I was talking to a reporter today about some of the products we make at my work. I named Bacon Mints and the Yodelling Pickle as examples of popular items.
She then said, rather dismissively, "So, all you guys do is find things that have never been put together before and join them up, right? Pick two things and figure out how they go together."
And, a bit insulted to have my work so belittled, I thought to myself, that's what all creativity is at its most basic level. Don't we all strive to find new connections between things in an attempt to come up with something new?
So yes, like every artist, inventor and philosopher that has ever lived, that's all we do.
In another sense, I think maybe this is a useful way of looking at it. It's not hard, you can do it yourself. Just pick two things and find the connection between them. There is no mystery, difficulty or speed bumps, it really is that simple. All the books that have been written are pretty much making a big deal out of nothing.
All of us creative people, that's all we do.
Hmmm, really enjoyed reading this but have to disagree. No, it isn't all we do, it's the vision, the imagination, the experimentation, and often, the courage to do it in the first place. Creativity IS impressive, a non creative can put a person with a pen and come up with a sentence an creative, however will come up with an image, ideas, a message, a story.... you get my point. What I think you're really getting at is that creatives have a great gift for making the complex simple whilst non creatives often achieve the opposite.
Posted by: J. Brain | April 06, 2009 at 05:50 AM
I agree and disagree. I hear people say they aren't creative and act like it's because they weren't born creative. But creative ability isn't a mystery. Everyone is born with it, it's just that some people have had more practice in using it.
But there are a lot of people at the other extreme who for instance, create a business card on Publisher using one of the templates and think that they are being creative. There are also those people who think that every creative endeavor is super easy and say, "Oh, I can do that." But the end result of their attempt is mediocre at best.
Posted by: Sara Ortiz | April 20, 2009 at 08:31 AM
To add another layer....Your products can also create another level of creativity. Like my dad who brought your Yodelling Pickle to the Annual Pickle Festival in the LES. The comments and photos were quite impressive. It was his way of putting two things together to be 'creative'
Posted by: Rebecca Goldstein | May 26, 2009 at 06:12 PM
I disagree. I don't think you can judge creativity based on ability. A non creative with a pen who comes up with a sentence still created according to his ability. If you put your average painter next to Van Gogh and he painted splodges while Van Gogh painted sunflowers, his creativity is still just that: creativity. His ability may not be the same but his creativity is just as valid. Also you could argue the opposite of your statement ie.that creatives make what is simple complex by adding layers and dimensions of imagination to the mix. And when streamlining a mathematical problem is not a "non-creative" making the complex simplified?
Posted by: Natalie Revie | June 24, 2009 at 09:10 AM
Come on man, it's been ages since your last post..!
Posted by: orian | July 20, 2009 at 12:55 PM
The classic line I've heard about creativity -- "creativity is the act of combining things that don't fit together."
Posted by: Jason Thomson | August 08, 2009 at 08:05 PM
What did Einstein do? He put two things together, space and time.
Posted by: Ev | October 15, 2009 at 06:15 PM
David,
I must admit that I enjoyed reading your creative article as you did put pen and paper together to write such a flowing article.
Yes, we add things together, but a creative person adds them to create synergy so that it is not merely a simple addition. The two additives (or more) may multiply or even shrink. Creative systems learn how to grow exponentially in a limited space with stretching and folding to self-organize. These systems are daring to go to the edge of chaos (or, what I call the edge of opposites) to create creative tension, which leads to creativity.
I have written a presentation entitled “Creativity in the Box”, which provides practical creative ideas that I generated and tested. Simple rules may lead to simple, but creative solutions. Here is the link for those readers who might be interested
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/18707993/Creativity-in-the-Box
Posted by: Ali Anani | December 17, 2009 at 02:31 AM