Have you ever wished you were more creative?
If you do creative work, have you ever suffered from a creative block and been stuck wondering what exactly is wrong, and how you can get yourself out of it?
Of course you have, I mean, who hasn’t!
Today, you’re in luck — you are about to read one of the most comprehensive posts on understanding creativity and spurring on creative thinking that’s ever been compiled.
With over two-dozen research studies and academic papers cited, you’ll finally get a clearer view on the creative process out of the muddy advice often found on un-scientific takes on the subject.
Let’s dig in!
How to Boost Your Creative Thinking (and Be More Creative)
When it comes to creativity, one of our biggest concerns is usually how we can be more creative, or come up with better ideas.
Research in this area is all over the place, but I’ve gathered some of the most practical studies out there to help you utilize specific techniques that can boost your creativity.
All of these studies are useful for everyday creativity in daily life, so try a few out for yourself and see which ones work best for you.
1.) Restrict yourself
Later on I will show you how external restrictions can hurt creativity, but right now I’m talking about internal restrictions, which can actually be used to boost creativity!
The research shows that an insidious problem that many people have is that they will often take the path of “least mental resistance,” building on ideas they already have or trying to use every resource at hand.
The thing is, the research also suggests the placing self-imposed limitations can boost creativity because it forces even creative people to work outside of their comfort zone (which they still have, even if they are a bit “weirder” than most).
One of the most famous examples is when Dr. Seuss produced Green Eggs & Ham after a bet where he was challenged by his editor to produce an entire book in under 50 different words.
I’m no Dr. Seuss, but I’ve found (and I’m sure other writers can relate) that when I’m suddenly restricted to writing something in 500 words when I had planned to write it in 800 words, it can lead to some pretty creative workarounds.
Try limiting your work in some way and you may see the benefits of your brain coming up with creative solutions to finish a project around the parameters you’ve set.
2.) Re-conceptualize the problem
One thing that researchers have noticed with especially creative people is that they tend to re-conceptualize the problem more often than their less creative counterparts.
That means, instead of thinking of a cut-and-dry end goal to certain situations, they sit back and examine the problem in different ways before beginning to work.
Here’s a candid example — as a writer who handles content strategy for startups, my “cookie cutter” end goal is something like “write popular articles.” The problem is, if I approach an article with the mindset of, “What can I write that will get a lot of tweets?”, I won’t come up with something very good.
However, if I step back and examine the problem from another angle, such as: “What sort of articles really resonate with people and capture their interest?”, I’m focusing on a far better fundamental part of the problem, and I’ll achieve my other goals by coming up with something more original.
So, if you find yourself stagnating by focusing on generic problems (“What would be something cool to paint?”), try to re-conceptualize the problem by focusing on a more meaningful angle (“What sort of painting evokes the feeling of loneliness that we all encounter after a break-up?”).
3.) Create psychological distance
While it’s long been known that abstaining from a task (again, more on that later) is useful for breaking through a creative block, it also seems that creating “psychological” distance may also be useful.
Subjects in this study were able to solve twice as many insight problems when asked to think about the source of the task as distant, rather than it being close in proximity.
Try to imagine your creative task as being disconnected and distant from your current position/location. According to this research, this may make the problem more accessible and can encourage higher level thinking.
4.) Daydream… and then get back to work!
Although study after study confirms that daydreaming and napping can help with the creative thought process, there is one piece of research that everybody seems to leave out…
One study in particular shows that the less work you’ve done on a problem, the less daydreaming will help you.
That is, daydreaming and incubation are most effective on a project you’ve already invested a lot of creative effort into.
So before you try to use naps and daydreams as an excuse for not working, be honest with yourself and don’t forget to hustle first!
5.) Embrace something absurd
While I’ll be covering the case for “weird” experiences in more detail later on, for now you need to know that the research suggests 
that reading/experiencing something absurd or surreal can help boost pattern recognition and creative thinking.
(Subjects in the study read Franz Kafka, but even stories like Alice in Wonderland have been suggested by psychologists)
The conclusion was that the mind is always seeking to make sense of the things that it sees, and surreal/absurd art puts the mind in “overdrive” for a short period while it tries to work out just exactly what it is looking at or reading.
I like reading interesting short stories like The Last Question or browsing absurdist art at places like r/HeavyMind when I’m looking for some inspiration.
6.) Separate work from consumption
Also known as the “absorb state,” this technique has been shown to help with the incubation process (much more on that later) and is far more effective than trying to combine work with creative thinking.
It makes sense too — we are often in two very different states of mind when absorbing an activity and when we are trying to create something.
I’ve found that my writing breaks down when I try to handle research + writing at the same time, and I’m much better off when I just turn off my “work mode” and consume more inspiration in the form of reading, watching, and observing.
7.) Create during a powerful mood
For a long time, the research has pointed to happiness as being the ideal state to create in.
Recently though, a relatively new study (2007) on creativity in the workplace made this bold conclusion:
Creativity increased when both positive and negative emotions were running high…
The implication seems to be that while certain negative moods can be creativity killers, they aren’t as universal as positive moods (joy, being excited, love, etc) in that sometimes they may spur creative thinking rather than hinder it.
I don’t want you to put yourself in a bad mood to create something, but next time you’re in a strong emotional state, try to sit down and focus that energy on creating something, the end result could be worthwhile.
8.) Get moving
Is there any wonder that ‘Exercising more” is one of the most desired good habits in the entire world?
Some research even suggests that exercise can actually boost creative thinking as well, due to it’s ability to get the heart pumping and put people in a positive mood. It’s similar to how other research shows that thinking about love can produce more creative thoughts; it’s not necessarily the act, it’s the change in mood.
If you’re stuck in a creative rut and want to take a break, try including exercise while your brain is subconsciously at work, it may help to speed up your “Aha!” moment.
9.) Ask, “What might have been?”
According to the research surrounding the process of counterfactual thinking, looking at a situation that has already occurred and asking yourself, “What could have happened?” can boost creativity for short periods of time.
According to an analysis by Jeremy Dean:
- Analytical problems are best tackled with a subtractive mind-set: thinking about what could have been taken away from the situation.
- Expansive problems benefited most from an additive counterfactual mind-set: thinking about what could have been added to the situation.
The Case for Really “Weird” Experiences
“Creativity comes from looking for the unexpected and stepping outside your own experience.”
— Masaru Ibuka
Think about some of the most creative people you know (yourself included!)… chances are, they would be described as somewhat
”weird” when compared to less creative people.
According to the research, the cause of this is often that these people have had abnormal things happen to them, or they pursue different experiences outright (maybe those two things are correlated?).
Researchers have found, for instance, that creative people tend to have had a traumatic event occur in their lives (such as parental loss, as noted in this study).
…but you don’t need to worry about needing a tragic event to be creative! Researchers have also found that creative people are more likely to pursue strange experiences as well, such as this research that reveals that living abroad is linked to creativity in the general population.
In a more recent study (2012) on creativity, the lead researcher concluded that…
“…diversifying experiences help people break their cognitive patterns and thus lead them to think more flexibly and creatively.”
A belief that many people hold, but now there is empirical proof: comparisons with various control groups have shown that a diversifying experience — defined as the active (but not vicarious) involvement in an unusual event — increased cognitive flexibility more than active (or vicarious) involvement in “normal” experiences.
Why is this the case?
The answer isn’t totally clear, but some research points to things like habituation and stagnation as being creativity killers, and these two things are generally “fought” with novel and unique experiences.
An important consideration then, is what constitutes “weird” for each person? The research at this point seems to indicate that it is more about the weirdness in relation to the person at hand, or that doing things outside of your normal habitual patterns can be enough to stimulate creativity, rather than there being a set of “weird” things to do that work for everyone.
So be sure to go out there and push your comfort zone… just don’t get too weird!
Can You Increase Creativity by Thinking About Others?
One interesting paradox in the realm of creativity seems to be what most of us would call, “beginner’s luck.”
In fact, a few studies have hinted that one factor that often blocks people’s creativity is their existing knowledge.
If, for instance, you are writing a song, you are likely the kind of person that saturates themself with the particular style of music you create. This familiarity is often at odds with “originality,” as your head is filled with melodies and you tend to feel that, “This has been done before…” when trying to create something new.
Many creative people struggle with this problem, but what can be done about it?
According to research surrounding the Construal-level theory of psychological distance, the answer may lie in thinking about the creative process in more “abstract” terms rather than in concrete terms.
As an example…
When thinking about a trip you might take to Paris next summer, you might focus on how much fun it would be or how great it would be to sit in a café and watch the world go by.
When thinking about a trip to Paris you are going to take next week, though, you focus on what you are going to wear, how you are going to exchange money, and what you will do when you encounter Parisians who speak no English.
In other words: Instead of getting down to the “nitty-gritty” when trying to be creative, you should try to distance yourself from the problem you are solving.
This coincides with other research that seems to point that coming up with “decisions” for others often results in more creative answers than when making decisions for oneself.
For instance, in one study on the matter, researchers had individuals perform a variety of creative tasks while varying the psychological distance between the task by having them either perform the tasks while thinking of themselves, or perform the tasks while thinking of others.
(The researchers used both creative & logic problems in this test)
As an example, it’s known that most people are notoriously bad at creating “unique” aliens because they often just mimic animal parts.
When the researchers asked the participants to draw an alien for a story that they would write later, they struggled and produced more aliens that contained typical animal traits.
When asked to draw an alien for a story that someone else would later write, the subjects were more likely to create novel traits (evaluated by independent raters) than their counterparts.
Other research in this area has found similar results, with a variety of different logic tests as well, thus making a strong claim that the phrase…
Learn as though you need to teach.
…may in fact translate well to creativity. Essentially, create as though you need to teach, or more generally, create as though the produced outcome will be for someone else.
Many artists and other creatives have made similar (albeit less scientific!) claims that support this notion, that perhaps the best way to be creative is to get your work out there and “escape” your own knowledge of the craft by pretending that you are being creative on behalf of someone else.
That will help you think about the problem more abstractly and avoid just repeating the solutions you already know about.
How to Break Through Creative Block
Running into a “creative block” is extremely frustrating for anyone, but especially so for those people who regularly do creative work.
(Or whose jobs depend on their creativity).
There is definitely a feeling of helplessness when you need to make progress with an idea but you just can’t seem to do it.
I know I feel extremely jealous when I come across quotes like this (from author James Dickey):
I don’t understand how a writer could ever get writer’s block, so-called. My problem is having too much…and being unable to get it all down.
I wish I had that problem!
For the rest of us, whether you’re swamped with too many options at once, or worse, you can’t conjure a single creative idea at the moment to save your life, mental blocks can really put a damper on your creative efforts.
The crazy thing is this… we often find a solution when we simply step away from the problem and come back to it later. Younger me would always do this with tough video games, and these days I find the same thing happens when I’m stumped on a new article or project.
You’ve likely had this happen too, and you come back wondering, “Why couldn’t I get this the first time around?!”
It’s due to an amazing process in the brain called the incubation effect, part of the 5 proposed stages of creativity:
- Preparation
- Incubation
- Intimation
- Illumination or insight
- Verification
The problem with these stages is that the one used to break through creative block (Incubation) is somewhat mysterious and vague; we know taking a break is apart of it, but what else is there?
One thing is for certain: it definitely works. Around ~50 separate studies on Incubation + creativity have been conducted, and over 3/4 of them have found a major effect (others found smaller effects on creativity or no effect, but that is to be expected).
In addition, recent research (2012) has revealed that when people are interrupted while doing a creative task, they are much more likely to produce creative ideas when they resume the task if they’ve been told that they will need to do it again.
What this means: Those people who were interrupted during the creative task and not told they would have to do it again were unable to produce many creative ideas. Conversely, those people who were told they would resume the task came back with more creative ideas.
Researchers concluded that perhaps planned breaks allow people to unconsciously work on tasks, leading to the “Aha!” moment that we all know and love, which often comes out of nowhere.
This means that beating mental block takes more than just a random break, and that creative people may benefit from having planned breaks where they are motivated and know that they will be tackling the problem again.
In other words…
To come up with creative solutions to problems, your chances are increased by incorporating breaks into your work-flow.
Sound familiar? Regular Sparring Mind readers will recognize this…
It is the exact same thing I mentioned in my “Science of Productivity” article, where researchers found that planned breaks from intense work sessions improved awareness and focus.
Now it looks like it also improves creativity!
So, to maximize the effectiveness of your incubation periods and to spur on more “Aha!” moments, try not to let yourself get mentally fatigued by taking planned creative breaks to let your unconscious work on the problem that has you stumped.
How to Kill Creative Thinking
Although many people say they want to foster creativity, it is often the case that employers (or other authority
figures) will unintentionally stifle creativity by placing too many restrictions.
This is important to consider when evaluating how we might kill our own creativity because of the restrictions we tend to place on ourselves to appeal to the norm.
According to research from Harvard professor Teresa Amabile, there are 6 main ways that we tend to strangle our own creativity and the creativity of others (when we are in leadership positions).
They are as follows…
1.) Role mismatch
Of all the creativity killers, this is probably the one you expected the most.
The fact of the matter is that when people are assigned to tasks/jobs/roles/creative projects that they have no interest in or passion for, their creativity takes a hit.
More importantly, however, role mismatch means undertaking a creative project that that stretches one’s abilities, but also feels like it is within one’s capacity to do.
This could correlate with other research that shows people are most happy when they feel they are busy, but not rushed. Tackling a project that strains your skills (a la “deliberate practice”) but that is ultimately within your grasp feels most satisfying (even if it is scary at first), and these types of tasks are when role + project line up nicely.
When roles are mismatched, however, it is a recipe for stifled creativity and unsatisfactory results.
2.) Too much end-goal restriction
While creative restriction can have creativity benefits (above we recalled the famous story of Dr. Seuss writing “Green Eggs and Ham” on a creative bet), when work is too restricted by the end goal, creativity suffers.
The researchers noted that in organizations or groups, other restrictions that killed creativity included the shifting of goals too often, and implicitly communicating that new methods are not welcome.
(ie, “We do things by the book around here.”)
With narrow guidelines on reaching end goals, creativity is not usually abundant.
3.) Strict ration of resources
While many “trendy” companies today love touting their Foosball tables and beanbag chairs in their lobby, the research shows that it is mental restrictions that tend to hack away at creative thinking.
Although many people pride themselves on their “comeback kid” abilities to do things at the last minute, a huge majority of truly creative work requires plenty of time and enough resources to be seen to completion.
This can be especially frustrating because the “ideas” may already be there, but when executing a project to completion, it may never see the light of day (or be fully polished) unless it has enough time and external resources (money included).
4.) Lack of group diversity
Homogeneous groups are actually more likely to get along, but they suffer from another big problem…
You guessed it — they produce less creative results.
As a solo creative person, this is still important to you: the company you keep (and you who consult with about your work) could be playing a role in your creativity.
If you’re surrounded by like-minded people all of the time, you may find yourself in an echo-chamber where creativity cannot thrive.
5.) Discouragement
As we saw above, most people are fearful of creativity despite the fact that they say they support it.
One more insidious facts about this aspect of human nature is that too much discouragement is actually a creativity killer.
Constant criticism, endless evaluation and negative comments really do begin to have their effect on creative people. Once people get the sense that all of their ideas are going to be stringently picked apart and bashed if they fail to deliver, they will choose to stop producing them.
Since no idea or finished work goes without some critique however (even the classics), it is important for creative people to create some semblance of a barrier to negative comments so that it doesn’t effect their work.
Or if you prefer the dictum of today…
Haters gonna hate.
6.) No positive feedback
Many of us try to come off as humble, but let’s be real honest, it feels GREAT when something we’ve worked very hard on generates a positive response or outcome.
According to Amabile’s research, praise and positive feedback are also very necessary for creative people, who thrive on having their ideas impact the lives of others.
Without support, motivation and work ethic to get creative projects done will wither away.
This can be hard for beginners especially, so if you come across a creative project from a relative nobody, invest in your entertainment by leaving them some positive feedback!
Creativity in Groups: Why Brainstorming Doesn’t Work
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but study after study has shown that when it comes to producing the best, most useful ideas, 
brainstorming just doesn’t work.
People in brainstorming groups have been found by researchers to produce fewer and lower quality ideas than when working alone.
Here’s why researchers believe this is the case…
- Social loafing: Research in the area of “social loafing” shows that when people are in groups, they are less likely to fully commit themselves because others will pick up the slack (bystander effect anyone?)
- Production blocking: When other people are talking, the rest of the brainstorming group has to wait. This causes some people to lose focus of their ideas, dissuade themselves from mentioning them, or just plain out forget some of the insights they just fleshed out.
- Evaluation apprehension: Simply put, although many brainstorming groups try to leave evaluation out until later, contributors know that other people are judging their ideas when the state them. When you are by yourself, you have more time to build an idea before presenting it to anyone.
If that’s the case, then why even bother with brainstorming?
There are 2 big reasons…
The first is that research (particularly from professor Ben Jones) has shown that collaboration is indeed an important part in coming up with brilliant ideas. Data on collaboration seems to point to scientists today doing more collaboration, and reveals that in many instances, two “so-so” ideas are made great by collaboration.
The second has to do with the way that groups work. When everyone feels like they’ve contributed, group projects tend to be more successful. In other words:
People who have participated in the creative stage are likely to be more motivated to carry out the group’s decision.
Since not all creative work can be done alone, some sort of collaboration is necessary in order to make sure no ideas get passed up, and to ensure that the entire group feels involved in actually putting the ideas into action.
So what is the answer to this dilemma?
Well, according to brand new research (2012), the internet may be the savior for brainstorming. Specifically, the use of Electronic Brainstorming was found to be more effective in coming up with the best non-redundant ideas in groups.
How does it work?
First, it follows the older rules of ‘Brainwriting,’ which includes the following:
- Don’t criticize.
- Focus on quantity.
- Combine and improve ideas produced by others.
- Write down any idea that comes to mind, no matter how wild.
The difference is that instead of using things like post-it notes (that ‘Brainwriting’ suggests), things like internet chat rooms or instant messaging are utilized.
It seems to work well because it allows members to see ideas flowing all at once, but it solves some of the problems with face-to-face brainstorming. When it’s done online, each person doesn’t have to wait for the others to stop talking and they are less worried about being evaluated.
I prefer to use tools like Campfire for this, but any group chat software should do the trick.
The Character Traits of Creative People
Since creativity seems to thrive with individuals and sometimes collaboration rather than group work, what sort of traits are often 
found in especially creative people?
As with all creativity research (since it is a very large and complex topic), the results are a bit muddy, but a collection of the research seems to point to a few traits that are found regularly in creative people.
Below we’ll discuss a few that are more common in those people with creative skills (note that this does not mean that all creative people have these traits!)
1.) Creative people are eccentric
Breaking news: the sun is hot!
Everyone saw this coming, but more interesting is looking at what ways creative people are more eccentric.
One interesting finding from Harvard is that creative people tend to have lower “latent inhibition,” defined as:
…an animal’s unconscious capacity to ignore stimuli that experience has shown are irrelevant to its needs.
Thus, creative people tend to be able (maybe through a combination of nature + nurture?) to take in more detail due to their ability to not block out “irrelevant” details.
Perhaps this is why most of us see a red wheelbarrow, and creative poets can visualize a Red Wheelbarrow.
2.) Creative people often feel “isolated”
Despite the hollow cries of introverts everywhere, creativity is not necessary associated with being an introvert or an extrovert.
Creative people have personality traits of all types, and being outgoing is not limiting to creativity. One thing that recent research has looked into though, is if creative people have a feeling of “isolation” among peers, even when they can make friends and colleagues easily.
This may be caused by their inability to relate to regular conversation as easily, or that their conversational partners cannot follow their “more creative” train of thought (if that sounds arrogant, don’t worry, I’ll be taking them down a peg later on).
There has also been some research on especially creative people and social rejection, indicating that a feeling of rejection of peers and a desire to feel different (thus, embracing the rejection) may spur on more creative activities.
Lastly, creative people seem to be less trustworthy of others (on average) than non-creatives, which may play a part in this feeling of isolation.
3.) Creative people are both smart + responsible and irresponsible + immature
There are numerous studies that show creativity positively correlates with intelligence, but after a certain point, the correlation dips off.
Conversely, some research conducted on creative geniuses has shown that immaturity often goes hand-in-hand with creativity (as you might be able to imagine).
The thing is, there is a very fine balance between this responsible + irresponsible nature in very creative people…
Without discipline, creative works cannot be achieved, and creative people are known for long extended blocks of work (being “wrapped up in” a project). Conversely, the immaturity shown in many creative people likely goes hand-in-hand with their ability to produce novel ideas.
4.) Creative people are often arrogant
Is it easy to get along with creative people?
Although research on “agreeableness” and creativity shows no strong correlation either way, newer research that examines subsets of agreeableness points to a new finding…
As it turns out, while not all creative people are this way, there is strong negative association with humility and creativity, meaning creative people tend to be braggarts.
This could likely stem from reinforcement and the ego, with successful creative people constantly being told how creative they are.
5.) Creative people are a bit… crazy
If this section felt too much like ego-stroking, well… it’s time to take creative people down a peg! 
There has been a plethora of research that shows creative people are a tad crazy… and kind of mean.
For instance, many studies show that creative people are better liars than their peers, and other research has shown that creative people were:
- More likely to cheat on a game in the lab
- Better at justifying their dishonesty afterwards
…and get this: Creativity was more closely associated with dishonesty than intelligence! (Remember how I said that creativity only coincides with intelligence up to a certain point?)
Other research has shown that creative thinking is unusually high in criminals and lawbreakers.
Most troubling (and direct) of all, a few studies have found that creative people score higher on psychoticism, which includes traits like less empathy, being cold, and egocentricity.
Worse yet, the advantage that creative people have (discussed above) in having lower levels of “latent inhibition” may open them up for a variety of mental illnesses.
There, now creative people can hop off their high-horse.
Now it’s Your Turn…
After a couple of weeks of research, days of writing, and 5000 words, this article is a wrap!
Now I want to hear from you…
- What did you think about this research on creativity? Did any of the studies surprise you?
- Do you strongly agree/disagree with any of the conclusions I came too? (These articles aren’t complete without a little debate in the comments!)
Thank you for reading, please share this article if you enjoyed it.
Images by Andres, Dan, Jonatan, Logan, Felipe, Northcoast, Jacqui, Michael, and Zen Pencils
of Sparring Mind, the behavioral psychology blog with over 100,000+ awesome readers and a highly popular newsletter.
{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank You for this very insightful article, I already feel my ability to create rising lol
I loved every part of it…I believe activities that require physical and mental to work simultaneously, stir alot of creative juices!
Awesome! I actually wish I was able to find a bit more on creativity + moods, but the consensus seems to simply be that positive moods are better.
I definitely *do* get more desire to do creative work after a workout, so that works for me.
Enjoyed the article.
Regarding your first question, read this: http://lesswrong.com/lw/im/hindsight_devalues_science/. You’ll find that you can’t trust the answers you get for it too much.
Heh, good point, I actually was just reading a piece on surveys and the reliability of feedback as well.
This was more for lively debate though.
Greg, I think creativity is about our energies. Of course, you’re dealing with the psychological research here and it feel absurd to add spirituality to it, but have you noticed that spiritual people, not necessarily those who visit church every week, are highly creative. Creativity is triggered by a two point system – the double vision loop.
The double vision loop is this.. you’re in a flow state of mind and you’ve a progressive insight for where you want to reach. Steve Jobs followed this ideal all the way along. Whenever he had an engineer come up with something he’d instantly start questioning him about the future…he instantly got himself in the state of alignment and flow with creative ideas.
Being creative is about asking questions. Stop. Observe. Question. Stop. Observe. Question. And what absolutely incredible is that there’s some strange connection between how subconscious pushes ideas when a stressed mind suddenly gives up. It’s like door opens and suddenly the ideas flush in.
The story of Vincent Van Gogh I read today resonates to this post too, so just let me say it here. He used to paint for long hours in unbearable heat, just so that he could experience the moment and paint that perfect feeling into his paintings. How absurd is that? Creativity sprouts from utter boredom and pain, when the mind begins to question its own ability to create.
Mark Zuckerberg spent hours to figure out what could make his social network meaningful until it stuck to him the idea of “relationship-status”.
Very interesting Jaky, thanks for your thoughts.
Was it Salvador Dali who would abruptly wake himself up from falling asleep to try to “capture” the visions he had while drifting off? I was just reminded of that from your Van Gogh example, definitely taking the “weird experiences” advice to new heights!
As always great, Greg =) Much to think and use
Thank *you* for reading!
Interesting piece! One little nitpick – in the section about feelings of isolation you write that creative people “are less trustworthy of.” I think you mean “less trusting of.”
I suffer from writers block and I’m going to give some of these tips a try.
Thanks.
No problem Tonia, I always appreciate grammar fixes, and you were very polite about it.
Given the length, I’m sure I’ll find a few more.
Great article man, I have the feeling this would be wonderful put into an infographic and blown up to poster-size and put on the wall of the office. I’m saving the content of this article for reference later. Thank you for writing this, from someone who’s been in a creative slump, the section with the 6 different ways creativity is killed was basically a checklist for my life recently.
Now it’s pinpointed, and can be fixed. Thanks for that bud.
Heh, maybe someday when I can operate a graphics program outside of Microsoft Paint.
Always appreciate the thoroughness of research in your posts Greg.
As far as your questions go. I am a bit surprised and even anxious about the humility vs creativity insight.
If someone is trying to break through in their creative endeavors, they rarely hear how “creative they are”. What comes first?
Almost reminds me of something of Mars Dorian’s I read a while back, where he urged his readers to be in denial about their skills and knowledge in order to thrive.
Thanks again Greg
I’ve just read The Last Question – I do love Isaac Asimov. The section above about brainstorming was the most surprising – it’s a tool I use occasionally, but will be using less from now on – in the traditional format, that is. I’d like to see results of a virtual brainstorming session using chat (I’d like to try that, I mean).
Probably the biggest shocker for me too Rachel.
I have to say that looking back (hindsight bias at work though), I do feel like my brainstorming efforts have never yielded worthwhile results.
Think about coincidences I’m writing too an article on Creativity, not as impressive as yours obviously, who can match your epic posts?
Very interesting and extremely well detailed, I took a couple, or more, hints.
Well done as usual Gregory.
I really enjoyed reading such a comprehensive summary of a variety of studies on creativity. It all seems to click and make a lot of sense to me, both the techniques and the descriptions (oh yes, I recognize the good and the bad traits of the creative person in me)
The link between creativity and isolation (and reinforcement of isolation through the desire to be distinct), rather than introversion is something I haven’t encountered before, but again it makes sense. Lastly, I really enjoyed the summary of things that kill creativity and I’ll definitely take it as a list of things not to do.
Thank you for such a thoroughly research and well written article!
I definitely need to read this a second time to fully absorb it all, but I wanted to say thanks for putting so much research and thought into such a fantastic post!!
Loved this post. I studied all this at length a year or so ago when I spotted an article about boosting creativity in Mens Health, the magazine. It also mentioned Franz Kafka. I have found some good methods to boost my creativity, but you just added a few ideas here for me to try and enhance my findings further. Thanks Gregory.
What I currently use are…
Restrictions – When creating art, I might choose beforehand to include a number of certain shapes, a type of action/movement and a meaning related to the mood the piece is designed to evoke. I make myself use these no matter what, so I have to come up with creative ways to incorporate them.
Opposites – Take the exact opposite of the message I’m trying to convey, and use it alongside the material I have related to the message, in a way which emphasizes the point. e.g. A poem about what life would be like and how I would feel, if the message was ignored, as though it were true now.
Idea hybrids – Think of a few ideas, then see where they cross paths, or how they could be bonded together to make a new idea comprising of the best bits. e.g. A poem might be written in the shape of a pictorial metaphor for what the words mean.
Point of view – The piece I’m working on might be from the perspective of an object in the scene, rather than that which is interacting with the objects, as would be expected.
Rhymes – In poetry, some of my deepest, most meaningful and best lines have arisen from a need to rhyme the words whilst staying on topic. I use this now when drawing too. It creates images I would otherwise not think of.
Metaphors – Nearly all laws are universal on some level, so it’s very easy to find metaphors for a situation. Sometimes I might depict the metaphor interacting with the actual set of circumstances.
Twists – Inspired by the music video “Smack my B***h up” by Prodigy – which depicts a night out through the eyes of a person getting drunk, getting into trouble and making out with a girl, then looks in the mirror, only to reveal you were seeing through the eyes of a woman. This inspired me to add twists into both my poetry and artwork. See also ‘A Twist in the Tale’
Again, thanks Gregory for a wicked read! You always deliver
@ Mickey
ALL of this article, and comments rocked my world. But I LOVE your ideas here the most. Don’t know why…maybe one “twisted”, metaphorical, rhyming, hybrid sort of brain just needs another sometimes!
~Ryan
This is a weighty post, Greg – so much to take in – feel I need more time to chew it over and check out some of the many links you’ve included.
I’m surprised at the research suggesting some creative people have less empathy etc. – I’d have thought that for many creative tasks, such as writing fiction or acting, the ability to understand and empathise with the way other people think and feel is essential. Interesting.
I like the one about the tendency to spot irrelevancies – I guess that’s why creative people have the knack of surprising us, by pointing out the ‘pointless’ stuff we’ve missed.
I think this also begs the question what do we mean by being ‘creative’ – I wonder how the people in the research studies were selected. Creative people obviously come in all shapes and sizes, and the nature of those involved in any research project will obviously affect the results – it would be difficult to get a ‘representative’ sample, by the very nature of the beast!
Fantastic article, Greg – really good value – one for bookmarking, re-reading and sharing for sure,
Sue
This section doesn’t talk about how meditation helps in increasing creativity. i wish some research was into it as well.
Haven’t seen anything about that thus far, but if you come across any, be sure to share.
How about this link for a point of departure? http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120419102317.htm
Meditation Makes You More Creative
Medha:
Yes. I’m with you. I don’t have any solid research but would be great to see it. I think meditation is of huge benefit in boosting creativity, at least in my personal experience.
Lordy that was a long article! Personally, I would have broken it up into a series. Great article nevertheless. I’m not sure I buy the whole arrogance thing. I think creative people are often proud of their abilities in areas relating to creation, but in other areas of life they are self-deprecating to a fault. But crzy? Hells ya.
I know you’ll appreciate the series I wrote on the subject of creativity, especially the first one, The Creative Mind: http://www.hensher.ca/creative-mind.
That’s how I do around here though
Glad you enjoyed it. It’s definitely personality dependent, but I’m just the messenger for that research, which is bound to make conclusions on averages over individuals.
i think creativity is a god gifted. there are lots of famous creative people who do not have even university degree but with creative ideas they have done wonderful job. on one can be creative by taking university degree or taking special course. if that has been done we get tens of thousands of creative people every day. but we find few people who are creative.
Is that poster from ZenPencils? You really ought to give the guy some credit for it…
I did, down at the bottom!
Love me some Zen Pencils.
Excellent post!
I read somewhere that creativity is the result of the interplay between the conscious and the subconscious minds. The conscious mind is the logical one while the subconscious mind is the “illogical” mind that is able to mesh things together and create results that the logical mind cannot do.
The problem with our logical mind is that it thinks and reasons in a sequential and logical manner and it is restricted to processing only very few things at a time, while our subconscious mind does exactly the opposite.
To be creative, it has been suggested that we work on the problem intensively for a period of time – say 90 minutes – and then take a short break of about 15 minutes. And then repeat the cycle a couple of times. What happens is that we use our logical minds (conscious) minds when we are concentrating for 90 minutes and then allow the “facts to sink into” our subconscious mind and then let the subconscious mind work on the stuff we absorbed over the 90 minutes of intense concentration.
It is through these 90/15 minute cycles that allow our brains to fully digest and work on the stuff we absorb and to create new ideas.
Totally agree. What you’re describing is exactly what John Cleese recommends
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmY4-RMB0YY
Greaaat and well written post. I must say you´ve done instense research.
Wow! So much information here! I know naps are a huge help to me. I always feel more grounded and centered after even a 10 minute power nap. Same with exercise. A brief walk or something to get the heart rate up makes a big difference in my ability to focus and concentrate. I’m going to work on implementing a few of these other ideas this week and make them part of my routine. Thanks so much for taking the time to research and compile this information!
Hey Greg,
Just re-read your article and got even more out of it. This is a veritable feast and has given me much to think about and apply. Totally geeking out reading all the research articles.
Great article, lots of great, shockingly understandable insights. I have always thought I was pretty normal but apparently I am not, good to blame it on my ‘creative genius’
Nice Article !! It’s such an interesting post and very informative. I really like it. You shared a really good information. Thank you and keep sharing.
Very interesting post! Love all of the suggestions – especially the ones on getting out of your comfort zone. That is when we grow and learn (and create) the most. Thanks for sharing!