Creativity is Change
Musing about creativity and wondering what it might be, since it is not a thing, it occurred to me that there are aspects of the creative process that are similar to the process of change in general.
There are, I suppose, many models of change – one that I am familiar with is known to me as ‘The Stages of Change’. James Prochaska, John Norcross and Carlo DiClemente developed this model, identifying 6 stages of changing fully described in their book Changing For Good. Many people find this a useful roadmap in evaluating where they are in the process of making changes. Have a look at this website to get a potted description of the model (though personally I would not pay much attention to the advice offered – but then I rarely do…):
http://www.proactive-coach.com/resolutions/theory/index.htm
I decided to play a game: assume that creativity is a change process – how might it map on to the Stages of Change model? This is the result so far:
|
Stages of Change |
Pre- Contemplation |
Contemplation |
Preparation |
Action |
Maintenance |
Termination |
||||||
|
|
not thinking about it |
thinking about it |
know what you ‘re going to do |
starting and doing it |
making it a habit |
change made: not thinking about it |
||||||
|
Creativity |
Conceive |
Capture |
Consider
|
Concrete
|
Continue |
Complete |
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|
|
Pre-conceive:
Openness to new, change, difference, muse, browse, wonder, wander, meditate, shave, shower, walk the dog |
Capture the idea:
Sketch, scribble notes, audio record, FIND THE METAPHOR |
Post Idea:
Excitement, possibility, mind racing, ‘what if’, value it, take it seriously |
Make real:
Draw, type, Make it presentable, good as it can be DEVELOP THE METAPHOR |
Develop:
Take into production; get feedback, modify, more feedback |
Finish:
Know when it’s done, stop tweaking, move on, openness , next idea?
|
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It’s not a serious attempt to create a model of creativity (it’s too conceptual). However what it gave me was the sense that:
Creativity is not just about a ‘eureka!’ moment, it’s about developing that idea and doing something with it.
Much of creativity withers on the vine because we don’t follow through on that great idea that occurred to us.
Creativity is a skill that can be learned.
Once the creative process has been followed through, something has changed.
Any comments gratefully received.
Phil
Yes, I think all creativity is change because it means a new way of looking at things or a new juxtaposition of ideas. The word creativity has a positive feel to it the implication being that the change will be for the better. But is all change creative? I think anyone who has worked in large organisations will be able to recount tales of change that had a negative feel and where the spark of creativity was decidedly lacking! We can all do change but can we all do it creatively?
Cherry
February 18, 2007
Fascinating stuff!
From nothing to something; from conceptual and twinkle in the eye, to activating and concrete and here!
How could this be applied to helping someone change, make a transition…especially a really unusual example or idea of how it could be applied.
Lisa
February 21, 2007
I guess creativity means different things to different people. We generally think of creativity as ‘a good thing’ and in those terms I agree with Cherry and her example of how a change may not be ‘positively creative’.
However, if we take the judgment of positive or negative out of creativity, I am guessing that all change is creative.
For example the US government has developed military lasers that can knock out missiles. This is creative because something exists that wasn’t there before. The creative process must have been in full inventive flow to create such extraordinary devices that mix fairly common chemicals – roughly comparable to household bleach and sink drain uncloggers – to produce a laser that can deliver megawatts of heat energy hundreds of miles away. It’s definitely creative – and we may or may not like what they’ve created.
That said, I think in this blog we are really looking at creativity for broadly positive effect and how to get more of it!
Phil
March 4, 2007
Very interesting. I could scribble alot but
I’ll stick to one point. The creative process,
for me, is exactly that, a process. It’s an
organic, fluid process, that loops and spirals.
It splinters off, morphs, evolves. It can hit
deadends, produce embarrassing results(!) or
grind to a halt. One of the most important
things is not giving up, when creative ideas
don’t work we have to ask why, find the answers,
adapt and evolve these ideas and then move on.
I think it’s important to have this element of
continual assessment and review within the creative
process, as this increases the chance of a
successful solution being found. The creative process
is frustrating but persistence and determination
will give the rewards.
Tom
March 15, 2007
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December 1, 2007