The Secrets of Creative People

Highly creative people do not think outside of the box. They know intuitively that this is a poor description of the creative process. There is a whole universe outside the box, filled mostly with void. 

Creative people tend to think ‘between boxes’, not outside them. They find novel ways to connect the apparently unconnectable, to combine the uncombineable, to cross over between fields and disciplines, to take objects and ideas from one ‘frame of reference’ to another.

They are as observant and as curious as young children, sometimes moreso. They are always on the lookout for opportunities. They are lifelong learners. And they doubt everything, especially ‘authority’.

They don’t mind being perceived as silly. They appreciate that all new ideas appear silly until they work and are adopted. They are not paralyzed by the fear of appearing ridiculous. Ask them to bark like a dog? It’s child’s play.

Embark: Prof. Mel Rosenberg at TEDxKibbutzimCollegeofEducation

This lecture is about overcoming our fear of silliness, which is the main obstacle preventing us from being creative, original and pursuing our passions and dreams. Prof. Rosenberg teaches barking as a metaphor to overcoming one’s initial embarrassment – a first step in pursuing one’s dream.

Most creative thinking methods deal with problem solving. Creative people appreciate that creativity is mostly about coming up with the problem in the first place.

Creative people recognize that the trick is not getting the answer right. It’s about getting the QUESTION right.

Of course this is the opposite of what we are taught in school.

They appreciate the importance of coming up with a wacky, wild and wonderful idea/question/hypothesis/brief (rather than just designing a good experiment);

Many people appreciate that misteaks are part of the success process. But highly creative people are different. They learn from misteaks. They capitalize on them to come up with new paradigms (just like nature does).

Successful creative people appreciate that everything is a story. As a result, many are good storytellers.

What’s your story? Share it on our platform www.ourboox.com. I just did!