Turning Ideas into Results: 5 Pearls of Wisdom from the Legendary Artists on Creativity
You can't use up creativity, the more you use the more you have.
-Maya Angelou
When we think of creativity, we immediately bestow this trait to artists. Contrary to common belief, we all have creativity; we don't use it enough outside the art context. It sadly has been undervalued and underutilized in other industries. Studies have shown that creativity is the core foundation for innovation and turns into value when it creates the results or solution (see my previous posts here and here). Think Apple's inventions that revolutionized the world by creating something no one had thought of before. Creativity takes courage to challenge the norm and get out of our comfort zone to explore other possibilities. Just as in any skill, it can be cultivated and learned over time.
Here are 5 ways to flex our creative muscles to expand our authenticity, future-readiness, and problem-solving skills for any professionals to adapt to succeed in their industry and business.
Carve out a Time to Step Outside of Your Field
The real power lies when we turn our knowledge into actions. In reality, we have the resources and time we need to accomplish our goals in life. Instead, it's the voice inside our head that hinders us from going beyond our comfort zone. To step outside of our head, we need to see things from a different perspective.
For instance, Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) was a polymath far ahead of his time. When he was not painting masterpieces such as Mona Lisa, Salvator Mundi, and Last Supper, Da Vinci studied biology and engineering, astronomy with other masters. Discovered after his death, his notebooks filled with mechanical sketches shed light on some of the great inventions that gave rise to the evolution of airplanes, helicopters, gliders, and parachutes, which came to realization 300 years after his death.
2. Connect the Dots between Two Disparate Thoughts
Creativity isn't about being "perfecting" one thing. Instead, it is about connecting the dots between two unrelatable things to create new possibilities and innovations.
For example, Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), renowned for his Combines that incorporated printed images, ready-mades, electronic devices, and appliances that blurred the boundaries between painting and sculpture.
Before he started his artistic journey, Rauschenberg studied pharmacology before he discovered he had dyslexia. Despite his learning challenges, he created new possibilities through life-long collaborations with performers, printmakers, engineers, writers, and artists, further expanding his "art and life" philosophy. Before the 1960s, the integration of art and technology was a new concept, and they were considered separate entities. Established in 1966, Rauschenberg co-founded Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), a non-profit organization with engineers Billy Kluver, Fred Waldhauer, and artist Robert Whitman. Through this collaboration, they produced 9 Evenings: Theater & Engineering. These events demonstrated different ways to explore art through innovative technology and performance art, leaving an indelible legacy in Contemporary Art today.
3. Bring back Your Inner Child-Like Mindset (not Behavior!)
Channel your inner child as Dadaist and Surrealist, where they explored the inner human psyche and created out-of-this-world forms through collages of non-sensical and disparate objects and images. For instance, Surrealist René Magritte's famous painting, Treachery of Images (1929), depicts a pipe with a statement, "Ceci n'est pas un pipe" ("This is not a pipe"), to challenge our interpretation of the object and language.
We can apply the same principles where we can combine different elements to create new solutions. We encourage children to expand their curiosity and dream limitlessly; why can we apply the same concepts as adults? Just because we're "grown-up" doesn't mean we have to stop learning and thinking about the other possibilities. Life is about exploration, not a destination.
4. Shake up Your Work Practice and Try Something Different (e.g. New Materials, Techniques, or Themes)
Henri Matisse (1869-1954), known for his bold colors and fluid forms. Matisse is one of the artists who shaped and revolutionalized the developments in the visual arts throughout the early twentieth century.
Matisse initially pursued law to become a court administrator and became a painter when he discovered his love for and healing power of art while recovering from appendicitis. Matisse gained recognition in the arts as one of the Fauves (wild beasts), emphasizing intense colors and flattened forms and decorative patterns. When his illness during his final years prevented him from painting, he explored a significant body of work by cutting out vibrant paper forms and collaging.
His health conditions did not hinder Matisse from his love and dedication to art. Instead, he found an inventive way to stay active in his artistic practice.
5. Accept that "Failure" is a Path to Success
Failure is guaranteed no matter what industry we're in, and it's part of the process. Success depends on how we respond to the "failures." They show up as a blessing in disguise—to give us the lessons we need to move forward and keep us on track. When we talk about success, we rarely hear about what it took to get there. For example, it took many attempts to invent and refine the light bulb. Thomas Edison and his team (yes, he didn't do this by himself) took 10,000 trials and errors to create the one that worked. Photographer Nan Goldin (b. 1953) can relate to this scenario in her work: "You take a thousand pictures to get a good one, like oysters with the rare pearl."
Nothing happens when we don't take action or quit; it's a guaranteed failure. However, you can increase your odds of success from trying; even the outcome may not seem like a "success," especially in the initial stages. Start with where you are and what you have, even it's not perfect.