Creativity often does not survive addition.
That is – when we attempt to add one person’s creativity to another person’s creativity it is possible the sum of the parts is much less than the whole. In fact it may be less than either of the parts.
Creativity (1+2) < Creativity 1 + Creativity 2
When one person’s creative gifts meet another person’s creative gifts in an effort to join to create greater things it is possible creativity shrinks rather than grows.
I think it is far more likely that creativity shrinks.
Truly creative people are able to keep their left brains* in the proper place…that is, they don’t just keep their left brains left of center where they belong but they also keep their left brains silent and minding their own business while their right brains fire away creatively.
For the truly creative person that just happens.
For everyone else it is a task…often a huge task. In fact, for most people keeping the left brain minding its own business so the right brain can perform at its best is such a huge task it is a full time job.
There is no room to add more work…like trying to keep someone else’s left brain where it ought to be.
Our left brains are so pervasive…it is like they are inclined to undo right brain stuff whenever they encounter it. So, despite our desire for creativity, we regularly see many left brains attacking the output of right brains…and the result is stifling experiences.
That’s often what happens, so:
when creativity is the goal we must learn to keep our left brains in check.
*Footnote: This is not to say the workings of the human brain are actually so simple they can be defined in terms like right brains handle everything creative while left brains handle everything logical. On the other hand, to the extent this common wisdom may or may not be true…this contrarian thought may or may not be true.
Reader comments (5)
Comments from the original blog platform, 2008–2021.
Richard Cantin ·
Rick, I do understand where you are going with this and I agree with the underlying message: Creativity is not normally aided by committee work, it is denigrated. Having said that, I would like to add a caveat. At the early stages of the creative process, when the idea is just percolating and perspectives are being formed, it is very useful, in my experience, to engage as many people as possible. It is at this stage where more minds are very helpful. And at the final stages, when the creative idea is being implemented, it is useful to involve the people who will actually use/benefit from the creation so the end product (if that is the output of the creativity) is truly aligned to the needs of the users, not just the fertile imagination of the creator. Having spent 7 years at Apple Computer, I can give evidence of both the benefit of individual creativity (Steve Jobs - > Macintosh) and also the downside of one person having fanatical control of the entire process (Steve Jobs -> iPhone4, (initially) lack of concern for enterprise needs, ...). So yes, at certain stages of the creative process, and I do include new product development as a creative process, I think there is real benefit to relying on individual "genius" or "inspiration", but I also think the entire process is made better when others are engaged - at the right time. Richard Cantin www.ayuda.ca
Rick Baker ·
“Creativity is a great motivator because it makes people interested in what they are doing. Creativity gives hope that there can be a worthwhile idea. Creativity gives the possibility of some sort of achievement to everyone. Creativity makes life more fun and more interesting.” Edward de Bono
rickbaker.ca ·
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Adeel ·
Creativity is free. It flows freely, it goes where it wants to go. It cannot thrive with restrictions holding it down. A mind that puts too many checks and balances and restrictions upon itself. Probability would state that such a mind would not venture out and seek experiences across a broad range of disciplines and interest. Thus, the collective experience for such a mind would be limited. Which would entail that the solutions that this mind seeks are very linear of a nature. Outside the construct of the mind, this is true for societies as well. A society that puts too many restrictions, checks and balances upon itself and ends up kiboshing dissent at every opportunity it possibly can. Creativity will always be subdued in such a society. Which entails that you cannot expect good/world-changing ideas to emerge out of such a society. Nor can you expect to see/hear/feel/touch good creativity coming out of such abodes.
rick baker ·
Adeel, I bet we could generate a long string of exchanges on this set of related topics. I believe we share much common ground. most of my thoughts around creativity are more narrowly focused...on my own creativity, on other individual's creativity, on creativity in smaller businesses.