So what the hell is creativity, this abused word? My gut feeling says that, taking it to extremes, it is the ability to make others believe in somebody, in something said, done, designed, discovered, composed or produced… it does not really matter in what form/shape creativity appears. It is not even necessary that everybody defines it as creative. Creativity might be - from a different perspective - the ability to make others "feel the difference", to reveal what has always existed but was not yet recognized.
To some extent the concept of creativity depends upon the social context, historical age or cultural environment, however there is a core meaning that is in some way eternal.
I suggest that creativity is an irresistible mix of magic ingredients, such as: divine, love and passion, serendipity, beauty, mystery, magic, strategy, knowledge and - surprise, surprise - leadership.
I am thinking loud about the above mentioned elements, thought by thought, trying to find connections; creativity is such an intriguing concept, so questionable and so fascinating.
For instance creativity includes some magic and mysterious elements, in fact a question that people wonder in front of a creative piece, art or work is "how did you come to that? ". It seems that there is surprise from the beholder, like when the wizard takes the rabbit out from his hat! Sometime creativity is just a form of serendipity, the ability to make important discoveries by chance (what would be our life without the yellow pads (post it notes)), a modern example of serendipity). Does somebody deny that Columbus was creative?
And what about the love and passion that shine through creative people? This reminds me of Michelangelo shouting to his masterpiece, David, wondering why the statue was not responding. How much passion scientists and artists or musicians put in to what they do! Children as well, creative by definition, commit body and mind to building their imaginative plays.
I have recently read about a survey in Australia (Melbourne University) regarding longevity, where the researchers came to a conclusion that the people that love more live longer because they "suspend time". The researchers explain that "all the activities that make loose all notion of time, due to a total concentration, are activities of love".
This is exactly what happens in the context of a creative act. The creator is fully concentrated in what he/she is doing, no matter how long, sometimes even feeding themselves or sleeping is forgotten.
Even if somebody uses the word creative in an ironic way, I still believe that beauty has something to do with creativity. I could mention Plato and his "kalos kai agathos" but, honestly, it has been a long time since I finished my gymnasium…in more pragmatic terms and from a very personal point of view. I would like to tell you what I noticed about creativity during my work experience as a consultant in Italy. When the solution or the piece of work completed was well done the customer used to say "ottimo' which means very good/excellent, but when it was really creative…the customer used to say 'bello" (beautiful in English). This nuance of vocabulary used by my customers was like a rule carved into stone for me. In brief my recommendation to my team about the result of our engagement was, "The customer has to say "bello" ! (With exclamation mark). That was a sign of distinction for that extra mile. In other words the difference between well done and creative.
Knowledge and competency seem to be basic components of creativity; it is true that fate can help, but all the rest is the joint effort of technique, solid knowledge and effort. Embedded in creativity can be recognizable a certain form of strategy, that can be difficult to spot. I attended a seminar about the "modeling techniques" where the teacher was trying to explain to us the personal strategy of a photographer - known for his creative production - to recognize the exact moment when to press the button and take the picture, the so called creative moment. Behind the apparently natural impulse of the photographer to capture the creative moment there was a precise and very detailed strategy.
Is creativity innate or can it be developed in individuals? I think with creativity, as well as leadership, you need to have at least a "core of it" inside and then life, desire and education allow it to develop. I tend to believe that in any strongly creative person there is enough leadership to drive the others to understand their own creativity, to be able to open the minds and the hearts of others.
Creativity at the workplace is not necessarily as romantic as I have depicted above. The concept though it is always in someway "magic'. I think that the role of creativity in the workplace is the ability to "make the old new and the obvious attractive". In the business arena I doubt there is much room for creativity except for technology, but I hope I am wrong.
The organizational structure of companies does not always make it easy for creativity to take place. Despite some attempts to put in place complex variations to react to an ever changing world, we have no innovation. It is more a matter of cycling and re-cycling. In outline being sarcastic: first "small is beautiful", then it is better "global", first we tailor jobs to extreme detail, then we create "teams" where responsibilities are vague, etc. The good news - maybe - is that there is room for improvement.
Alessandra Zocca
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