Be More Creative-With a Little Practice

"When we think of creativity, we don't usually think of it as a skill one can develop through hard work and intent, like learning a new language or developing our math abilities. Often, we think of artists or entrepreneurs as inherent geniuses, born with some genetic quality we could never obtain."

"In my job I spend most of my day working with marketers, and I realized when you talk to marketers, even though they're the most creative people in a business, you often hear things like, "I'm not that creative." I realized it's not just marketers-all types of creatives have this severe lack of creative confidence; and the idea for the book was to paint the picture of what creativity really is, and that it is something you can learn, enhance, and get better at."

"What's interesting is that when you look at the research, there is a lot of fascination with aha moments, and they seem like this sort of magical thing. But really, what research tells us is that aha moments are simply how our right hemisphere processes information, and it's subconscious. Only once it comes up with a new idea does it pop up into consciousness."

Creativity is commonly viewed as an innate talent rather than a cultivable skill. Many professionals, including marketers, report low creative confidence despite frequent creative demands. Creative ability can be learned, enhanced, and improved through deliberate practice and intent. The notion that 10,000 hours of practice alone guarantees creative expertise is questionable. Sudden 'aha' insights arise from subconscious processing in the brain's right hemisphere and only enter consciousness once a new idea is formed. Combining targeted practice with an understanding of these cognitive processes increases the likelihood of producing original, valuable ideas.

Read at ATD