We are more than seven and a half billion people on this planet earth who use hundreds of different electronic devices daily. These actions result in creation of infinite permutation and combination of actions, reactions, results and probability of results. How can an individual brain with definite space cope with all of it???
By
forming patterns, deciding priorities and
repetition…….
The above mentioned three actions create blocks in the mind to process information in a systematic manner and make life easy, but it happens only when life is easy!! As there is an infinite possibility of unexpected challenges and outcomes; pattern and blocks most of the time creates road blocks rather than working as anything else.
This brings us to “creative thinking” …….the right brain thinking…..out of the box thinking…..but not many people know what it is and how to make it work for themselves in order to find solutions to unexpected challenges…..
Great things can’t be accomplished by those who surrender themselves to trends, fads, mundane routine and popular opinion. Great things can’t be achieved also by impulse, but series of small but patient observations and follow up actions brought together.
Cure of boredom is curiosity but curiosity has no cure and you know what; curiosity is the foundation stone of creativity. If you don’t want to know more, you won’t find more. So, get curious, get angry with status quo and create chaos to bring out the new normal. Whether you succeed or not is immaterial, because, believe you me, there is no such thing. Making your hidden self known is the important thing.
And what more….
Here, the quote of T.C.Boyle brings in his great insight which I would like to reproduce; “In order to create you have to believe in your ability to do so and that often means excluding the whole chunk of normal life, and, of course, pumping yourself up as much as possible as a way of keeping on. Sort of cheering yourself in great football stadium of life."
So, the question boils down to how can you be creative? Answer is very simple and it can’t be taught in rigid corporate environment where you have to decipher data, analyze trends and make predictions. There is no creativity in it.
There is no step by step rulebook to be creative; it comes with randomness and it comes with flying away from mundane routine. But it has to start from somewhere. I asked
Gaurav Bahl, Founder of
Quirkee,
Quirkee
a Gurgaon based Integrated Marcom Agency, about how one can be creative in personal and professional life. Gaurav has rich experience with top advertising agencies like
Percept, Leo Burnett, Mullen Lowe Worldwide, Hammer Communications, K Factor and
Bounce Design to name a few.
This is what he has to say, “
This world is flooded with too much of information in the form of news, advertisements, inputs for his own work requirements at personal and professional front and many things more. All these informations further become the basis of many information and ideas in their mind, which keeps looking for an outlet. Everyone wants to talk and take his ideas to the top, but that doesn’t happen all the time with everyone. Something which happens very rarely is called either ‘luck’ in most prevalent term or ‘fluke’ in crude term.
To take any idea to the top one has to remain patient and committed towards it. Now, how will this happen if someone is always willing to talk and let everything out.
So, what works for me and I think it should work for others as well; be observant of what others are doing or talking about, be patient with other’s ideas, be receptive to other’s opinion and master the art of listening. All of it will give you lots of clues, experiences and answers to your problems and challenges. All of it will automatically help you in prioritizing your work and improve your focus on the solution of problems or challenges you would be looking for.
Apart from that, though I am not much into it, following extra-curricular activities like outdoor sports, or music or travelling etc. can help your mind to relax and avoid overdose of information processing. I listen to music, watch movies and play; some people find cooking therapeutic…..and of course, Yoga is an all time favorite of many……..Your brain consumes more energy than any other part of your body and as your body’s energy saps, mind starts slowing down, it starts jumping to conclusions because it wants to work less and it starts priming. So, it is very important to look after your brain….
Fundamentals of creativity can be summed up under the following points:
- Observe people and situations around you.
- Listen to what people around you say
- Be patient; don’t jump to conclusion and become an answering machine
- Be receptive to other’s ideas and opinions and respect them.Prioritize your work
- Focus on what you are looking for
- Relax your mind; do something which can help you to enjoy life and take your focus away from finding solutions and being creative all the time. “
To sum everything up, I am bringing up the quotation of God of Martial Art Bruce Lee, which reads “
Important thing for you is to be alert, to question, to find out, so that your own initiative can be awakened”.