The Friends and Enemies of Creativity

This is the final part of a four-part series on workplace creativity. Read Parts One, Two and Three. Original artwork by Jeff.

One of the biggest problems with being creative, particularly in the workplace, is that we often shut down before we start. The truth is, inside of every person there are some very real obstacles to creativity preventing our boldest ideas from even surfacing — let alone getting a chance to become reality.

Our inner landscapes are teeming with these enemies both large and small, who crop up to tell us that creativity isn’t worth the time or effort. Some might emphasize or categorize these villains differently than I do, but to me, there are three ringleaders.

This one is the Big Bad. While fear can be motivating for some people, for many of us it short-circuits our ability to be our best selves. It robs us of confidence, forces us to think short-term and makes us second-guess our every move. This is a main reason so many people say, “Oh, I’m just not creative.” The truth is that they’re afraid to open themselves up to the vulnerabilities that come with creativity.

What exactly is it we’re afraid of? Failure, mostly. Failure to be relevant. Failure to seem smart. Failure to solve the problem. We’re afraid of looking stupid or disappointing people or wasting time. All of these outcomes feel like failures.

But here’s the thing: Failure is necessary. It’s essential. There’s no way around it. Creativity doesn’t exist in spite of or separate from failure. It exists through failure. The way to learning what works often passes through what doesn’t. And that can be a scary thing to accept.

Think of habit as creativity’s top frenemy. There are circumstances in which it’s extremely helpful and others where it’s a drag.

We need habits to survive. We need to eat every day, sleep every night, exercise, pay our bills — all that stuff. In our jobs, habits can help us work smoothly and efficiently. The one thing habits aren’t great at is shaking things up. And that’s exactly what creativity requires.

The whole point of habits is to make things easy and repeatable. They’re great for the status quo, but creativity is opposed to the status quo. It’s about doing things differently.

Habit is tenacious. Its whole purpose is to hold on tight. Creativity exists to break that grip.

Diversion, or distraction, comes in many shapes and sizes. Sometimes it’s as simple as falling into the shiny object that is your phone. Scrolling down a flashing screen can feel like the path of least resistance.

Work offers its own distractions. With urgent tasks popping up at all hours — emails to answer, chat notifications pinging out of nowhere, deliverables to deliver — it can feel impossible to take the time needed to actually think differently.

The many diversions offered by life and work give us a thousand excuses — we’re tired, we’re bored, we’re overwhelmed. Creativity requires a willful decision to step off the hamster wheel and do things differently.

So what are we supposed to do in the face of these foes? Fortunately, we also carry around with us some internal friends who have the special powers necessary to fight and overcome the enemies within.

Community means reaching out to other people. You know how it’s easier to face life’s difficulties with the help of a friend? Well, it’s the same with creativity. Feeling alone can be scary, and collaboration is a great tool against fear.

I’ve always felt that the best creativity requires a counterpoint, something to bounce off. I have a background in theater, which I argue is the most collaborative art form. Onstage, absolutely nothing happens unless everyone — writer, director, actors, designers, technicians — works together. The result is invariably more than the sum of its parts.

Here are a few ways you can enlist community to help make creativity less scary:

• Cast a wide net. Go outside your realm of taste or expertise to intentionally discover new things. Pick up a book you wouldn’t normally consider. Ask friends and family to recommend movies or shows they never thought you’d like. Research a subculture you have no connection to. Actively think about how all of these deepen the way you look at things.
• Change your surroundings. We often hear about the wellness benefits of getting outside and moving, but it’s an important tool for creativity too. Taking a walk works wonders for helping the mind relax and return with a new attitude. Even just moving your laptop to work in a different space can help you approach a problem with fresh eyes.
• Embrace the unexpected. Chance can be your friend. Sometimes you can get the push you need by grabbing any book, opening it up at random and taking insight from whatever appears on the page. You can get a similar experience by visiting a random word generator online and working to connect the result to your task. Unlikely juxtapositions can lead to surprising results.

As mentioned earlier, habit can be helpful, but we need to keep it from getting stagnant. Finding ways to keep things fresh can help you avoid falling into a rut.

Actively seeking out new experiences takes you out of your comfort zone, like the buddy who drags you off to a weird new restaurant on the other side of town. You might be resistant at first, but trying it out expands your horizons.

Like the idea of productive creative failure, it’s as important to know what doesn’t work for you as what does. Even if you don’t love what you find, you gain a wider frame of reference that can help you make the unexpected connections creativity thrives on.

• Gather a group. Whether it’s a traditional brainstorm or not, there’s always value in a creative conversation. Work together to generate new ideas, or bring your own to get immediate reactions. You never know where the conversation might take you.
• Find a partner. Not everyone likes to raise their hands in a group, so it’s important to cater to other people’s comfort zones — and your own. If you’re more introverted, select a trusted partner to work with in real time or through an asynchronous platform like email where there’s no pressure to deliver immediately. Even the simple act of requesting feedback is a powerful form of collaboration.
• If all else fails, try AI. If you’re in a hurry or just want to experiment, AI can provide a helpful counterpoint. Peppering ChatGPT or a similar platform with questions and ideas can result in responses that take you in new directions, though it’s up to you to tailor the results to your needs.

Focus is about intention — saying you’re going to do something and doing it. Consider Focus the friend that helps you stay on track: the person you exercise with, who keeps you honest, who you can rely on to help you make a plan and stick with it.

When it comes to creativity, this can mean protecting you from the distractions that take you out of the groove or even defending you against the fears that plague your process. It’s means making a commitment.

Of course, if we could all just snap to focus whenever we wanted to, we wouldn’t be here, so here are some actions to try.

• Block off calendar time. Creative projects or problems almost always get pushed to the bottom of the heap. So put time on your calendar. Turn off your alerts. Put your phone aside. Go analog if you need to. There’s nothing wrong with a paper and pen! Really give over to the process.
• Create a deadline. If you work best under pressure, set your own deadlines. This is especially important for open-ended projects that keep getting kicked down the road indefinitely. Enlist outside accountability if you need to, whatever it takes to establish a clear finish line for your thought process.
• Make it a practice. This is about converting our frenemy Habit into a positive. Even if you don’t have a specific goal in mind, you can benefit from just establishing a regular context to focus on creativity. It’s like yoga, meditation or exercise; you need to establish an intention and work regularly to pursue it. For creativity, this could be a half hour of free writing in the morning — or, if you’re a more visual person, starting a sketchbook or scrapbook of open-ended ideas. Think about it as making steady deposits in a creativity bank that you can withdraw in the future.

Hopefully, envisioning these friends and enemies can help you imagine how they bounce against each other in your own mind. Be sure to recognize them and get to know them. If you build up the strength of your friends, they can offer a firm “no thank you” anytime the enemies rear their heads, clearing the path to greater creativity.

If you’re looking to get more creative — whether it be with your HR communications, your newsletter or your employee engagement campaign — reach out to ROI to see how we can help you.

More from our series on creativity:

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