Twelve Things You Were Not Taught in School About Creativity

I think one of the most important, but under-emphasized, qualities of effective leaders is creativity. When most people hear “creativity” they think of artists and will often say, “Oh, I like that stuff but I’m not a creative person myself.”  They couldn’t be more wrong. 

Creativity is more about thinking differently and seeing things from new perspectives.  Artists certainly do that and we reap the benefits, but it is possible to bring creativity to everything , and all of us can learn to be more creative.  Why do this?  We all encounter situations or problems or needs that require solutions.   We can come up with the “same old same old” but, as a very smart person once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.”  Creative thinking is required to solve those problems, prevent others, and, most importantly, proactively innovate new ideas, solutions, products, and services for our organizations.  I believe creativity has never been more important, given the pace of change in our culture.  Creativity is needed now just to keep up and super creativity is needed to truly lead.

I recently read an excellent, brief piece about creativity that I highly recommend, called “Twelve Things You Were Not Taught in School About Creativity.”  In this piece, you will find clarification about creativity, tips for how to improve your creative thinking, and things to anticipate if you are a creative thinker.  I’ve read it a few times now and I highly recommend it.