Creativity: It’s Nothing New
In a recent article, Scott Berkun outlines some thoughts about innovation that have also been brought up often in recent team discussions. The bottom line of both the article and our discussions is that effective creativity (as opposed to self-expression) is not usually something 100% original, but an arrangement of existing parts or ideas in novel ways. What’s often required to solve a problem is not “original genius,” but curiosity, keen observation, and persistence.
Here are some key quotes from Scott’s excellent article :
- The biggest secret of innovation is that anyone can do it.
- The common trap about newness is the assumption that new means something the universe has never seen before. This turns out to be the third most ridiculous assumption in the history of mankind.
- As long as your idea, or your use of an existing idea, is new to the person you are creating it for, or applies an existing concept in a new way, you qualify as an innovator from their point of view, and that’s all that matters.
- The tool kit of every innovator typically includes three things: questions, experiments, and self-reliance.
- Progress depends on people thinking independently and following their curiosity as far as they can, including doing things others around them refuse to try.