Why Creativity?
Creativity is not just for artists. It’s for businesspeople looking for a new way to close a sale; it’s for engineers trying to solve a problem; it’s for parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way.
Creativity, Engagement & Productivity
An American Art Therapy Association study showed that creating visual art for 45 minutes lowers levels of cortisol (stress hormone). Among others, it highlighted how the creative process of artistic approach improves an individual’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being. The study also suggested that creative group sessions benefit individuals by improving their overall understanding, helping them value their peers, and building connections and partnerships.
Even the act of doodling has huge benefits. Traditionally thought to be a sign of distraction – an indication that your mind was not where it was supposed to be – recent research in neuroscience, psychology and design reveal that doodling can help people stay focused, grasp new concepts and retain information.
“Some of the greatest difficulties business leaders face, revolve around the need to instill passion, gather energies toward a common vision, and motivate change in employees. Traditional communication methods between leaders and staff typically do not reach deeply into employees—where passion, vision, and ability to change reside. The arts have the potential to touch the minds and hearts of employees, and truly engage them.”
Increased productivity: The happier and healthier your staff are at work, the better they will be at it. Investing in your staff’s wellbeing at work means greater productivity and results.
Heightened focus: Stress, anxiety or depression makes us all distracted and unable to focus. But by supporting staff emotionally they’ll be able to focus better at work and you’ll heighten employee engagement.
Greater inspiration: Stress cripples creativity. A stressed mind can only focus on survival or the basic way to get through the day. But a relaxed, well mind is able to be innovative and inspired and find imaginative ways to solve problems or come up with ideas.
Happier, healthier staff
Greater team morale: Putting time in place for creative wellness shows your staff that they’re both valued and cared for, which boosts employee morale and connection in the workplace.
Stronger staff relationships: Happier, healthier staff build better working relationships and help build a stronger team ethos. When employees feel unhappy they’re likely to have fractious interactions, struggle to keep up and negatively impact on the team environment
.Creativity & Wellbeing
Mental health and wellbeing support was valued the most by Generation Z. Seventy-six percent agreed it was important for their employer to promote their mental wellbeing, compared with 72% of workers across all generations.
Mental health has become a huge issue in business and society since Covid-19 and these studies show that if we engage in artistic expression and creativity we can enhance our well-being. Merely looking at beautiful art enhances brain function.
“Creativity in and of itself is important for remaining healthy, remaining connected to yourself and connected to the world,” says Christianne Strang, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Alabama Birmingham and the former president of the American Art Therapy Association.
Studies published by the Journal of Business Research (April 2018)on the inspirational power of arts on creativity, showed that individuals with a higher openness to aesthetic experiences felt more inspired in their daily lives, and in turn, performed better on creativity tasks. When they were given a painting to look at, before being tasked with creative problem solving, they performed better than individuals who were not shown any art.
Studies on the connection between art, healing, and health show that artistic self-expression reduces stress and anxiety and increases in positive emotions. Other studies show an improved focus on positive life experiences, self-worth, and social identity. Arts activities also play a role in developing resilience and mental wellbeing
IOver two decades of research into the effects of the arts on health conducted by the WHO European Region have found a positive correlation between the integration of such creative manifestations and people’s wellbeing. Art has the capacity to relieve mental fatigue, stress, and depression, whilst restoring our ability to focus and think creatively.
Return on investment: Investing in a workplace corporate wellness program has tangible financial results. The Harvard Business Review reports that Johnson & Johnson saw a return of $2.71 for every dollar invested in staff wellness over a number of years.
Creativity & Innovation
On an individual level, studies by the Journal of Business Research have shown that being exposed to art catalyses innovation and creative thinking. A workplace infused with local influences, for instance, fosters an appreciation and celebration of diversity and cultures. This provides much needed inspiration and positivity in a world which, before COVID-19, saw work-related stress, depression and anxiety cost the global economy US $1 trillion per year in lost productivity according to the World Health Organization.
The idea that there is only one way to approach or interpret a situation or challenge is one of the main hindrances to a business’s growth.
It’s easy to fall into cognitive fixedness because it can be tempting to approach every situation the same way you have in the past. There are, however, differences between each situation.
A company’s leaders can stagnate if they do not take the time to understand the circumstances they face, foster creative thinking, and act on findings.
Organizations with engaged employees enjoyed 21% more profitability than their peers.
Creativity is a by-product of passionate people showing up to do a job they love.
Olympic snowboarding silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler said, “You don’t wake up and say: ‘Today I’m going to be more creative. You do the things you love to do and try to get at their essence and allow things to emerge.”
The first step to improving your creativity is to recognize your untapped, latent creative capacity, and then to discover areas for application. The recognition part is especially important in light of the aforementioned Adobe survey, which found that “only 41% describe themselves as creative and 31% report they are living up to their creative potential.”
Both aspects will occur through consciously slowing down to create space for contemplation. Only by interrupting the flow of doing can we look inward to find our skills and look objectively outward to find ways to use them.
We’ll make a little wager, and guess that the most recent job description you read was looking for someone ‘creative & collaborative’. We also reckon you might have mentioned just how creative you are on the most recent iteration of your own C.V.
Creativity is a phenomenally desirable skill. The ability to think outside of the box, laterally, upside down, sideways, back-to-front, has never been more important as businesses continue to seek the ‘next big idea’. As automation, machine-learning & AI continue to develop, the human brains ability to make creative leaps is increasingly in demand.
But to what extend do each of us practise this ‘top skill’. How often do we let our creative minds wander out of their productive cages? Top executives globally are meditating, using exercise, scheduling time to ‘do-nothing’, in order to remain engaged and innovative…
but simply freeing up headspace to come up with great ideas often isn’t enough. We need to practice the process of making a mental mess, of letting go, of getting lost, before the path might become a little clearer.
Practice Taking Associative Leaps
When it comes to creativity, our reservoirs are of no use until we can use them with intention. Expanding upon that museum visit example, let’s say you loved Robert Rauschenberg’s mixed media “Combines.” One way to exercise your innate associative leap capacity is to hold that artistic element in your mind and then set a timer for 15 minutes to reflect on how you spend your workday.
Your new learning will begin to swirl alongside and bump into familiar ideas and images, which can lead to seeing the old in new ways. This is where insights can arise, such as the sudden discovery that you could potentially make life easier for your colleagues if you took a mixed media approach to your spreadsheets by adding a horizontal metrics infographic to the first tab.
Research over the past several years has attributed mental health benefits to art and creative expression, including art therapy. Making art, even as a casual pastime, can help induce a state of “flow,” of being fully in the moment, which is an optimal state described by artists, athletes, and others who are highly engaged in their work.
Research has also focused on how aesthetics and art experiences can inspire people and help them be more creative. Those researchers even suggest that businesses use “art-related creativity training” to improve problem-solving, especially for new product development. In addition, a Harvard Business School professor was known to encourage students to read literature to gain “well-rounded, complex pictures of leaders” who faced challenges “particularly psychological and emotional ones.”
urthermore, the World Economic Forum states that creativity is or is related to nine of the ten skills that will define the world in 2020 and beyond
Pushing the Boundary Zones
In education, the term “zone of proximal development” refers to the skills and tasks that are proximate, or next to, what the learner has already mastered. Psychologist Lev Vygotsky defined the zone with young learners as the distance “between the actual developmental level … and the level of potential development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers.” In a learning environment, this can lead to intentional experiences and continuous development.
Once we leave a structured environment, however, learning that goes beyond rote memorization of how to do something or pass a test can be hit-or-miss. Instead, people need to be deliberate about lifelong learning by seeking out experiences that open their minds and shift their perspectives.
Such changes in viewpoints are also tied to greater diversity and inclusion, both within organizations and in society, in general. Acceptance and understanding of others who are different comes from encounters and awareness.
Art can provide that gateway, taking us beyond our comfort zones. As we open our minds to the stories and experiences of others, we may find contradictions and conflicts with our own views and opinions. In that confrontation, we can experience a shift to consider other alternatives if what is different or unfamiliar is no longer disregarded or dismissed.
We begin to think differently — considering new possibilities and approaches. For leaders today who must reinvent and reimagine how they do business, that’s a compelling reason to take a deeper look at art.
“It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
— Quote source
“It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.”
— Quote source
“It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.”
— Quote source
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth
— Marcus Aurelius
Play is the highest form of research
— Einstein
