What's the reward for this thing called creativity?

Sometimes people wonder about the end result of the creative process, what does it all mean? Most of the time, the creative process has an obvious result but sometimes it doesn't. There are times when it takes you to places you hadn't thought of. I was watching a show on Discovery about rubber and it's development. It's interesting to see the unintended development of the product in regards to vulcanization or a heating of the product and adding certain ingredients. It happened by accident, but was crucial into making the rubber industry what it is today. The reward for trying in this case was a whole new industry and a chance to do make new products.

Of course, the monetary reward is the one most people focus on, but there are others. I believe truly creative people aren't really about the money so much as they are about creating something new out of nothing. That's always been my motivation, could I make some new idea work? The old saying is that the journey is the reward, and I truly believe that. There is just a wonderful feeling that comes over yourself when you created and that the creation is yours.

From places out of the ordinary...

It seems like when we're put into positions that are out of our control, our creative activity increases, it's almost like a survival mechanism. There is a part of our brains that go into a place out of the ordinary, a place that cannot be reached by comfort or ease. In fact, it's the latter conditions that can lead to stagnation. Going through difficult circumstances rejuvenates creativity like nothing else. We're forced to think about things in new ways and adjust to the situation, which usually results in something completely new and different. I think that's what life is about, not about our ease and comfort, but doing what God would have us do. He is a creative God and if we belong to Him, it's only natural that He provides avenues that are usually quite different than all our human plans.

I'm not saying it's pleasant when someone dies, there's an illness or we lose a job, but it does give us an opportunity to trust God and carry on in new ways. It's the only way that something better can come about. Jesus said it, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" Through death comes life abundant in Christ.

Never to be repeated...

If there's one thing about the creative process that I enjoy is that the moment of discovery can never be repeated or duplicated exactly as it was before. If it could, then it wouldn't be creative now would it? It's that sense of discovery that makes life interesting and fresh, even when the world around you can become stale, boring or downright . You can't bring such things back as a formula, there is no formula. When someone is successful at what they do, everyone wants to know how they did it and replicate it. The truth is, there is no way to do that, or at least it will never be genuine. There are some things in life that cannot be contained in a box or have a simple-minded explanation, and those who try to do so find themselves looking like fools for trying.

So why am I trying to explain it? I'm not, I'm talking about something that can never be repeated. The moment of discovery, executing the process, the result of true creative thinking, these are the things only the person who went through it can ever understand. Maybe that's why artists are so misunderstood and we don't always get what they're saying.

The never ending process...

The creative process is more than a one time event, as stated in the title, it's a process. The compiling of previous experiences and knowledge into something new. Most of the time, our creative efforts are something from the back of our minds, it's not even upfront in our minds. I believe we think about certain problems, even when we're not conscious that we're thinking about it. Can one be creative then without even being aware of it? The answer is yes, because that's the way God made us, to naturally be creative and solve problems. We can't help but be thinking deep about things, it's in our genes.

One size fits all still rules the day.

As I've been talking with businesses about theirweb site strategies, I'm seeing a curious thing. Many people have a web site for their business, but the site itself usually doesn't reflect the flavor of their business. By flavor, I mean that unique taste that each business has to its buying public. Unfortunately, in the Internet world, it's usually one-size-fits-all. Most of the time people are focused on the technical aspects of what they do which has very little to do with how well something is going to do. This is true with almost any type of business because they are so focused on the results that they need to make money. But being focused on money is always a trap and those who do such things will fall into it. A good creative person or people abhor a one-size-fits-all mentality in regards to anything in their life. We were created to be unique individuals, not things to be used, to be squeezed into a box in which we don't belong. That squelches the creative process and leads to great unhappiness for any person who is creative. It's a little like a formula that people try to use over and over again. Sometimes it works and that can be the creative act in business, but most of the time formulas don't work. Many years ago I worked for a company as a salesperson and I was doing well with certain products and they wanted me to show to other salespeople how it was done. The truth was when they videotaped me, it wasn't that impressive. Why? Because the creative process that I used, the unique individual I was, was the sales process. The two could not be separated into a formula presentation. That's what I learned early on. There is so much more to any kind of creative endeavor that a formula and certainly one-size-fits-all doesn't work today as it didn't work back then.

How creative is business in general?

In my wanderings I found business sometimes isn't as creative as it could be on a regular basis. There something about the American mindset of business that sometimes makes it nearly impossible to foster creative community. There are some business that do that and those would be some of the types of things like artistic, graphic design or engineering, something like that which requires a certain level of creativity on a daily basis. But what I see many times is the average business that sells something being anything but creative. There seems to be a certain narrowmindedness something like that's always the way that we've done it and why would anybody do it differently? It doesn't have to be that way, but most of the time it is. Almost every company I've ever worked for seems to have that same problem and can't get over the everyday nature of the business. It leads to no fun and a dreary workplace environment.

I've even seen this in businesses that have a product or service which would lend itself well to being creatively sold. But most of the time, products are seen as a commodity which needs to be pushed out the backdoor not unlike the body which does a similar thing. I would never want to get to the point where my product was seen as some kind of waste product of activity. Now I know most businesses wouldn't say that, but that's the way they treat it. Just get it out the backdoor, that's all that matters.

This is why creativity in business can be such an oxymoron. They're too many people who rise to the top who only become money oriented. If it doesn't immediately hit the bottom line, it must not be any good. While there may be some truth to that, it doesn't make the people that work there more creative. I would go so far as to say it's not something that you can motivate people to unless you are a person that's like that to start with. of In other words, you can't give away what you don't have already. That's why I believe most business, though well-intentioned, does not promote the creative process.

The freedom of being creative.

When I talk to people about the creative process, many people talk about how they came about a certain idea. Usually they don't think about one of the most important aspects of creativity which is the concept of freedom. Freedom is one of those prerequisites for a good creative process and getting ideas without the encumbrance of preconceived notions. There's probably never been a better time in history to be alive and to live in this country where freedom is valued. People can pursue their dreams in the freedom that we have. But there's another form of freedom which is creating what you want to without thinking about it too much. Of course, there are always people who are very negative and these are usually people that aren't very creative themselves or if they were, squelched it years ago themselves or through the tragedies of life. So it's important not to look so critically at ourselves in the process of creativity, but also it's equally important to not allow the criticism of others steal our fire. And that's why freedom is so important, the freedom to do what you want, say what you want and to be the person that God meant to you to be. We are all created in God's image and therefore we reflect much of who He is if we follow him. And that freedom that we talk about here is God-given. It's not something given through government or through other people, it's given to us by God. So next time you create something, be free about your creativity and all the while you're doing it, you're moving closer to who you are as a person.