Inherent within the human spirit is the desire for fulfillment, a longing to carry out our creative aspirations by reaching new heights of accomplishments. Creativity is a phenomenon which enables one to delve into the deepest recess of the mind and fathom the unexplored realms of the human brain. In short it is the ability to create something new. Artists are creative because they have the innate talent to churn up something unique and new from a collage of abstract ideas. Mind is like the clay on the potter's wheel. We can mould it or transmogrify it according to our liking.
A famous poem by Robert Browning goes like this "There were two roads leading into the woods. I took the one which is less traveled and that made all the difference". Does doing things differently trigger creativity? Or is it something which is inherent in each and every one of us, waiting to be unleashed? There is a story of an American salesman who became a millionaire by selling life insurance. On being asked about the secret of his success, he answered that he told his clients that he was there to buy life insurance for them rather than sell it.
How to spur creativity or lateral thinking? Anderson Consulting Inc, arguably the Numero Uno consulting firm in the world, once conducted a survey to gauge the level of creativity in people. The tests were administered to some of the best brains in the software industry/ other multinational conglomerates. Astonishingly 90% failed in the test but many pre-schoolers were able to answer the questions correctly.
All of us are born with a creative self, but as we grow and get used to living in this mundane world, our creative potentialities get eroded. Our ability to see things differently gets swept away into oblivion. We need to constantly rejuvenate our creative self by trying to see things in a different way.
Before we act, let us think for a moment on how creatively we can respond to the situation. According to Edward De Bono, a famous contemporary author, one should be free on constraints, tradition and history in order to be creative. There is a prevailing belief that structures are restrictive for creative thinking, but this is not entirely true. A cup does not limit one's choice of the drink, in a similar way one can consciously avoid being straitjacketed by the structures and apply them to ones discipline of work.
Lateral thinking is how best one can adapt to a situation as illustrated by this story. Two men were on a jungle safari in Africa when they suddenly saw a tiger which started roaring. Both were frightened to death but one of them quickly started wearing his shoes. When the other one enquired how this is going to help as we cannot out run the tiger, the first one replied that I don't need to outrun the tiger ....I just need to out run you.
Therefore always think, cogitate and then let your creative musings flow..............
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