"Eureka!" cried Isaac Newton over his discovery of the law of gravity. Maybe you think all the wonderful innovation throughout human history must be the work only of geniuses. What if you are wrong? Any progress, even if small, can arise in anyone’s head: it is enough to reveal the true essence of creativity. The Open Forum website along with David Burkus, author of the book The Myths of Creativity, has published an article explaining some of the myths shrouding the ability of creative thinking.
On the basis on the latest research, illustrating how creative individuals and companies succeed, Burkus made several discoveries that contradict popular beliefs regarding creativity.
The myth of brainstorming
Many people associate creativity with the generation of a large number of ideas. The fact that the vast majority of these ideas are completely unusable is secondary. Creativity requires more than just rapid generation of ideas. It is the process of generating, improving, testing and further modifying until an idea becomes realisable.
The myth of originality
Originality does not mean coming up with new and fresh ideas that have not yet been discovered. The truth is that creative ideas are nothing more than a combination of old thoughts. Henry Ford did not invent the automobile or the assembly line and Coca Cola was actually created by a mistake. Ideas that failed once are not always wasted. Experiment with combining different options and see what you might find.
The myth of eureka
Creativity is not a sudden flash of inspiration which is the domain of only certain individuals. A slow hunch precedes innovative ideas, during which the final thought gradually crystallises in one's mind. It is also a matter of experience and knowledge of the issue, which allows you to see things from multiple angles and details.
The myth of unique talent
Upon hearing the name Thomas Edison, whom do you imagine? A busy scientist who slaved in his office, ultimately to dazzle the whole world by invention of the light bulb? The truth is that he did not invent the light bulb so much as refined it and made it commercially viable. Moreover, he only rarely worked without his team of scientists. So who is the genius now?
Why do we love our own ideas and are sceptical of the ideas of others?
We feel that we can recognise the genius idea once it has been presented, but the truth is that we have an innate bias against new creative ideas. Innovation is something novel and useful, but everyone has a certain status quo attitude and considers things from this standpoint. As a result, we often condemn others’ ideas. Once we think about ideas ourselves, we are in a better position to start from what is known to us and we can deal better with any bias.
Creativity is not a mysterious concept, which is the privilege of selected individuals. Each one of us has it - true, some to a lesser extent, but we all have the potential to generate great ideas and groundbreaking innovation. It is only important to figure out the correct procedure.
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