July 2016 | An unforgettable volume I never read

Occasionally, I think of a book that I received while working as a marketing communication manager for a tech company. The title was something like "Creativity Can Be Learned." I never got to read that book; I might not have even cracked the covers. The giver asked for its return a short time later, and while I never saw the book again, the question remains.

What about creativity? Search the internet and you will find no shortage of articles that debate "nature vs. nurtured" as it applies to creativity. What seems to be missing, however, is making a distinction between creativity and skill (or tools). Some imply they are the same, or that one is merely a subset of the other. Arguably, while they certainly complement each other, and might even necessary to each other, creativity and skill are separate and quite different.

A person can have a considerable set of tools or skills, yet have little insight how to use them. For example, with the introduction of the laser printer in the 1980's came many typefaces, and the ability to give a published look to even the most mundane office correspondence. Per urban legend, what followed was the "Ransom Note Syndrome," wherein business memos began appearing that used all of them. Conversely, you might know someone who can turn a lump of mud into a pot, but still needs the artistic counsel of a master who sees in it a beautiful urn.

Ultimately, the skills with which we create become their own limitations.

The definition of creativity may be as simple as the ability to imagine a goal, and the sorts of skills and tools needed to achieve it. Clearly, the right resources can be a game changer for turning an idea into reality, but mastering the process is a separate issue.  It follows that skills and knowledge never evaluated, updated, and expanded can result in "cook book artistry" where creativity takes a back seat to ease and expediency.

As to the book's assertion, I suspect creativity can be learned to some degree by analyzing and imitating what creative people do, and adding those tools to one's skill set. Tools, however, can become their own worst enemy when they control, rather than serve creativity.

True creativity may well remain an inexplicable, unpredictable, and innate gift. Don't confuse the two.

Ten tips to fuel creativity

1. Be curious. Find out how things work for the sake of knowing. Look at what other people are doing and determine how they did it. Experiment with new concepts and techniques.
2. Know your limitations. Examine your own ideas and methods, not as a means of staying within your comfort zone, but of knowing where you need to break out.
3. Forget "impossible." Remove constraints from your thinking.
4. Have some idea of the finished product. You can't know you've arrived if you don't know where you are going. It may be as simple as a statement of "I want a [ ... ] that [ ... ]."
5. Practice "top-down" design. See the whole as a collection of smaller components or tasks, and solve them independently. If one of those pieces is still too complex, further subdivide it.
6. Strive for simplicity. An assembly of simple components begets its own complexity. A system consisting of complex fundamental parts can create chaos when a part of it behaves unpredictably.
7. Work with a safety net. Keep notes, backups, and examples of what works and what doesn't. If you paint yourself into a corner, being able to roll back to an earlier point is better than starting from scratch. For one thing, that initial spurt of inspiration may be gone.
8. Make haste slowly. Change one thing at a time, and evaluate the results.
9. Leave it for a while. This is the creative equivalent of a strawberry between courses of a gourmet meal. Periodically, or more often as needed, take a nap, go for a nature walk, or engage in some activity that lets your mind decompress.
10. Know when to quit. Avoid "creeping elegance." The 80-20 rule says that 80% of the time to finish a project will be spent on the last 20%. Frequently, tinkering has a negative effect.

In future blog entries, I'll look more closely at each of these tips. Until then, feel free to e-mail me with your thoughts.