The truth about creativity in business

Creativity is one of the most misunderstood and overly complicated issues in business! But the truth is - creativity needs to be simple and practical.

I used to play golf. I had to give it up because me and golf simply did not mix. But before I did I learned a few things.

Firstly, golf is one of those games that if you over analyze it you are screwed. There are literally thousands of things to get right. The back swing alone has a myriad of variants and then there’s the follow through, the grip, the club selection, the heckling from your so called friends, the mind game and who knows what else to consider. Add to that the fact that every golf pro has a different method of teaching you that by the time to you take it all in it’s a monumental miracle you hit the ball at all, let alone stay sane. 

So the first trick with golf is to let go and just let it happen, because the more you think about it the worse it gets. You just got to get into the zone.

Secondly there’s the whole focus thing. Golf is all about visualizing where you want that ruddy white thing to go by empowering it’s trajectory with every once of psychic energy you can muster. There is no doubt in ‘mind over matter’ or in golf’s case ‘mind over whacker’. How many times have you been ready to strike the ball when someone says, ‘don’t hit the water’ so what happens? No matter how hard you try, your focus and mind control is now on the water and that’s where that ball is heading.

So the other trick about golf is to understand what you see is what you get. In golf, if you set your mind the task, it will find a way of getting the ball there.

Creativity is like that.

Firstly, like golf, it can get complex. There are a million people out there talking it up, telling you how to do it and yes, there is a lot to it – BUT – sometimes you just need to let go and let it happen. The more you think about it the worse it gets. You just got to get ‘into the zone’.

And the other thing about creativity, again like golf, is that it works best when you are very clear about what it is you are trying to accomplish. When you have a simple, clear focus. Set your mind the task and it will find the solution, with or without you. And leaders of creative people especially need to understand this in order to let their people be totally on their creative game.

So here’s the thing. I reckon we complicate creativity way too much and by trying to make sense of it, and analyzing how it works we are simply fighting an up hill battle and ending up in a tangled mess.

Comments

[Delaney Gates]

YES. Excellent post. This really resonates with me. Creativity can't be forced-- sometimes we need to let it just. *be*. for it to flourish...for the knots to untangle themselves.

[Sonny Loof]

A creative mind is a relaxed mind. I have been working with my own creativ mind for many years and now I speak in public about "a creative mind is the key to success".