Power Up Your Mind: Learn faster, work smarter

Greenspan, chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board, wrote

recently in theWall Street Journal:

Virtually unimaginable half a century ago was the extent to which concepts
and ideas would substitute for physical resources and human brawn in the
production of goods and services.

You can create value out of thin air if you can think creatively.

There is a myth that you are born creative, that creativity is

something you either do or do not have. While this clearly applies

to particular aspects—in music and other arts, for example—it is

untrue that you cannot learn to be more creative. It is quite possi-

ble to make creativity a way of being.

As French scientist Louis Pasteur put it at the beginning of

the nineteenth century: “Chance favors only the prepared mind.”

You need to ensure that your mind is prepared so that it is more

likely to enjoy those surges of power called inspiration.

The characteristics of creative people

If creativity has been misunderstood, then so too has the notion of

what it is to be creative. It has been assumed that only artists, musi-

cians, and media people are creative. This is not the case.

It is axiomatic of the idea of being creative that no one per-

son’s list of characteristics will look the same as another’s. For what

it is worth, here are the kind of words and phrases I associate with

being creative:

You can see from a list like this that this kind of quality is desirable

in many business sectors. Within organizations, creative people are

Harnessing Your Creativity 149

Risk taking

Challenging

Happy to live with uncertainty

Happy to live with complexity

Openness

Exploring

Able to suspend judgment

Willing to see many perspectives

Not overcontrolling

Not too bound by social pressure

Happy to be different

In touch with emotions

Playful

Irreverent