Creativity (Thursday Thoughts)
Good Thursday. Last week I received feedback to include more of my own thoughts and opinions in the newsletter. After reflecting a bit on the feedback I think it makes a lot of sense. Instead of using the newsletter as a filter for the information I read, it is more interesting to explain how I understand all the information. I have therefore changed the format and content in this issue. I appreciate all feedback so don’t hesitate to send me a message.
Thought
I haven’t thought too much about creativity in my life, it is something that seems to happen regardless if you think about it or not. But recently I have been pondering on how to become more creative and as a result create more value.
Creativity is the emergence of new ideas. These ideas can be extremely valuable, or completely worthless. Creativity is the process, and the value is in the end result. Understanding this distinction makes everything easier.
Is creativity fixed? Do you believe that letting a creative thought out of your brain will leave you with less creativity? Here, I think it is crucial to remember the distinction between creativity as a process and the value attached to the end results. The reason we might be afraid to let out creative thoughts is the extraction of value, not creativity itself.
With that in mind, becoming more creative is about understanding and nurturing your processes. The processes are mainly determined by what information you process and activities you do on a daily basis. How much time do you spend reading, discussing ideas, walking in nature, watching movies, etc? If you want to direct your creativity, make sure your processes are guiding you with the right exposure and actions. To become an artist you should explore and process art, and commit to activities where you create your own art. The key is to establish routines and then let creativity emerge.
Using routines to foster creativity might seem counterintuitive at first. To support this we need to understand how value is determined. By observing professional artists it seems that they possess some personal intuition of the value of their work. Having this ability would be extremely useful. At the same time, no matter how good their intuition, the value is ultimately determined by the observer. And in that case, the intuition is perhaps just a good approximation of how the observer will perceive the art and value. Back to the point, the value is determined by the observer, not the creator. The process is in your control, while the value is not. The focus therefore needs to be on the creative process, and the end results must be shared to understand the value.
Thinking creatively is fun. Thinking about creativity is hard.
Content
I have been working on an article for the last weeks. The article is named “Waking up the machines“ and it discusses
how to create a digital environment for the physical world
why this environment is more suited for the human mind
how a digital environment will change the physical world
If this sounds interesting, the article can be found here.
Question
Which processes direct your creativity?
Have a good weekend,
Erlend