Creativity is freedom with guidelines.
It is approaching something unknown without fearing failure, yet knowing
improvements always exist. There are no wrongs, but usually something that is
more right. There is a road-map to lead you, but the path is vague as if you are
zoomed out, far above the picture giving you, the navigator, only a general
idea of the direction. The path is open to your interpretation and will be
affected by your decisions. You will take some wrong turns along the way and
most likely will double back once or twice. But these ostensible mistakes will
show you something new as you come closer to your destination. No two people
will navigate exactly the same, leading every person to slightly different
destinations. But that is the beauty of creativity, no one is wrong. Some paths
might be more abstract or more beautiful, some more thought out than others, but
no path is wrong as long as you eventually arrive at your destination.
Because of this inability to fail I believe
anyone can be creative, although you must choose to be, which not everyone
does. Creativity comes easier to some than it does others, and not because of
the common misconception that you must be crafty or artsy to be creative. A
creator must be able to part with reality temporarily and ask “what if”, a
question that often makes the more grounded individuals uncomfortable.
I consider myself a creative individual
as I am not willing, but eager, to look past the walls of reality. However, I
have often felt limited and unable to be original. While I appreciate a base
foundation to build from, I often feel my creativity is stifled by superiors
who have presented me with a full framed and built idea and has simply asked me
to paint on the few remaining details. I experienced this feeling this summer during
my internship. All twelve interns were divided into groups of four and each
group assigned a specific problem that the organization was facing. At first,
the assignment appeared to be a wonderful opportunity to impact a large
organization in a powerful way, but as the project went on we received criticism
from the higher-ups. Our original idea would have add extra costs, making it
too expensive. It would have required an extra hour of work monthly, making it
too time consuming. Finally, it was targeting the customer directly rather than
aiming internally at the employees, which was not the desire segment in the
company’s eyes. In order to receive the approval of the corporate leaders we
revised our project. Our final idea focused on the employees, took only five
minutes of their time, and was incorporated into an already existing meeting,
making it a solution that would spur no extra costs. Our solution fell into
their strict framework, but left our group with a dissatisfied feeling. Our
original solution addressed the real issues of the problem and could have
improved the business, while our final result was just a presentation that
resulted in a pat on the back from the corporate office. The company limited
our innate creativity and in turn crushed any possible monumental change we
could have triggered.
While I have had copious projects and
assignments like the one during my internship, I have had many that have encouraged
me to explore past what I am sure of, allowing me to create something new. I
had one project in particular that stands out in terms of creativity that I did
while in high school. The project was a
mock Project Runway exercise. The assignment was to create an accessory, but of
course had a twist that made the project more challenging. You had to do it
only with the materials that were included in a “mystery bag”, with the
exception of any bonding agents like glue or thread. The bag was chosen by the
individual, but was sealed keeping the contents a secret until we were simultaneously
allowed to open the bags, revealing the array of seemingly unusable items
within. In my bag I found poster board, two kinds of fabric, ribbon, and, (the
real kicker) tongs. The combination of items in each bag seemed ridiculous, yet
were the resources we were given to guide our journey. The original ridiculousness
of my bag forced me to reach past my comfort zone, resulting in an item I never
would have imagined otherwise. My accessory came to be a tong purse that opened
using the mechanism the tongs used in ordinary circumstances. I won the competition
for my ability to combine all of the objects in my bag into something practical,
but imaginative.
Creativity can be spurred through group
collaboration, with one individual building upon the thoughts of another, or
equally in the mind of one person slowly building off themselves. In either
instance it starts with the absence of fear combined with guidelines meant to
direct an individual or team to an end goal. Revision and constructive criticism
is essential the best successes, but failure is never possible. Conventional “failures”
are only opportunities to improve and move forward.
