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Thinking You Are Creative
Creative Minds
A Regular Column by Anthony D. Fredericks
Thinking You Are Creative
One of the most prevalent psychological misconceptions, or societal myths, is that we are either born creative or not. That is, there are two kinds of people in the world: the creative ones and those who couldn’t come up with a creative idea if their life depended on it. Because of our own frustrations in generating creative thoughts, we often group people into the creative “haves” and the creative “have-nots.”
We often look at creative types as “different.” They do things we cannot, they think things we don’t, and they envision possibilities we could never conceive. The Leonardo da Vincis, Pablo Picassos, and Jane Austins of the world were gifted with a set of genes we did not get. Because we don’t have those creative genes we’ll never rise to their level; as a result, we satisfy our egos by stating that, “I’m just not creative” when faced with work-related challenges or personal hurdles.
This conclusion is supported by a study involving the creative productivity of engineers at a major oil company. Executives of the company were concerned about the lack of creative output on the part of their employees. They brought 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.” 
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 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.
These results suggest that when we believe ourselves to be “non-creative,” we seldom put ourselves into situations that allow us to engage in creative endeavors or creative thinking. If we believe that we have low “creativity quotients,” then we often don’t allow ourselves to engage in imaginative activities, take creative risks, play with possibilities, or look for alternate answers.
Interestingly, though, all of us are creative souls early in our lives and it is our upbringing, schooling and work environment that often determine the degree or comfort we have with creative thinking. The bottom line: creativity is never a matter of “I have it,” or “I don’t have it.” It is, most often, the result of hidden forces firmly entrenched in our growth and development.
“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.”
– Erich Fromm
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Dr. Anthony D. Fredericks is an award-winning author of more than 170 books, including the highly anticipated From Fizzle to Sizzle: The Hidden Forces Crushing Your Creativity and How You Can Overcome Them (January 2, 2022) as well as five other Blue River Press titles (e.g. Ace Your Teacher Resume). He also pens a regular blog (“Creative Insights”) for Psychology Today.com (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/contributors/anthony-d-fredericks-edd)
Creativity is About Connections
Creative Minds
A Regular Column by Anthony D. Fredericks
Creativity is About Connections
One of the more persistent myths about creativity is that a creative idea is a totally original idea. That is, to be creative one must be able to create ideas that have never been thought before. The thinking is that each idea must be new, original, and fresh – a thought or an object that has never before existed in any shape or form. It is absolutely original.
The truth is that most innovative ideas are not entirely original. In many cases, they are simply the marriage of previous ideas into a new concept or format. Creativity often involves the ability to take existing knowledge and restructure it into a new format. It’s about making connections with stuff that’s already there. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, brought this into perspective when he said:
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they really didn’t do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or that they have thought more about their experiences than other people.”
One of the most-oft cited cases of creativity centers around Johannes Gutenberg who, in 1450 created movable type and the printing press. Movable metal pieces allowed pages to be printed much more quickly than the standard wooden blocks used to press ink onto paper. His “combination of pre-existing technologies” created printing presses that could print thousands of pages a day. This revolution allowed books to be created more quickly and more efficiently – allowing the middle class to obtain them as never before. The result was the rapid spread of knowledge across the European continent. That intellectual revolution came about due, in large measure, to the combination of two previous (and seemingly unconnected) ideas: a wine press and a coin punch.
“A wonderful harmony is created when we join together the seemingly unconnected.”
– Heraclitus
Dr. Anthony D. Fredericks is an award-winning author of more than 170 books, including the highly anticipated From Fizzle to Sizzle: The Hidden Forces Crushing Your Creativity and How You Can Overcome Them (January 2, 2022) as well as five other Blue River Press titles (e.g. Ace Your Teacher Interview). He also pens a regular blog (“Creative Insights”) for Psychology Today.com (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/contributors/anthony-d-fredericks-edd)