"Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.”
-Edward de Bono
Creativity is bringing a new idea or concept to life. It involves building upon an existing idea, and creating new value for it. I once heard an analogy that compared creativity to a drop in the water. Once an idea is formed, it’s a ripple that goes on and on. It continues to grow, expand, and is limitless. The power of creativity is an extremely important and practical aspect in today’s world; personally, it’s something I wish I were better at.
Individual Creativity
Any time an assignment calls for creativity, I hide under a rock. It’s always been hard for me to think of new ideas on the spot and it takes me a while to brainstorm. Although I have difficulties being creative in school work, creativity within dance comes much easier to me. I’ve been dancing for 6 years so far and it’s definitely been a growing process. I fell in love with dance because it’s a creative outlet where I can express myself emotionally, physically, and artistically. The first choreography I did was pretty elementary and probably made no sense. There isn’t a guidebook that tells you how to make a dance - I had no idea where and how to start. I was looking at other videos and dancers for inspiration, but still, nothing came to me. It took a few weeks of connecting to the music and being alone before I began choreographing. Anytime I tried choreographing at the studio, I felt pressured because people were watching me. Being alone with my thoughts is where I find creativity. As embarrassing as this is, here’s a video of one of my first pieces from high school (don’t laugh!).
Throughout my years of dance, I’ve learned that creativity comes from personal experience. You pull ideas from things that you’ve come across and combine them to make a new concept. It’s definitely a form of expression and there is no wrong or right when it comes to creativity. I believe that everyone’s interpretation of creativity is special and you shouldn’t second guess yourself. (I wish I had this advice back in high school.) I’ve learned that having confidence in yourself and your idea is the first step in being creative. When you come up with an idea, go forward with all your passion, and it’s sure to be a success. (Here’s a recent video of me dancing to redeem myself.)
Organizational Creativity
This past summer, I had an internship with a tech startup company here in Austin. There are only 6 employers at the company, and 3 other interns. It was my first time working with a small startup, so I didn’t know what to expect. They asked us for suggestions on their new website and I was shocked when they actually implemented my idea. I really liked how they treated the interns just as equal as the employees. They encouraged us to speak our minds and were supportive of all our ideas. Instead of having traditional chairs in the conference room, everyone sits on bouncy, exercise balls. They painted the walls with dry erase paint and anytime sometime has a suggestion, it gets written on the wall. It was inspiring to see a fun and relaxed environment in the office and I think it drove creativity in the company. We were all comfortable and the stress of work was eliminated with the laxed atmosphere.
I think any group or individual is capable of being creative. When it comes down to it, there are no boundaries in creativity. Like i mentioned earlier, creativity comes with personal experience. The more a person goes through, the more ideas they have. Within a group, the diversity of the members’ backgrounds and personalities creates an advantage with innovation. They are able to build upon each other’s experiences to create a fresh, new way of looking at things.
