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Do schools today kill creativity?
Video: Ken Robinson, TEDTalks
A must-see for every parent and teacher. Education guru Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. Sir Ken Robinson is author of "Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative," and a leading expert on innovation in education and business. (Recorded February, 2006 in Monterey, CA.)
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PHD celebrating Creativity Week with inspirational brain teasers
by Terry Poulton from Media in Canada
Toronto-based PHD Canada is the first media agency to be a sponsor of the city's participation in Creativity & Innovation Week, which kicked off yesterday for the fifth consecutive year and concludes on Saturday. A variety of activities are taking place in Toronto, as well as in about 50 countries around the world.
PHD "feels it's important to inspire creativity in our workplace, and especially our industry, since creativity is at the core of what we do in our work every day," portfolio director Brenda Bookbinder tells MiC. As PHD's contribution to Creativity Week, she says an agency team came up with brain teasers and creativity tips du jour and is eager to share them with others, both inside and outside the marketing industry. For its own staffers, PHD lined up the following:
Monday - Creativity Gallery: All employees are being asked to submit their personal works of creativity. These are not to be limited to "artistic" pieces, but everything and anything that is generated by creative thought. All items will be showcased throughout the week in PHD Canada's "Creative Gallery" to inspire employees.
Tuesday - Creative Problem Solving Day: Employees will be challenged to tackle a variety of seemingly simple puzzles and to come up with creative approaches to organizing their teams and their puzzle pieces. First team to finish wins.
Wednesday - Brainteaser Day: Employees will be broken into teams and challenged to join minds to solve brainteasers designed to stimulate innovative thinking.
Thursday - Celebrate Your Mistake Day: Because one must persevere until a "eureka!" moment occurs, PHD will celebrate mistakes. Any mistake that occurs during the day will be recognized with a celebratory song, and the best mistake of the day will win an award.
Friday - Creative Canvas Day: The day will start with one giant, blank canvas in a common area, where paints, brushes and other materials will tempt employees passing by to make their own creative mark. At the end of the day, one large work of art will be hung as an inspiration to be creative every day.
www.phdca.com
www.creativityday.ca
Creativity Based Information Resources (CBIR)
CBIR Online.Creativity Based Information Resources is a literature database maintained by the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State College- State University of New York. Currently, the database contains 12,553 annotated references of works focusing on creativity literature.
International Centre for Studies in Creativity
How creative are you? by Peggy Grall
About three years ago I decided to try my hand at being more creative. I wanted to bust out of my stick-figure world and learn to draw, paint, sing or sculpt. I wanted to do something imaginative, something with flare and pizzazz! I pictured myself riding a wave of inspiration and discovering my internal genius. I believed that my hitherto creative sparks lay dormant within me, and that by mining my soul I would find wells of artistic ability, just was waiting to be tapped.
Fast forward… to my current state of failure and disappointment. You see, my original goal was naive and uninformed, thus impossible to achieve. (Note to self – research more thoroughly before setting goals) I had imagined that floods of ingenuity and innovation would flow easily, as soon as I breathed deeply and released my internal blocks. And, being a change junkie, I assumed that being creative would come naturally to me.
So, for the would-be inventors among us, here’s what I’ve learned about the creative process, in spite of myself:
- Impatience is the enemy of innovation. I’ve learned that ‘being creative’ isn’t just a soulful experience; it involves trial and error, hard work and personal critique. I’ve learned that not all my ideas are brilliant from the beginning, most of the really good ideas or outcomes are a result of perseverance and commitment to the process
- Creativity is intensely personal. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. Much to my surprise, and chagrin, not everyone shares my excitement over what I create. And, I’ve learned to like my stuff anyway.
- Creativity is about growth. To create something new, something that hasn’t been thought or done before, you must reach both inside and outside of yourself. You must be willing to take a risk, explore some dark corners and stare into some bright lights.
- I am creative - just not of the drawing, painting, and singing or sculpting sort. My creativity shows up in my work; when I write, speak or design new programs or products. I’m creative with ideas and concepts, not always the tangible stuff of life.
- Creating, and its cousin change - ain’t for sissies! Being creative requires courage. If you commit to dumping the old, when you don’t yet know what the new is, it’s scary…and outrageous fun!
To lead people through change, and certainly to change yourself, you must be willing to step into unfamiliar territory. Change and creativity go hand in hand. You must be creative to change. How about you?
 Peggy Grall
The Change Coach
Peggy Grall & Associates, Inc.
www.JustChangeIt.com
WHAT BOX? by Nellie Jacobs
I believe in the power of imagination.
It is from our imagination that creativity and innovation spring.
Always fascinated by the hows and whys of creative process, from seed of an idea through development to completion, throughout the years I've researched and studied the topic. Books such as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's Creativity - which explores "flow and psychology of discovery and invention," Betty Edwards' Drawing on the Artist Within and Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, and more recently, Michel J. Gelb's How to Think Like Leornardo da Vinci, have absorbing information as well as scores of inspiring creative exercises.
Interested in what makes them tick, I've interviewed and written about scores of creative people in all kinds of fields: What drives them? How do they get their ideas? Was using their imagination encouraged at home? What, and who, were their influences? Why do some people follow through with their inventions and others not? How does anyone reach their creative potential?
This is what I have learned:
You don't have to be involved in the arts or an inventor to be imaginative. Creativity comes in all forms and shapes ...it's all in your approach. Anyone at any stage in any walk of life can have creative aspects to their private and professional lives.
Unfortunately, for various reasons, most of us lose our innate innovative spark when very young. Too often, as an elementary school teacher I saw enthusiastic, passionately creative, wide-eyed kindergarten children grow into self-restricted, self-conscious adolescents, more concerned about conforming to the boundaries set by their peers and society than about originality in their thinking and approach to life. A recent study verified this loss of creativity:
Children at the age of 5 ask 30 questions an hour; by the age of 7 they question just 2 or 3 times an hour. Creative genius is displayed in 95% of children between the ages of 3 - 5 years of age; by the age of 10 years it's at 63%; by 15 years it's 32%; by 20 years it's down to 10%. Intuition drops dramatically, becoming negligible by the time kids enter first grade. *
Years ago, on first hearing the expression "thinking out of the box," I was bewildered, having great difficulty with the concept of a theoretical box representing the four corners of what was labelled "conventional" thinking. Until that moment, I believed that every single person had - and used - unique, limitless creative thinking abilities. In the years since, I've come to the conclusion that we all have a gift package - nicely wrapped in a big bow - within which our creative core waits to be explored. This core is our creative potential, what I call our Creative X-SpotT - the place in which our imagination, passion and creativity unite and soar. It remains for each of us to access that core.
Here are some steps to restore or expand creative thinking:
Open your mind to the flow of ideas and possibilities. Let go of self-imposed, artificial restrictions. Try fresh ideas. Take chances with new experiences. Expand thinking through creative exercises. Change some patterns of behaviour. Surround yourself with people who help stimulate or promote your creative spark. Let go of life-long personal prejudices, self-conceptions and set boundaries. Be open to both giving and receiving suggestions, regardless how outrageous. Encourage freefall brainstorming: accept every proposal made, no matter how wild, for it might lead in turn to a run of useful ideas. (Allowing ideas to first flow freely is how I develop all my original projects, from books, to paintings, to workshops.) Be spontaneous and somewhat daring, especially if there's not much to lose.
By accessing your creative thinking, you'll find creative solutions to most problems you encounter. When my cake batter was ready at the same time the oven broke down, rather than throwing the batch out, I barbequed it. (My friend Sara, there at the time, has offered to testify that the chocolate/chocolate chip cake came out perfectly!) You'll also discover astonishing outcomes: uncover ground-breaking opportunities, hidden talents, stimulating new friends, exciting hobbies, and, even, potential careers.
There are countless ways to re-connect with your creativity. Register for a course. Establish or join a group that will both direct and encourage all participants to reach their potential. Take a workshop. Read books and watch movies about inspiring people. Start a journal. Promote friendships that bring out the best in you. Buddy with a friend to set creative goals for both of you. Change some of your habits. Do something new every day.
In trying new ideas and approaches, be invigorated and face the challenges offered by uncertainty or fear of failure. Yes, there are times when I thoroughly fail - or make an absolute, embarrassing fool of myself. Why do I continue? I believe in what I'm doing. I'm devoted to the entire creative process. I'm so very passionate about it because, when I let my imagination fly, I'm often bowled over at its results.
What about you?
Nellie Jacobs
www.nelliejacobs.com
* Source- Radical Change Radical Results: Kate Ludeman and Eddie Erlandson |
