How to Be Creative

MacLeod has quite a few provocative things to say in his manifesto "How to Be Creative."  One of the most important ideas that he highlights is that of putting the hours in.

Ideas are wonderful and fun to come up with, but unless you follow them up with action, the ideas will remain ideas and progress will never be made.  This means that nothing changes, including you, your audience, or the world.  This is extremely important because without it, literally nothing happens.  You may feel good because you have good ideas, but it doesn't help anyone else, and the good feelings it brings you will soon be overwhelmed by your return to mediocrity.  Creativity is the foundation for good ideas, and hard work is the foundation for change that matters.
Another insightful point that he brings up is the idea that everyone is creative.  In his words, "Everyone is creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten."  This idea means that the excuse "I'm just not creative" is not an excuse at all.  It is a waste of breath and it only means that you aren't willing to put enough effort in to make something worth creating.

Several years ago a study was done that was created to find the percentage of children capable of what is called divergent thinking (which many postulate is closely related to being creative).  The study showed that, in kindergarten, 98% of children were considered geniuses at divergent thinking.  This implies that we inherently have the ability to think differently and be creative.  However, the study was conducted repeatedly with the same children as they grew and were educated.  The study showed that the number of divergent thinkers decreased dramatically as they were taught how to think in school.  What does this mean for us?  It means we can be creative.  It may be buried deep down, but it's still there.  If you want badly enough to be creative, you can reconnect to it and do it.

The final point I want to highlight that MacLeod brings up is that creativity now makes businesses profitable and competitive.  This is something that resonates strongly with me.  To expand on that, I would argue that this points to the uprising of smaller, more versatile companies within the marketplace.  Because many (not all) large corporations are so steeped in bureaucracy and rules, they will be at a huge disadvantage when trying to compete with creative powerhouses.  The large corporations that have existed and been successful in the last century are created on foundations that are nearly the opposite of the foundations necessary to foster creativity, and the major adjustments that they would need in order to embrace creativity set up an up-hill battle.  

This means that smaller companies will have a much easier time building an atmosphere of creativity that will grant them success in the marketplace.  Most larger companies will have no choice but to shift, however, because otherwise they will lose profitability because of their antiquated traditions and business models (like most big print newspapers).  

Without creativity, businesses are doomed.  But, embracing the chaos of the creative process and pioneering a new trail is far more effective and profitable in the current economy, and in that lies the key to standing out and making a difference.