To be truly innovative there's no doubt that we have to be creative.
I like to think of creativity as the act of creating something novel. In order for something to be novel it has to both be new and interesting.
Novelty alone is not innovation, what we create also has to be useful. Innovation is where novel meets useful. These qualities are a double-edged sword though, the yin and yang of innovation, we have become so focused on usefulness and correctness that it blocks our ability to be novel.
It wasn't always this way. The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, measures individuals' ability to engage in divergent thinking, which is essential for creative problem solving. Results of these tests show that while children typically score near-genius level in creativity, this average decreases significantly in adulthood. Our education systems trains us to become pattern matching machines where we memorise, and recall the correct solution to any given problem without asking questions.
In order to innovate we need to fight our habits and behaviours we've developed. We need to forget what we know to be true and see the world with an intense curiosity. You might just find a new way forward.
Next time you need to be creative don't rush to solve the problem, give yourself some slack.
Stay curious.
I like to think of creativity as the act of creating something novel. In order for something to be novel it has to both be new and interesting.
Novelty alone is not innovation, what we create also has to be useful. Innovation is where novel meets useful. These qualities are a double-edged sword though, the yin and yang of innovation, we have become so focused on usefulness and correctness that it blocks our ability to be novel.
It wasn't always this way. The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, measures individuals' ability to engage in divergent thinking, which is essential for creative problem solving. Results of these tests show that while children typically score near-genius level in creativity, this average decreases significantly in adulthood. Our education systems trains us to become pattern matching machines where we memorise, and recall the correct solution to any given problem without asking questions.
In order to innovate we need to fight our habits and behaviours we've developed. We need to forget what we know to be true and see the world with an intense curiosity. You might just find a new way forward.
Next time you need to be creative don't rush to solve the problem, give yourself some slack.
Stay curious.