How To Be Creative

Did you ever wonder how the gentleman at 3M came up with the post it note?  Or how some study suggests that students with a little bit of alcohol score better on tests than their sober counterparts?  The answer lies somewhere in the realm of creativity.

Author and creativity researcher Jonah Lehrer opined on this subject in this WSJ article.  It may be that creativity doesn't come to us as we think, but instead by working diligently at solving a problem answers arrive in what seem to be "ah uh moments" but in reality is was more process oriented than some clever stroke of genius.

Most people wouldn't think of themselves as creative but think about all of the problems that you solve on a daily basis?  They might not involve solving a deadly disease but without figuring out how to side step the landmines in life, think about how less efficient you would be.

See the full piece here for a listing of points Lehrer points out that help get the creative juices flowing.

• creativity is not magic, and there's no such thing as a creative type. Creativity is not a trait that we inherit in our genes or a blessing bestowed by the angels. It's a skill. Anyone can learn to be creative and to get better at it. New research is shedding light on what allows people to develop world-changing products and to solve the toughest problems. A surprisingly concrete set of lessons has emerged about what creativity is and how to spark it in ourselves and our work.






• Creativity is a spark. It can be excruciating when we're rubbing two rocks together and getting nothing. And it can be intensely satisfying when the flame catches and a new idea sweeps around the world.
• For the first time in human history, it's becoming possible to see how to throw off more sparks and how to make sure that more of them catch fire. And yet, we must also be honest: The creative process will never be easy, no matter how much we learn about it. Our inventions will always be shadowed by uncertainty, by the serendipity of brain cells making a new connection.