Creativity is unlearned, not learned. 1,600 five year-olds were tested for creativity by NASA to select innovative engineers and scientists, and 98% scored “highly creative.” These same children were tested 5 years later as ten year olds and that score dropped to 30%, then 12% when they were 15. 200,000 adults took the same test, and only 2% came back as “creative.”
Creativity is the ability to challenge the status quo and come up with a new and better solution. Because of this, creative personalities are often dismissed as trouble…seen as difficult, not efficient, not focused, and naïve. Most adults respond to creative ideas with “yeah, but” or “yes, and,” and that is if they do not just shoot down the idea altogether.
To be creative, we need to contributing back, collaborating and building on creative ideas. The creativity we had as children should be re-visited and re-kindled as we age.
Does your organization put the “NO” in in-no-vation?
