creativity

Geno Schnell was giving a talk on creativity in one of the BME Entrepreneurship Seminars. I learned a couple new things about creativity.

As an engineer and being surrounded by scientists, I do not encounter creative people by the common definition. On the contrary, people in these areas are taught to think methodically and predict the next step. Very little seems to be done on hunches, inklings, and luck. However, it is with creativity that the major breakthroughs are made. The best part is that creativity can be fostered and learned.

Schnell states that the easiest way to improve creativity is to observe your mental thought processes. As you think through things in a certain way, try using different hands to solve the problem, or think of the problem through different experiences. Creativity is very dependent on the environment.

Leaders must have a lot of soft skills to create an open environment where the group trusts the leader, that there are no expectations and no right answer, and that the group understands and uses its diversity. Also, everyone normally has a creative outlet. To improve the individual's creativity, it's best to learn the process through their outlet. By searching on Amazon for creative process + (art, music, or whatever) then you can develop your creativity through the way you'll learn the fastest.

Some interesting points in the presentation is that young people are more creative because of their self-doubt. They question themselves constantly, which leads to many different approaches. With high self-esteem, the person is more persistent to follow through an approach to the end. A highly creative individual must have both self-doubt and high self esteem in the group to get the best creativity.