Creative Competency

Creativity seems to be the free flow of life force energy and it is a wellspring we can learn to tap. 

Creativity is a contextualized competency. Creativity comprises a combination of “flavored ingredients” that work together, flow, fluctuate in harmony, in order to generate creative energy. You can pull it out of the box and look at it through different lenses. Everyone possesses a certain level of creativity, but how does creativity manifest itself, and what’re critical components of shaping creative competency?




Creative intelligence: Creativity is both innate and an intelligence. Creativity is the ability to solve or attempt to problems. People who can solve problems in a new way are innovators. Thus, creativity is a mental process which results in an action that tests a possible solution. Creativity has two parts: The spark of inspiration which plants a new concept, and then the building of a structure of associations and relationships between that "seed" concept. The associations and relationships are what turn the spark into an expressible idea, and if we are lucky, a useful idea. Creativity is about thinking beyond conventional wisdom, or the “Out of Box” thinking. It is also a high-level intelligence because creativity evolves different dimensions of thinking and the multitude of thought processes such as association, perspective shifting, divergent thinking, etc.

Creative attitude and aptitude: As the ability to think and produce, creativity requires a certain degree of independence and mental balance, the proper psychological level of inner security, positive attitude, and genuine autonomy. To be an innovator, an individual's creative mentality, proactive attitudes, the blend of knowledge and ingenuity, and the right dose of confidence are all valid within the context of his or her creative intelligence. Creative attitude and aptitude are important because innovators are truth-seeking, willing to change their views and are accountable for their actions. Further, they are robust and judicious in pushing down barriers to achieve the best possible effects. Often, the psychology stops you from being creative is the ‘fear of failure.’ The failure can be redefined as "Not TRYING." If you don’t try, then you fail. The most important element is the attitude put to increase the chance of generating creative ideas, tolerate risks and be confident to move the ideas forward.

Creativity practices: Creative people use specific systems, thought processes, and continuous practices to be creative. Creative people leverage emergent, divergent, and convergent thought processes to ignite creativity. You need to have the level of curiosity, desire to learn, observe, with the natural ability to maintain an open and inquisitive mind. Creatives always ask open questions which lead to discovering situations others do not see at first. The essential to questioning stimulates the creative side of our brains in order to find answers. Our minds have access to both conscious thoughts and at times unconscious thought. It is a conscious mind we call with some unconscious activities of allowing creativity flow. People who thrive as creative problem-solvers have developed a series of habits to connect the dots effortlessly and trigger creativity frequently.

Creativity seems to be the free flow of life force energy and it is a wellspring we can learn to tap. Creativity is the serendipity which can be puzzled. There is no template which you can apply and suddenly become super creative, it takes mind-crafting, risk-taking attitude, and continuous practices to build creative competency.

Posted in: Creativity,Innovation