The Creative Advantage

How the intersection of science and creativity reveal life's ultimate advantage

Maria Simonelli

• Publisher: Maria Simonelli
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780648939627
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Neuropsychology
• Index: Psychology

Creativity is the most fundamental of human qualities, a unique trait of our species and the most important asset we have. It enables us to plan a future, to imagine what's possible and to imagine requires creativity.

Combined with your brain's 80 billion neurons you're already geared to have a creative advantage in life, so how can you use this to be your best creative self?

The Creative Advantage is a deep dive into the science that fuels creativity. It explains how we can rewire our brain, understand our motivators, modify our behaviours, boost our skillset and instill habits to give us an advantage in this rapidly changing and competitive world.

By demystifying creativity and demonstrating how these skills can be learnt, this book provides practical ways to tap into creative problem-solving techniques to incorporate into the everyday life choices.

With creative insight comes increased confidence to change your personal circumstances and in doing so the world around you, giving you understanding, knowledge and an advantage in all aspects of life.

SECTION 1

An Introduction to the Intersection of Science and Creativity

CHAPTER 1

Is There a Secret to Creativity?

What’s the one feature of humans that makes us stand alone in the animal kingdom? Some might say it’s our innate ability to problem solve … close, but not quite. It’s our ability to imagine possibilities … and to imagine requires creativity.

Creativity is the most fundamentally human of qualities and a unique trait of our species.

If that’s the case, why are some people so amazingly creative and why do so many of us think we’re just not creative?

Is it because many still associate creativity with artistic prowess, the ability to paint a great portrait or compose a great musical piece? Is creativity something special in your genes or a divine gift from God? Or do they have their brain wired in a particular way?

Let’s explore this through a story of someone who was said to possess creative genius.

This young boy started on a musical journey at a young age and was composing music at the age of five, giving public performances as a pianist and violinist by eight, and went on to produce more than 600 works. Some regarded him as a ‘treasure of Western culture’. He was said to play with the facility that seemed impossible for someone so young and was able to accurately identify musical notes, what’s now referred to as ‘perfect pitch’ – an exceptionally rare talent.¹

Crowds flocked to see the child prodigy who could play multiple musical instruments with ease. He’s still among the most enduringly popular classical composers, with his contemporaries regarding him as a talent the world would not see again for 100 years.²

From an early age the boy was given intensive training by his father, who was also a famous composer and performer in his own right. The live-in teacher was well qualified for this role, and by the time of his son’s birth had published an authoritative book on violin instruction. He had developed these training techniques by testing them with his older sister, who by age eleven was also described as playing the piano and harpsichord equal to professional adult musicians.³ It’s also known that the father was a “domineering parent who started his son on a program of intensive training in composition and performing at age three”.⁴

We know that the father worked closely with his son on his early compositions, editing them before they were viewed by others. He encouraged him to be inspired by other composers, and the boy’s early compositions reflected this by not containing original music. Instead his compositions were rearrangements of works from other composers. The boy was borrowing from the masters, imitating their musical structures, developing both his neural pathways and creative muscles.

By age twenty-one, with eighteen years of deliberate practice behind him, one-to-one mentoring and endless feedback, he had already written 271 compositions and produced his Piano Concerto No.9, regarded today as a masterpiece. But his best work was yet to come, and according to critics was produced in Vienna just before his premature death at the age of thirty-five.⁵

Can you guess who this boy was? It was, of course, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with his father Leopold and sister Anna Maria, a story so familiar that it could be the most widely retold to describe creative genius.

Mozart’s extraordinary talent was recognised early, and due to his remarkable productivity, he occupied the spotlight throughout his lifetime. It’s now understood that, while he was clearly prolifically talented, a myth has evolved beyond merely a musically talented child, to someone borne with an extraordinary and divine gift.

Some of these stories surrounding Mozart are exactly that, myths built up over time. We know for example from surviving manuscripts that rather than composing wholly and perfectly conceived works in his mind, “Mozart was constantly revising, reworking, crossing out and rewriting whole sections, jotting down fragments and putting them aside for months or years. Though it makes the results no less magnificent, he wrote music the way ordinary humans do … Any divine spark that Mozart may have possessed did not enable him to produce world-class work quickly or easily, which is something we often suppose a divine spark will do. Mozart’s method of composing was not quite the wonder it was long thought to be. For nearly two hundred years many people have believed that he had a miraculous ability to compose entire major pieces in his head”.⁶

Since that time, we’ve also learnt more about perfect pitch, that far from being a gift bestowed to the lucky few, it is an ability that pretty much anyone can develop with the right exposure and training.⁷

Mozart’s story is one that resonates strongly. There are many who still cling to the belief that creatives are born and not created, through some mystical special power or genetic endowment.

It’s still important because it perpetrates a myth that only a special few can be brilliantly creative. As long as this misconception is out there, limiting the way we think about and define creativity in this narrow range, people will believe they’ll have a sound excuse for not exploring their own creative selves. They’ll conveniently believe the need to be born with creative genes and continue to place themselves into the ‘I’m just not the creative type’ basket. In doing so they’ll miss out on benefiting from a fundamentally essential strength of being human.

While Mozart was an exceptional musician and composer, there’s no mystery as to how he became so. He may have been born with a particularly flexible and adaptive brain, but his talent was enhanced with years of practice that developed a capability far beyond those around him. While this may have seemed like a divine gift to those who did not possess these skills, it’s also clear he got there with the creative advantage that comes from dedicated hard work, a supportive environment and many years of effective and deliberate practice. Both his brain and his environment were at play, refining his skills and his creativity to what we recognise today.

Fast forward to today’s modern neuroimaging scanning techniques that have transformed our view of the brain. Researchers are providing greater insights into what’s going on in the brains of highly creative thinkers and practitioners, as well as the power of brain plasticity. The brain turns out to be far more adaptable and, with the right sort of triggers, can rewire itself in various ways. New connections are made between neurons, while existing connections can be strengthened or weakened.

Creativity is a whole-brain activity, and the more we understand this, the better we can enhance our own and others’ creative abilities. Combined with the information and technology explosion, the modern world has transformed the way we think about creativity. If you’re still inclined to think that creativity is just associated with artists like Mozart, consider these recent findings:

An Adobe Systems poll of five thousand people on three continents reports that 80% see unlocking creative potential as the key to economic growth:⁸

±	Most Fortune 500 companies employ creative consultants to provide an important competitive advantage.^9
±	Business schools offering courses in creativity have doubled since 2010.^10
±	Chief human resources and strategy officers from leading global employers think that creativity will become one of the top three skills workers will need.^11
±	Creative skills and behaviours are found in successful athletes, business leaders and entrepreneurs.

Creativity is, of course, not confined to music, the arts or dance. All disciplines – science, mathematics, economics and business – can gain an advantage through embracing creative approaches.

It’s the most important asset we have to negotiate through this rapidly changing world. From the way we manage our work ...