4 daily reflexes that hinder our creativity

What is creativity? A gift, a method, a personality, a talent, a way of thinking, a fashion effect...?

In our collective imagination, creativity is often seen as an innate talent, attributed at birth to a few rare individuals. You might then think that having good ideas on a daily basis is more a question of luck than of work. Finally, it is a very deterministic conception of creativity: if I am not creative, there is nothing I can do about it.
But what do those we recognize as great creators say? Do they feel that their ideas come from a spontaneous gift from nature, or are they the result of deliberate work?

There are many who defend the second position.

Creativity is not a talent. It's a way of looking at things.
John Cleese (Monty Python) in a speech on creativity

Talent doesn't exist. Talent is the desire to do something.
Jacques Brel in a famous interview

Creativity is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.
Thomas Edison

What if creativity was not an innate talent but a way of approaching things ? What if we could understand and develop the mental processes that lead us to better ideas on a daily basis, to a broadening of the range of possibilities?

Here are 4 reflexes that we all tend to have and that hinder our creativity... and ways to overcome them!

1/ Find the right answer right away

At school, we are taught to go from a problem (a statement) to a single solution: the right answer. We are expected to identify a category of problem among those learned in class and then to return the answer stated by the professor. This way of approaching problems is called convergent thinking.

Being creative means not just sharing the answers you've learned. It means being able to design your own, sometimes unexpected, answers to the problems encountered. To get there, convergent thinking is not enough. Another mode will then be necessary: divergent thinking. [1]

Divergent thinking involves considering numerous possible answers before converging on a chosen answer. In the answers imagined, some may seem irrelevant at first glance. However, they may be the ones who will pave the way to the most effective solutions.

It is the power of “What if...”: to consider an unusual, bizarre idea, but which hides behind it an unexpected and effective idea! [2]

John Cleese, author of Monty Python, talks about it in his own words: an “open mode” and a “closed mode.” When we are in “open mode”, he suggests agreeing to look for ideas for fun, for fun, without focusing on the resolution objective. It is during this moment of the game that unexpected paths can appear.

2/ Saturate his attention

When do your ideas come up? While working, probably, but still? In the shower, maybe, while doing the dishes, or even while walking.

To find ideas, you need to alternate between moments when you focus attentively on the subject in question — focused moments — and moments when, on the contrary, you detach yourself from it - non-focused moments. In focused moments, we will rigorously deal with the problem, memorize new knowledge, identify leads. But, after an intense work session, it is also very effective to let your mind rest to “digest” the information and unconsciously create new connections between all this knowledge. This is called the incubation of ideas.
To promote this incubation, one rule seems to be decisive: protect your attention. A study [3] suggests that tasks that keep us busy without requiring our attention would be the ones that best trigger creative incubation. For example: in the shower, while brushing your teeth, while walking...

Today, our attention is being put to the test! We are subject to constant stress and we ourselves develop bad reflexes, such as Consult your smartphone as soon as we have a break. Preserving boring moments could be an essential practice for our creativity.

3/ Not knowing what you are looking for

You are looking for an idea, a good idea, a big idea... But why?
If you do not define a problem to be solved, an objective, it is very difficult to guide your search for ideas. And this is even more the case when you are in a group!
Formulating a problem, called problematization, is an essential phase of creativity.

If I had one hour to solve a problem, I would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and 5 minutes looking for the solution.
Albert Einstein

In addition to clearly defining the problem to be solved, why not try several formulations? Each formulation will lead to different ideas. For example, you want to create a good training course for your customer. But with the formulation “I want my client to be happy with my training” you will not find the same ideas as with the formulation “I want my client to have learned useful things”.

4/ Only listen to positive reviews

“What do you think of my idea? ”. You've just told a friend about your idea and you hope... he loves it!

Seeking validations is natural, it's called confirmation bias. It is more pleasant to have our beliefs strengthened than the other way around. But will receiving validations help you demonstrate creativity ?

Critical feedback can be much more effective, forcing you to improve your idea, or present it in a convincing way. So why not voluntarily mobilize criticism by asking your friend to play devil's advocate? His role will be to find flaws in your idea, in all kindness (it's a game), and then help you improve it.

However, be careful to distinguish between two types of negative reviews: a non-constructive opinion, such as “I don't like” or “it sucks” is toxic, but a critical opinion while being kind and constructive is particularly desirable!

So be careful when you ask someone, and know how to distinguish between useful and useless opinions.

In conclusion

These 4 bad reflexes are examples among others that you can fight against on a daily basis. What is important to remember is that understanding the mental functions on which creativity is based, the challenges, the pitfalls to avoid, gives very effective references to guide your thoughts in the right directions... off the beaten path.

It is this approach that guided us to design our “Gaining Creativity” training. Articulated around realistic practical cases, it thus allows everyone to overcome their obstacles, change their relationship with creativity in order to progress peacefully.

REFERENCES

[1] Psychology of Creativity - Todd Lubart, Armand Colin, 2015.
[2] Edward de Bono defines creativity as “unexpected efficiency” in Creative Intelligence Beyond Brainstorming, Maxima, 2004.
[3] Baird, B., Smallwood, J., Mrazek, M. D., Mrazek, M.D., Kam, J.W., Franklin, M.S., & Schooler, J.W. (2012). Inspired by Distraction: Mind Wandering Through Creative Incubation. Psychological Science, 23 (10), 1117-1122.