity is not an innate ability. Yes, there must be prerequisites for it, but it can and should be developed. There are various methods for developing creativity in children and adults. In childhood, attention is paid more to the development of creative abilities and skills, on the basis of which, in combination with acquired experience and knowledge, creativity can subsequently be developed.
Let's look at several exercises to develop this ability.
- Discussing an idea in a team where everyone has a specific role: critic, dreamer and realist. Considering a problem from three points of view allows you to see its new facets and solutions.
- Creating a tree of associations. A problem is depicted on a piece of paper, with lines running from it where ideas related to it are written. In the process of creating a tree, ideas may arise that would not immediately come to mind.
- Take the opposite route. Imagine what needs to be done to ensure that the problem is not solved, and then replace these ideas with the opposite ones.
- It is recommended to expand your horizons - to be interested in everything that happens around you. Go to theatres, visit exhibitions, read newspapers, journalism and communicate more often with creative people, they have something to tell.
This is not a complete list of exercises for developing creativity, but they are all related to expanding the horizons of thinking, developing imagination and destroying stereotypes.
Subconscious stage of the creative process
The processing stage occupies a special place in the creative process.
Problems.
Its peculiarity is that the solution to the problem is carried out absolutely unnoticed by a person by his special ability - the subconscious
.
As described in the Generating Useful Ideas method, the subconscious mind receives information simultaneously about all objects in the environment. This information is processed in parallel and unnoticed.
The subconscious process can be compared to a chemical reaction
: - molecules are in a certain space - they move and collide arbitrarily - as a result of collision, molecules can connect and new molecules are formed - or molecules can, on the contrary, separate into separate parts if internal connections were weak
Here are the starting molecules
is the knowledge that a person has.
The space
in which molecules move is the subconscious.
The connection of
molecules is the combination and synthesis of knowledge by the subconscious.
The result of
the connection is new ideas that are also used in synthesis.
When trying to solve a problem with consciousness
, it restores from memory existing knowledge that can help solve this problem.
If this knowledge is not enough, then the knowledge is transferred to the preconscious
, where it is combined.
But in the preconscious only knowledge transmitted from consciousness is used. If combining all this knowledge does not give an idea for solving a problem, then it is transferred to the subconscious
.
The subconscious connects to the consciousness of the supersystem - the superconscious
, possessing a huge amount of additional knowledge and ideas unknown to the system. Then, in the subconscious, knowledge and ideas transmitted from both the preconscious and the superconscious are combined and synthesized.
The generated ideas are not immediately transmitted to consciousness, but their “ strength”
". Those. when they are combined with other knowledge and ideas, contradictions are detected and the stability of connections between knowledge is checked. If no contradictions are found and internal connections are stable, then such an idea is identified as a useful combination and is transferred to consciousness for evaluation, implementation and verification.
If consciousness appreciated
idea as useless or impossible to solve the problem in the current conditions with the available capabilities, then it returns to the subconscious for re-combination.
And if the evaluation of the idea gives a positive result, then a decision is made to implement
. Then the subconscious process for solving this problem stops.
At some moments a person may feel
subconscious process. Then he “sees” how knowledge and ideas are mixed and new ideas arise. This occurs when a person is in a calm environment that does not require active consciousness, for example, before or after sleep.
It is under such conditions that combination occurs at maximum speed
and ideas are transmitted to consciousness faster. And when consciousness, on the contrary, is in increased activity and performs work unrelated to creative thinking, then ideas are generated very slowly.
This is why people in a state of creative thinking are called “ thoughtful.
". They seem to disconnect from the real world and move into their inner world of ideas. If at the same time a person performs some actions, for example, walking down the street or collecting things, then he may behave like a clumsy and absent-minded person.
The most creative people
With the growing interest in the term “creativity” in the last decade, printed publications related to this concept began to appear. Many countries publish their own magazines about creativity. Editors of publishing houses compile lists of the most creative people of the past year. These include owners and founders of advertising agencies, software developers, directors, designers, writers, entrepreneurs, singers and journalists.
According to Creativity magazine, the most creative person is Sachin Agarwal, founder of the website Posterous. Along with him, his colleague Jerry Tan was also named the most creative person.
Part 3. What books to read
I'll be brief here. The Internet is full of reviews and reviews of these books. Some I have already read and are actively implementing techniques from there, others are waiting for their turn.
Vasily Lebedev. CRAFT Michael Micalko. Rice Assault Michael Micalko. Hacking creativity Edward de Bono. Genius Heinrich Altshuller. Find an idea by Mark Levy. Genius to order Dave Gray. Liminal Thinking Julia Cameron. The Artist's Path Gareth Moore. Lateral logic
Read books, practice techniques and use them to create creative solutions.
I hope this article has lifted the veil of secrecy over the concept of “creative thinking”. In my Telegram channel I write about training, development of cognitive functions and working with information. I will be glad to see all interested people.
Signs of a creative person
And yet, what does a creative person mean? Like all internal human qualities, creativity has an external manifestation in behavior.
By what signs can such a person be distinguished from the crowd?
- Creative people are brave people. They are not afraid to try new things.
- Intuition is no less important a decision-making tool for them than logic.
- Creative people have a great sense of humor.
- Creative people are those who share their thoughts and ideas with others.
- They easily understand the most intricate interweaving of information. Creative people subject the information received to critical reflection and never follow the crowd's lead.
- They are interested in the process itself, and not just the result.
- They love to learn new things and look for answers to the most difficult questions. The more difficult the task, the more willingly a creative, creative person will take on it.
- Creative people are always in search of: solutions, answers, knowledge and ideas.
- Creative people are excellent teachers. They easily explain things that are difficult to understand to others, trace connections between existing material and create new things from it.
- A creative person does not tolerate boundaries or boundaries. He constantly expands his horizons, tries on new points of view.
- Creative people are innovators. They are interested in testing new ideas and find themselves competitive in the future.
Attention to detail
Another distinctive feature of creative people is observation. A creative person is open to new experiences; he does not look at life as a series of repeating events. This quality makes these people similar to children. However, they are not just surprised by their observations, but try to record them. Representatives of creative professions often record unusual and funny situations, keep photo and video diaries, and subsequently use this material for speeches, articles, and blogs.
Fashion for creativity
Currently, every second resume in the “additional information” column indicates a quality – creativity. What is a creative person? Is it so important to be creative? Yes, many specialties require making innovative decisions, the ability to think outside the box and present oneself or a product in a non-trivial way. But at the same time, there are enough specialties that do not require a creative approach. In everyday life, the meaning of this feature is even more blurred. With the fashion for creativity, many people want to appear creative and inventive even when communicating with their friends.
A non-creative person is not a person without imagination, unable to think beyond stereotyped constructions. Creativity is, rather, an integral quality for some areas of professional activity, rather than vitally necessary in everyday life. A person does not have to be creative, but it is useful to develop creative abilities at any age.
About the perception of difficulties
If we list all the qualities of a creative person, this is perhaps the most surprising. In a difficult life situation, they are immersed in creativity, the pain seems to come out of them through what they create.
For example, the famous artist Frida Kahlo began her creative journey when, at a very young age, she was in a car accident and her body was completely in plaster. To somehow entertain herself, she began painting plaster, and later created world-famous masterpieces.
For a creative person, trauma becomes an extraordinary motivating force. In an effort to get rid of suffering, poets and artists look at the situation from the other side and amaze society with the greatest works of art.
What is the creative class and does it exist in Russia?
The creative class in Europe and America is usually called people who design and create new ideas, images, and products. These are designers, advertising specialists, marketers, and so on. The global task of the so-called creative class is to change the world, make it more convenient and adapt it to the needs of the population. In a less global sense - to give an attractive appearance to products, introduce any innovations related to everyday comfort, add functionality to household items and equipment. In Russia there is no creative class as such. Here these people are in the minority, since society currently needs creative developments less than European or American ones. This is due to the peculiarities of culture and mentality. However, we can say for sure that the creative direction of activity in Russia is developing. New niches are being found and created in the service market where creative specialists are required. It is difficult to predict whether Russia will catch up with Europe in this sense, but there is no doubt that the creative class will develop in Russia as well.
Consequences of performing creative activities
Putting creativity into practice can increase risk
causing harm. This happens because there is not enough experience using new, untested ideas and tools to solve a particular problem or achieve a goal. But with experience and the development of creativity, an understanding will come of which original ideas are useful and which are harmful.
Some people whose creativity developed unconsciously
, feel insecure and uncomfortable because of their non-standard creative thinking. It is important to explain to such people that they are very useful and point them in the right direction. In addition to developing creativity, they should also develop self-confidence.
With the development of creativity comes faith
the fact that any, even the most absurd and unrealistic idea, will help achieve a certain goal.
This belief is one of the motives pushing for the implementation of revolutionary ideas and the creation of new, huge systems that solve global problems. As Henry Ford said: “ You may believe that you can.
You may believe that you cannot. In both cases you are right ."
Many successful people claim that 30-50% success
Their projects and companies are brought precisely by creative, original ideas generated by themselves or specially hired professionals with well-developed creativity.
They also note a vicious circle - creativity gives new successes, and these, in turn, are a source of creativity and inspiration. This suggests that man and creativity
are a single whole, which cannot exist without each other.
Therefore, constantly devote personal time to developing creativity.
and your creative abilities. This will always have a beneficial effect on success. Do not stop engaging in creative activity, because it is the main means in realizing your destiny.
WANT TO KNOW EVEN MORE ABOUT THIS?
Then read the book
What is creativity for?
This quality is used in various fields to solve different problems. In general, creativity is needed to optimize, improve, increase efficiency, increase functionality and production capacity. In a word – for a qualitative leap forward. In science and production, creativity is needed to invent new equipment, new technology, even production technologies themselves. Creativity makes our life more interesting, colorful and comfortable. The transition from an industrial society to a post-industrial one was marked by the expansion of the service sector. Currently, the ability to present a service or product to a potential consumer plays an important role in this area.
Beauty, energy and novelty combined with practical use - this is the creativity that, in practical application, gives aesthetic pleasure and everyday comfort.
Types of creative output
As a result of creative activity, a new system is created or an existing system is improved. Based on their usefulness, these results are classified into the following types.
Opening
Discovery of a previously unknown law, system, feature or connection, confirmed experimentally. It has a revolutionary effect on the development of the system and changes existing goals and paradigms.
Invention
A means to solve a specific problem and achieve certain goals. It also allows you to perform certain actions more efficiently than using existing means, and has a fundamentally new structure.
Rationalization proposal
Improving the effectiveness of existing means of achieving goals without significantly changing their structure.
Regardless of the type of outcome, creativity creates new knowledge
, allowing you to solve similar problems and achieve similar goals in other areas.
The results also provide new ideas for creativity
to solve new problems and achieve new goals.
