Common Myths of Creativity

There are many myths about creativity and it may not be what you think.

As I wrote in Retirement and Intellectual Challenge, I’ve been doing my own (sort of) PHD on Creativity in pursuit of a larger goal for financial freedom. So I have been fortunate to participate in an online course called “Creativity 202” that combines concepts of creativity with investing and trading.

The lesson I’m doing this week for Creativity 202 is on the myths and it uses some content that is freely available in a Field Guide on Creative Thinking, written for the US Army by Dr. Angus Fletcher, PhD Professor, The Ohio State University. The headings for the ten myths, and any quoted test within my little discussions about them, are from the field guide. Here goes.

Myth One: Creativity Comes from Genius

Nope: It’s a scientific process, built into the structure of the animal neuron, rooted in the same physical mechanism that drives evolution by natural selection.

Myth Two: Some Original Ideas Are Obviously Better Than Others

You’re probably just biased.

Myth Three: Creative People Are Flighty and/or Emotional

It’s good to be disciplined about your creativity. Emotion can boost it, but also scatter or dam it up.

Myth Four: Creative People Are Born That Way

You can do what Caesar, Shakespeare, and the world’s other greatest innovators have done: elevate yourself from uninspired, early works to creations that change the world.

Myth Five: Creativity Comes From Chilling Out

…yes, but you still have to work at it – it’s a mix

Myth Six: Creativity is Harmonious

Yes and no. Creativity thrives on collaboration, but also on competition. “It carries an edge.”

Myth Seven: Creativity is Going Rogue

Sometimes to create something new you have to go rogue. But you can also be creative “within the system.” There is such a thing as the creative bureaucrat or politician. It pays to align your creations with “the art of the possible.”

Myth Eight: Creativity is Totally Original

In my book “From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life” Arthur Brooks described the young as having “fluid intelligence” and older people as having “crystalized intelligence.” I’ve always liked the idea of integrative thinking. We need both types of intelligence.

Myth Nine: Creativity Comes From Within

“Creativity doesn’t [just] come from within. It is a gift inherited——and a gift grown by turning outward.”

Myth Ten: Creativity is Optional

Creativity is the reason that our species exists——and the source of the tools that now keep us alive. Without creativity, we will not endure, and neither will the things we care about. We cannot pass the task of creativity onto computers and their Artificial Intelligence; computers are capable only of logic, not of invention. So, if you shirk the call to creativity, we will lose life’s next great battle——and eventually, the war.