How far creativity can bring the best of ourselves? The word creativity is everywhere: in job requirements, in entertainment, in Instagram meme posts, in school, in sport, or even in science. I always think, if creativity is the most likable traits in a person, then it’s a must-have skill everyone needs to develop. Right?
To this day, I undoubtedly still think so. Creativity can bring you everywhere. To every aspect of life that can bring success to you. Become an entrepreneur? Be a creative business person, your customer will love it. Have a problem? Find a creative solution to help you. Feeling bored? Find creative thing to do.
But, we also heard this statement often, “everyone is creative.” Truthfully, humans are blessed with creativity since childhood. Children can find happiness in little things they find and turn them into amusing toys. Almost every child has their inner-Picasso that urge them to draw or play everywhere in any medium: the wall, the street, garden, etc. Then they create a masterpiece no one can’t think of.
Then as humans grow older, what’s hold back some people’s creative minds? What differentiates between that creative business owner and that not-so-creative musician?
According to The Coversation’s article (2018), the brain that engages in high-creativity belonged to three specific brain systems:
The default network: people are engaged in spontaneous thinking, such as mind-wandering, daydreaming and imagining. Key role in idea generation or brainstorming — thinking of several possible solutions to a problem.
The executive control network: people need to focus on or control their thought processes. This network may play a key role in idea evaluation or determining whether brainstormed ideas will actually work and modifying them to fit the creative goal.
The salience network: acts as a switching mechanism between the default and executive networks. This network may play a key role in alternating between idea generation and idea evaluation.
Human brain capacity enables everyone to think creatively into the stance of process systems. With the same systems why some people are more creative than others? Then why some people feel they are becoming less and less creative?
In my opinion, as we grow older, we are becoming more self-conscious. We start to ask ourselves “How do I look, how do I think, what people think of me, why can’t I be friends with this person, or why they laugh at my words?” By all means, I believe it’s a very humane thing to do because it lets us understand others and develop empathy towards our environment.
To many people, these questions build up more insecurities towards themselves. Their executive control network and salience network process restrain every imagination and idea into “no. Those ideas are so foolish. I’m a fool nothing will work. I couldn’t come up with an idea, what that person thinks?” Hence, this ‘normal’ that change people brain to ‘normalize’ the way they think. They start to think about how the other person thinks, they start to follow other people’s behavior so they can be defined as normal. This small habit that being repeated continuously is the reason their brain is automatically restrained from its maximum capability.
What can we do to maximize our brain capabilities?
Our brains have been programmed in a certain way and trained according to our daily habits. People need to insert a new program so the blocks that always raise in processing creative minds can be lessened.
- 1-minute ideas
Fold a piece of paper at least 4 times (more is encouraged), so then when you open, it gives 16 squares. Choose 1 object besides you, then ask yourselves “what can you do with this object?” put the timer on then start writing ideas in each block. Write as fast as ideas come to you. Just write and fill in the blocks. Let your default network to work gives you fresh ideas and write it down quickly before it disappears.
The key here ‘what can you do’ may branch to many different things:
- What can you do to use it?
- What can you do to develop this one object?
- What can you do to make this object more interesting?
- What can you do to make people buy this?
- What can you do to maximize the usability of this object?
- What can you do to solve a problem created by this object?
2. Read your ideas
Read your ideas out loud. Just read it as if someone asking about your ideas. Read it and explain why you come up with that idea. What’s the story behind that idea. You may find yourself laughing and smiling at how creative, crazy, but great ideas you come up with.
You may forget what you say, so I highly encourage you to record it. Sometimes we need a discussion trigger so our mind can work and most of the time by talking it, we create new creative ideas to be added.
3. Create Idea Banks
Write your ideas and your explanation about your great ideas. If you think, some ideas won’t work, use your executive control network system to write why you do not think that idea work? What are the reasons and explanations? Then write another part on how to overcome those limitations to make this idea work? Internal force or external force?
You can write it down in a book or type it in word or PowerPoint. Whichever that you find it easy to come back into, reread and add more ideas. So in times when you face a new challenge and need an idea, you can take a look at your idea banks and modify it to suits your objective.