How Creative Are You?

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As we move from childhood to adulthood, we often discover a decrease in our personal creativity. Where we were once imaginative and free-thinking as kids, we now admit that our creative expression is often stifled by our education or work environment. Many people, perhaps yourself, discover that their creative spirit is often in short supply just when it’s needed most.

As I reviewed decades of research for my book, From Fizzle to Sizzle: The Hidden Forces Crushing Your Creativity and How You Can Overcome Them, I unearthed a unique assembly of beliefs that are clearly endemic in folks who typically generate an abundance of “out of the box” ideas. I also discovered a compelling story involving the creativity of engineers at a major oil company. Executives of the company were concerned about the lack of creative output on the part of these employees. They decided to bring in a team of psychologists to see if they could determine any significant differences between those deemed to be creative and those categorized as “non-creative.” Their goal was to obtain a set of situations and practices that would lead to higher levels of creative production on the part of the “non-creatives.”

Over the course of three months, the team of psychologists asked a battery of questions focused on childhood experiences, family influences, academic performance, geographical preferences, and even favorite colors. After a thorough analysis of the resulting data, they concluded that a single factor clearly separated the two groups: The creative people thought they were creative, and the less creative people didn’t think they were.

This story suggests that when we believe ourselves to be “non-creative,” we seldom put ourselves into situations that allow us to engage in creative endeavors or thinking. If we believe that we have low levels of creativity, then we often don’t allow ourselves to engage in imaginative activities, take creative risks, play with possibilities, or look for alternate answers.

Digging deeper, I discovered specific habits and beliefs that generate a plethora of innovative ideas in situations that demand new ways of thinking. Subsequent interviews with pioneering thinkers revealed that their creative beliefs were utilized on a daily basis—they were not “one and done” tenets employed for a single project and then discarded. Rather, they were focal points that could be used across a range of intellectual challenges throughout one’s lifetime.

A Test for Creativity

Consider the following statements. Know that this collection is not exhaustive, nor exclusive for assessing your personal “creativity quotient.” Nevertheless, how you respond will not only provide you with critical “food for thought,” but alert you to the foundational concepts practiced by people recognized for their creative energy. Equally important, your responses form the foundation on what you need in order to initiate a more creative lifestyle, where to start this incredible journey, and what might need to change along the way. These questions are a guide to what is creatively necessary in any cognitive pursuit or mental task.

Ask yourself the following. Answer with either "Agree," "Undecided," "Don't Know," or "Disagree":

1. I concentrate harder on whatever interests me than most people.
2. In groups, I occasionally voice opinions that seem to turn heads.
3. It is more important for me to do what I believe to be right than to try to win the approval of others.
4. More than other people, I need to have things interesting and exciting.
5. I am able to stick with difficult problems over extended periods of time.
6. I often get my best ideas when doing nothing in particular.
7. I rely on intuitive hunches and feelings of “rightness” or “wrongness” when moving toward the solution of a problem.
8. I sometimes get a kick out of breaking the rules.
9. Daydreaming has provided the impetus for many of my more important projects.
10. I have a high degree of aesthetic sensitivity.
11. I am much more interested in coming up with new ideas than in trying to sell them to others.
12. I would enjoy spending an entire day alone, just “thinking about thinking."
13. Self-respect is much more critical than the respect of others.
14. Many problems I encounter cannot be resolved in terms of right or wrong solutions.

For many of us, our natural sense of creativity has been swept out of our minds by a system of societal myths, educational practices, workplace habits, and everyday expectations more concerned with conformity than with fostering creative expression. We have been 'educated' to be mentally compliant; we have not been trained to generate a plethora of creative solutions when faced with intellectual challenges or job-related problems. In so many ways, our thinking has become standardized, predictable, and convenient. “Thinking outside the box” is not what we do well.

On the other hand, you can use the statements above to guide your own creative “re-awakening.” You will discover, as have many others, that creativity is a daily work in progress—a personal commitment to time-tested principles and proven strategies. Know that the journey is filled with dynamic explorations and amazing discoveries.