the
innovative LEDGER
An e-Newsletter from The Innovative Edge™ Inc.
Vol.
9, No. 5 - May 2009
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The Practice of Creativity, Part 1
By Jeff Govendo
Are
some people born geniuses? Was there something in the genetic makeup
of Mozart, Shakespeare or Einstein that destined them at birth to
think and perform at a different level than others in their fields?
Not
really, says New York Times writer David Brooks in a recent column.
Citing findings in two recently published books, The Talent Code by
Daniel Coyle and Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin, Brooks states,
"The key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished
is not divine spark. It's not I.Q. Instead, it's deliberate practice.
Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) rigorously practicing
their craft."
Mozart,
notes Brooks, was a good musician as a young lad, but hardly a standout
among his peers. However, with his father's encouragement (insistence?),
he spent a lot of time at the piano; so much that he "got his
10,000 hours of practice in early and then he built from there."
Brooks
points to other factors that also appear in the life stories of a
future geniuses. The presence of a role model, for instance, who
offers up a vision of what they might someday become when they've
mastered their craft. Also, an effective mentor who guides the student
through the all the intracacies of their skill area, effectively coaching
them and giving precise feedback at every step.
But
above all it's the practice, Brooks insists. It's the repetition
of each minute component of the activity that seems to move the genius-in-waiting
to a level beyond which most of us can ever hope to attain.
Well,
I'm not sure I fully buy it. I suspect Picasso had comtemporaries
who spent as much time on canvas as he did; yet he was uniquely gifted.
There were plenty of other teens in pre-60's Liverpool spending endless
hours writing music and lyrics, but they weren't Lennon-McCartney.
Steve Jobs has a lot of ambitious competitors, but they didn't come
up wth the i-Pod.
No,
we may not all have genius potential. But what we do have -- all
of us -- is the capacity to be creative thinkers. To see things
in novel ways; to make surprising connections between apparently unrelated
ideas or objects. Every night we put together a series of wildly creative
productions called dreams.
The
human mind is uniquely wired for creativity, even if it's not of genius
caliber. However -- and here we return to Mr. Brooks' premise -- it
definitely shows up more when we humans practice at it. I have
consistently observed over many years of working with teams on innovation
projects, that those who exercise their creative muscles on a somewhat
regular basis simply do a better job generating new and unusual ideas
to explore when they have to.
And
when is it so necessary? When they need to come up with possible solutions
to seemingly intractable problems or challenges facing their organizations.
Like right now.
Perhaps
it's the mental skill of connection-making itself that improves with
repetition. Or the comfort level with taking risks that increases
with practice (thinking creatively in the context of group dynamics
and organizational politics always involves risk). Probably it's a
combination of the two.
But,
if we think of creative thinking as a skill, and not simply a gift
possessed by the relatively few, it makes perfect sense that it will
improve with practice.
Next
month we'll discuss some ways of staying in shape, creatively speaking.
Until
then, let's put a little Mozart on the i-Pod and get inspired.
