Ever wonder what the most desirable quality is in future leaders? According to a survey conducted by the World Economic Forum, the answer is creativity, described as “The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.”
This is something that IBM also confirms in its global CEO study, stating that: “The effects of rising complexity call for CEOs and their teams to lead with bold creativity, connect with customers in imaginative ways and design their operations for speed and flexibility to position their organizations for twenty-first-century success.”
However, an Adobe study found that, even though 64% of participants said they believe that creativity is valuable to the economy, only 31% believe they’re “living up to their creative potential.” The study also found that people think that being creative improves their lives in terms of being better workers, leaders, parents and students.
So, now, the question is: Can we train creativity?
A lot of people think they are not creative. Most of them believe in the misconception that creativity is only related to the arts. Creativity isn’t really related just to the arts, even though you can use art to get creative. I truly believe that all of us are creative beings, that creativity can be trained, and that through practice our creative muscles can improve their flexibility. Creativity is a skill that has allowed human beings to evolve and become who we are now. Think about all of the inventions that were developed in the past. All of them were unique and original ways to solve real problems and improve people’s lives.
Now, going back to the world of agencies, all of us are always asked to provide creative approaches to the ways clients want to communicate and distribute their messages. The answer is never an easy and straightforward process, not even for people who have been in the business for years. That said, the risk may be that when we are overwhelmed with creative requests and crazy deadlines, we lose the passion for our job and it becomes just a set of tasks we need to perform, rather than a beautiful way to use our brain to solve problems.
Or, worst case scenario, this can lead to creative burnout, which is what many of us fear. This can be caused by too much pressure or too many projects to work on and can bring low-quality work and a negative impact on our career. As the general manager of a creative agency, I tap into creativity a lot for work and have experienced situations pretty close to creative burnouts.
Therefore, I started thinking about how to train my creative muscles in order to not feel stuck during the creative process, to be able to generate ideas and to keep having fun while doing it. Below are five suggestions:
1. Allow your imagination to flow and think in unconventional ways.
When we were children, imagination was everything. We loved to think we were magical creatures — we could fly or be superheroes. As adults, it’s like we lose the power of our imagination, even though it continues to play an important role in our adulthood, whether we realize it or not. So get rid of rigid rules and let your mind fly. Come up with as many ideas as you can, however weird they may sound. Then, use mind maps to map your ideas. Find connections among them, and you’ll gain clarity about the topic you are exploring.
2. Think like an actor.
At the acting classes I am taking here in New York City, when we work on scenes and script analysis, our teacher gives us “tools” to play with while rehearsing. These tools include things like: a different setting of the stage; a conversation exercise, where you slip in and out of the script to release tensions in your body and voice so that when you say your lines it looks like you are having a real conversation; or what we call “make it unimportant,” where you decide what is really important for that scene (in your lines) and then focus on that and make the rest unimportant.
After rehearsing the scene, we open a conversation with the whole class to analyze how the story has changed thanks to that tool. Do the same when you are working on a story for a client or when you tell a story to your friends: Change the angle, the environment where it happens or any other part of it, and watch what happens to the story itself. Is it more compelling, more unique or more standard than before?
3. Become a beginner.
Learn how to do something new — something you have never done before — such as hula hooping, carving wood or making cheese. When you play or do something new outside of your routine, your imagination is set free and your mind and subconscious have time to work. This is when creativity can really bloom.
4. Roll up your sleeves and get visual.
“Thinking through making” is a process that can lead to new ideas. Create a collage using pictures you can find online or in magazines related to the problem you are working on and place them on a poster board. Or use Legos, Play-Doh or any other materials to play with to build something out of your idea. This can help you see the problem from a different angle.
5. Play with curiosity.
As Foucault used to say “Curiosity … evokes the care one takes for what exists and could exist: a readiness to find strange and singular what surrounds us.”
So, for a second, leave your phone on the table and learn again how to observe what is around you. Notice the complexities and the beauty of the ordinary. Also, relearn how to listen. Take a walk outside and focus only on your listening. You may find different sounds that usually your ears don’t even capture because you are too busy running to meetings or checking texts.
Now, have fun playing with the suggestions above. After all, any creative process should be fun!
