Day 1 of the Write Tribe Festival of Words #4 has dawned. If you haven’t registered for it, don’t worry you can still take part. Our theme, as you know is, Creativity and Inspiration. And you can interpret it any way you want. We’ve provided you some ideas at the end of this post too.
Today, we’re wondering if you can learn to be creative. From all I’ve read and experienced, that answer seems to be a resounding ‘Yes’. Let’s look at views from experts on this question.
Can you learn to be creative?
Andrew Ng the creator of Google Brain and co-founder of Coursera recently said: “I’ve seen people learn to be more creative.” When asked to expand on this, he said:
The question is, how does one create new ideas? Is it those unpredictable lone acts of genius, people like Steve Jobs, who are special in some way? Or is it something that can be taught and that one can be systematic about?
I believe that the ability to innovate and to be creative are teachable processes. There are ways by which people can systematically innovate or systematically become creative.
In my own life, I found that whenever I wasn’t sure what to do next, I would go and learn a lot, read a lot, talk to experts. I don’t know how the human brain works but it’s almost magical: when you read enough or talk to enough experts, when you have enough inputs, new ideas start appearing.
Sir Ken Robinson, an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation, and human resources, has this to say about creativity.
Creativity is a process of having original ideas that have value. A big part of being creative is looking for new ways of doing things within whatever activity you’re involved in.
A creative process may begin with a flash of a new idea or with a hunch. It may just start as noodling around with a problem, getting some fresh ideas along the way. It’s a process, not a single event, and genuine creative processes involve critical thinking as well as imaginative insights and fresh ideas.
There is plenty of evidence that creativity can be developed and honed. During the festival, we’ll be looking at different ways to do this
Some ideas for interpreting our theme of Creativity and Inspiration
Back to our theme for the Festival. I know some of you might find the theme rather vague. I’d prefer to say that it’s broad. You can include so much. I asked Vidya Sury to tell me how she would advise someone to take on this theme. Here’s what she said:
Go ahead and set yourself free to do whatever you want - I’d say just about anything.
A recipe? A book review of a book that touched you and inspired you? Something you made. Someone you admire. An experience that taught you something. Something you noticed when you went somewhere. An everyday thing that you saw from a different perspective. Through new eyes. A new habit you developed….
As you can see you can twist anything to imply creativity and quote as inspiration… What about our favorite – inspiring quotes – pick one and explore it.
And of course, you can use today’s question as a prompt:
Can you learn to be creative? Share your thoughts. Tell us how you developed your creativity.
Write your post and link in today. Please give a link back to our blog and/or place the Festival logo on your sidebar. The linky will be open until tomorrow.
Go explore your creativity and enjoy the process!
[…] been attempting to learn new words again and am enjoying the exercise. I’m certain that this learning will help me express myself better. I might insert a few new words into my posts too, so watch out! […]