Creativity, creativity, creativity… We very often hear this word in different versions and for a variety of reasons. And what exactly is creativity? Omniscient Wikipedia tells us that:
Creativity — (creative, creative) — creative abilities of an individual, characterized by a willingness to accept and create fundamentally new ideas that deviate from traditional or accepted patterns of thinking and are included in the structure of giftedness as an independent factor, as well as the ability to solve problems that arise within static systems. According to the American psychologist Abraham Maslow, this is a creative orientation, innately characteristic of everyone, but lost by the majority under the influence of the established system of upbringing, education and social practice.
Got it, right? An innate feature that is lost by most of us under the influence of upbringing and the influence of the surrounding society. What kind of social practices are these that kill the creators in us?
That's what we're going to talk about now.
The fact that creativity is an innate quality of all people does not need to be proved for a long time — just watch the games and behavior of young children. There is also no doubt that the ability to create for most people then disappears somewhere. Some people somehow manage to preserve and even develop this property and sometimes it becomes their most important competitive advantage. But much more often, bright people with non-standard thinking feel pressure from the gray majority, who are striving to put a white crow in the ranks of their own kind.
We have collected for you 15 of the most common phrases that are used to wipe out the remaining sprouts of creativity from us over and over again. Never say them to yourself, and if you hear them from someone, run!
1. «We don't pay you for creativity!»
2. «You must follow the rules»
3. «Don't ask questions»
4. «Don't rock the boat»
6. «It's just nonsense»
7. «It's not practical»
8. «You have to be serious
9. «Think about your reputation!»
10. «No one has done this before»
11. «This is not possible»12. «We can't take that risk»
13. «Well, how are we going to make money on this?»
14. «You can't do it»
15. «Everything has been invented for a long time»
Anyone in any place can be creative. Accountants, engineers, carpenters, football players and waiters — it doesn't matter. Naturally, some professions imply greater freedom, others less. But whoever you were, you have the right to creativity and innovation.
Despite the fact that creativity implies breaking the usual rules and going beyond the established boundaries, this in no way means denial for the sake of denial. The goal of any creativity should be to create a new product, phenomenon, ideas that will make the world a better place, and breaking the rules is just a means to achieve the goal. If all people followed established traditions, there would never have been rock and roll, iPhone, flight to the moon and the Internet. The creators only do what they break the boundaries.
Don't listen to the bores, create!
