Unleash your business creativity – 2 of 4
To begin, it’s worth noting that creativity is rarely taught or nurtured in our schools and society, so it’s no wonder we typically fail to realize our full creative potential: our mind and our culture work against us.
Almost as a direct result of this “conspiracy of conformity”, we find ourselves facing three main blocks to creative thinking - emotional, perceptual, and cultural - the first of which is described below.
OVERCOME EMOTIONAL BLOCKS
Emotional blocks - mostly, our inner fears and doubts - must be solved first before effective and productive problem solving can happen. Here are many of the most commonly encountered emotional blocks:
Fear of appearing stupid, making a mistake, or failing
Virtually everyone fails at least once before succeeding. Bear in mind that the only real difference between a baby learning to walk and an adult learning to ski is that when the adult falls down his or her ego gets bruised. Willingness to take risks is essential to creativity.
“If you’re not failing now and again, it’s a good sign you’re playing it safe”
Woody Allen
The need to conform
Everyone has a deep need to conform. But being creative often means being different in our thoughts and in how we apply them. This is simply a matter of being willing to try new things. Relax the need to conform and be ready to break the rules now and then.
Frustration
We all have a frustration threshold. When you feel blocked by frustration, the best solution is to relax completely, both physically and mentally. After a while - a few minutes or even a few days - start again with a fresh attitude and perhaps even a fresh approach.
Improper motivation
If the challenge is too trivial or boring, we’re unlikely to rise to the occasion. On the other hand, too much motivation is often the bigger block to creativity. Motivation generally stimulates action, which can stop you from spending enough time thinking about the problem. Creativity often blossoms in an environment of relaxed awareness. Trying too hard creates an inner tension that blocks you from thinking creatively.
A tendency to judge things quickly
Creative thinking requires a positive outlook, not a negative or judgmental one. When you withhold judgment of an idea, it can gain momentum. Allowing ideas to build up one upon each other forms a sort of ‘creative flow’.
Intolerance of chaos
Creative thinking requires holding unresolved and often conflicting ideas and information in your mind. It’s a state where everything is a jumble and nothing is clear. To be creative - to allow the chaos to resolve itself - let your mind relax, defer closure, and allow things time to ‘incubate’ for a while.
Ego
Don’t fall in love with your ideas. Healthy self-confidence is essential, but don’t allow yourself to become so smug that you stop looking for new and better ideas. Remember, not all sparks light fires.
[To continue learning about Perceptual and Cultural blocks to creativity, read part 3 and part 4 of the series.]