CREATIVITY: The Bedrock of All Genius

Man of Genius

The key question isn’t “what fosters creativity?” but it is

why in God’s name isn’t everyone creative? Where was the human

potential lost? How was it crippled? I think therefore a good question

might be not why do people create? But why do people not create or

innovate? We have got to abandon that sense of amazement in the face

of creativity, as if it were a miracle if anybody create anything.

-      Abraham Maslow

One of the noteworthy personalities of history whose sense of creativity and genius enthralled generations and still continues to amaze many is the Italian born Leonardo da Vinci. He was called Homo Universalis, a ‘universal man,’ for the incredible ability of his mind to master diverse disciplines he pursued.¹ Having excelled in the field of painting, sculpture, architecture, music and engineering, he was admired by his peers and his proteges for his extraordinary innovative works and was seen as a quintessence of all talents coming together in a simple person. This quality certainly set him apart. His notebooks inspired many and were regarded as being centuries ahead of him as well as centuries that followed. John C.  Maxwell, a leadership expert accounts in his book Talent Is Never Enough that ‘… Leonardo’s notebooks go far beyond an artist’s sketches. They display a highly teachable mind … and the depth of his thinking.’² Among his artistic paintings included the Mona Lisa or “la Gioconda”, arguably the most famous of his works.

What is Creativity?

Looking around us today, we may ask ourselves where from all these magnificent buildings, aircraft, cars and trail blazing technological advancements purposed to make the life of man better? Everything we see with our eyes in some years, decades and centuries ago never were or existed. However, they came by dint of the creative ability of men being motivated by the desire to realize that which they conceived in the mind. They are all as a result of the creative power of man.

Creativity is the underlining rock of every art, science and invention. Industries, business organizations and even nations have been spawned unto great and enviable heights from the pursuit of creative ideas and concepts. It has helped produced great companies and to drive economies forward. Thus it is esteemed by all aspects of the economy and is essential in almost all professions such as music, graphic design, web development, business, science, teaching among others.

Creativity as defined by the Webster’s Dictionary is marked by the ability and power to create or bring into existence something new. It has to do with the skill and ability to produce something new, either as a product, thought or process. Our creativity comes to bear as our ideas are applied to produce an end result. Man’s creativity comes in many forms. It can be scientific creativity, resulting in the inventions or medical cures. It can be artistic or musical, resulting in beautiful paintings, sculptures or operas and songs. It can be creative writing resulting in novels short stories and poems.³ Carl R. Rogers said, “The very essence of creativity is its novelty, and hence we have no standard by which to judge it.” Thus the creative ability of man cannot be undermined. We cannot tell the next idea to be launched tomorrow and even its impact on the globe.

Who is Creative?

In his book Unleashing The Creative New You, Will Edwards states that, ‘creativity is bred into us as humans. It’s in our genes – a part of our very DNA… Creativity is the power and essential to our well-being.’ Research shows that our inventive ability often shows up very early in our life. The ability to invent comes to us during our childhood. At this stage of life we are not limited as to what we can or can’t do and thus we are free to experiment whatever comes to mind. The playtime of children is replete with myriads of creative ideas. The child learns about math, verbal skill, music and visual arts during playtime. They learn to explore and they learn the thrill of discovery.⁴

Each and every one of us is endowed with some level of creativity which requires nurturing for success. We all have the inherent ability to create or produce something new. Creativity always has to begin with you before it can grow to affect the world. Anytime we create sometime we assume the divine nature of our creator - as creative beings. There are key tools we need to consider in the development of our creative power.

Unleashing your Creativity

In recent times, the end products of creativity our generation most relates with are the ones that have to do with technology. The globe is so much influenced by technology as it has facilitated the processes of globalization – making the world a global village. This technology we benefit from reflects the creative nature of man. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook and the likes which we usually visit almost every day were all inspired and birth from man’s ingenuity. They were once all ideas which have been creatively nurtured for global impact.

We may not be creative as the Einstein’s or the da Vinci’s but we are creative in our own right. We all have something unique to offer. Creativity does not have to be about developing something new to the world, it is more to do with developing something new to ourselves. The truth is that, creativity is a skill that can be developed and a process that can be managed. Learning to be creative is akin to learning a sport. It requires practice to develop the right muscles, and a supportive environment in which to flourish.⁵ There is the urgent need to develop our creativity for great impact in the world we find ourselves.

A very essential key to nurturing our creativity as is developing an open mind and a right attitude to inventiveness. The greatest handicap a person has is not realizing his potential; the potential to create something. An appropriate attitude that makes you aware of a tremendous creative power helps you remove the impossibility lids that hamstring your ingenuity. Developing an open mind requires the readiness to entertain new ideas. Have a possibility mindset – that everything that is conceivable can be created. This gives you the urge to explore breathtaking ideas and discover a plethora of awesome concepts that hitherto may have been hidden from the society or considered mundane. The more you explore, the more you see opportunities and the greater your potential to create.

Curiosity is also important in the pursuit of nurturing our creative minds. This kind of curiosity should be purposed to understanding how things work especially in your field of knowledge. The desire to listen, learn and apply especially in your field of interest helps equip you with the requisite knowledge. This will eventually broaden your scope of thinking. Look around you and analyze what you see and how they function. Get to comprehend the issues and think of ways to improve the way things are done. Let your curiosity drive you to learn.  As the German philosopher Goethe advised, “Never let a day pass without looking at some perfect work of art, hearing some great piece of music and reading, in part, some great book.” Teachable people are open to new ideas enhancing their creative ability as a result of the desire to learn.

Having the confidence and courage to experiment out thinking ideas comes as a vital key in consolidating our creative ability. A lot of people are not being creative not because they do not know that they are creative beings but because they lack the confidence to put out what ever idea they have. They are afraid it might not work or others will make fun of them. If we are not confident enough to bring out our less ingenious ideas then our creativity will gradually stagnate. Have confidence in your creative power and be motivated to create something new. If you are not prepared to be wrong you can never be creative. Until you release that idea of yours the world will not know what you have to offer.

In their book, The Entrepreneur In Focus, Bill Bolton and John Thompson assert that the ‘joy in creativity is a powerful motivation to continuing creativity – to experience that special moment again and again urges creative people forward.’ Unleash that idea now and the motivation that follows from it will push up your confidence level. As your confidence level soars high so does your prospect of innovation grows.

The truth is that, the world outside there is in earnest expectation of what you have to offer for it is the gift of God to the world and until you develop your creative power you cannot live to your full potential. Your creativity reflects the element of the divine. As you unleash your creativity, you better yourself, develop awareness, increase your horizons and eventually make the world a better place. Our creativity is the bedrock of all genius. Thus unleash it.