Evelyn has done a handy summary of The Six Myths of Creativity based on an article in Fast Company. Check it out if you have a coupla mins to spare.
Makes lots of sense to me and aligns with my mantra about relationships before ideas. I’ll quote myself for once
I’ve witnessed quite a few businesses doing brainstorming and other creativity sessions on awaydays/offsites. If they’re lucky they have an exciting day… then they return to their offices the adrenalin rush long past, and revert to their normal, much less inspired, ways of working together. Sure, they went somewhere and had a few ideas. But they haven’t really changed the way they relate to each other.
It’s by creating more trusting relationships, allowing more thoughts to be shared and risks taken, that you get not just ideas but an atmosphere in which ideas are generated.
I’d add that – like the prof in the Fast Company piece – I favour a broader definition of creativity. One that recognises that sincere praise of a creative act is, itself a creative act, an action which fosters and supports continued effort and risk-taking. The principles of Improv provide a pretty good framework for viewing the creative process as an intrinsically satisfying, collaborative adventure.
