How Creative is Creative?

I often get into discussions about creativity and I’m amazed how few understand what the word means. Most seem to apply the term creative to a strange breed of artistic misfits, ‘the creatives‘ who don’t really fit in but are a necessary evil for success of the business.

But many people are really surprised when I begin enthusing about each of us being creative. I see furrowed brows as they wrestle with the idea that they may possess something that is so ‘out of the ordinary.’

But is it?

I guess that for many of us the idea of creativity is alien because we haven’t engaged it since primary school. Thankfully, there are those who have managed to retain their creative skills, through hard work, battling against the odds, a good teacher/tutor or just out of passion for what they do. From them we can all learn a lesson. To them, creativity is nothing special; it is a part of who they are and what they do.

And I think therein lies the secret. As we engage with our creativity more and more often, our practice becomes a habit, and our habit begins to influence whatever we do, wherever we do it. It is no longer something out of the ordinary; it becomes part of our ordinary.

So how creative is creative?

The answer is different for every person. I think that the question is not one of quantity but quality and of how we apply what we have.

What we need to do is discover and identify just what our creativity is …