The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave it neither power nor time.
- Mary Oliver
We tend to think of creativity as the domain of musicians and artists but creativity is a characteristic of every successful individual and organization. How can we cultivate creativity in ourselves and/or our organization?
The impediments to creativity are many with the greatest being fear. Fear of criticism, fear of wasting time and resources, fear of failure. Artists may fear what people will think of their work. Organizations often fear change. The "we've always done it this way" culture held by many organizations crushes creative innovation. Individuals often impede their creative efforts in the search of perfection.
Rarely do creative ideas pop up like a light bulb above your head. Being creative is work. Being creative is getting up every day and starting the process. Organizations that cultivate creativity have a positive and energetic environment where innovation is celebrated and failure accepted as part of the process. They are committed to creativity and provide staff with the environment, time and tools needed to be creative.
Productive individual creativity is driven by having an effective environment and process. An environment that is free of distractions and disciplined process that pushes you to create every day.
What did you do today to be more creative?