Understanding creativity and the importance of the creative process

Consider the pizza package below. It improves the consuming experience, making it more fun and practical for the consumer. By turning into a table, it can facilitate the life of someone who wants to eat their slices in bed, without dirtying dishes and with maximum comfort. It is, basically, a package creatively designed.

Creativity can be simple, such as in the pizza case, or be used in ways that forever alter the course of humankind. Think of all the consequences generated by the invention of the wheel 5500 years ago, for example. Battles were won because one side was more creative than the other and historical problems were solved because, one day, someone was able to look at them differently.

Everything that surrounds us, what we think, feel and learn shapes important reference points in our brain and contributes to the development of our creative repertoire. When we are able to connect some of those points in a smart way we make way for the generation of relevant and original ideas.

The pizza brand above, for example, realized customers wanted to eat while watching television and fused the concept of a table with one of a folding package. The final result is the fruit from that creative process.

But what is, after all, creativity?

We can say it is the necessary start to developing something new which generates some kind of impact on the environment and on people. Most of the time, creativity comes from the search for solutions. In that sense, we can say that creative kinds, beyond caring about the interests of others, are curious, brave people that not always think in a conventional way. Creative potential, much like a body muscle, must be developed constantly so that ideas flow more easily. But how to do that, exactly?

1) Escape routine!

You wake up, go to work, have lunch at the same place, pick kids up from school, watch the news and go to sleep. Next day, same thing all over again. You know what can help? Change little elements of your day-to-day: switch routes and see new streets, have lunch at different places with different people, order a new dish, watch a movie from another country. Just don’t get stuck in routine. Gabriel García Márquez, author of the bestseller A Hundred Years of Solitude, had the big insight for that book while on a trip he didn’t want to take.

2) Think of the solutions to problems!

Want to exercise creativity? Reflect upon little things that bother you. Not only at work, but also on your love life, family and even going to the store. Working on solutions to these questions is a great exercise for creativity.

Inventor Whitcomb L. Judson, for example, had the idea of creating the first version of the zipper in the XIX century because he was tired of suffering from back pains every time he bent over to tie his shoelaces.

3) Don’t be afraid to make mistakes!

Create and recreate always, while aware that mistakes are inevitable. Even when projects and strategies lead nowhere, certainly some knowledge is acquired. After all, those who learn by making mistakes learn faster.

A good example of how mistakes can be something positive happened to brothers Will and John Harvey Kellogg. In 1898, they left a mix of corn meal, oats and wheat to toast by accident, but simply continued the process and ended up creating the corn flakes that nowadays are part of the diet of many people. Seeing failure as opportunity is essential to those who want to be creative.

Always remember: in order for good ideas to come up on the day-to-day, be curious and make the most of the knowledge around you. That will only benefit your personal and professional lives.