By Timothy Christie
I have not normally thought of myself as a creative thinker. I am a Finance major with a concentration in data analytics. I came to USC for business and never thought of anything else. I did not even declare a minor until last year. I was getting a little bored of taking the same types of classes and wanted to add something new. On a whim, I added Advertising and Public Relations as my minor, and I did not think I would get a lot out of it. I just wanted a break from all the business classes and figured it would look good on my diploma. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this minor had a lot to offer and all the classes are fresh, insightful, and I noticed that they held some relevance to my business path. This class especially caught me a little off guard because I did not expect a class on creativity to be so useful even in the business classes I am currently taking. This class has caused me to change my outlook on business and given me insights that I will be able to use to my advantage. This class has taught me a lot of things. One of them is the value and effective methods of brainstorming. I never really grasped the importance of brainstorming, and what a difference it makes. I have a lot of projects to do for my classes, and I decided to try and use brainstorming methods to help me with them. What I noticed is while the projects would take a little bit longer to complete, I was doing a lot better on them, and I have come to realize that creative thinking does have a place in business. Before this class, I just always saw business as a very black and white industry where there is one correct way of thinking and doing things. I have noticed now that while a lot of things follow an established process, there is a lot of room for creativity. For instance, there are many different ways of reporting financial information, so I was able to use brainstorming methods to evaluate different options and which would be the most useful or profitable. While I do think some areas of business are very technical and do not have room for creative thinking, there is a lot of areas that do. I think that one of the common misconceptions about business is that you cannot be creative. In movies, shows, and other media forms, the creative person is always an actor, or an artist, or a writer. The businessperson in the media is usually shown as a sort of serious, robotic looking thing in a suit that does not show emotion and everything they do is calculated and not a product of their own free thinking. In the real world however, I think that the businessperson is probably more creative than the artist. The artist has a blank canvas, so its easy to do whatever you want. I do not think an artist would have to go through and evaluate all their ideas and find the best one. They get an idea, and they bring it to life. I think the businessperson spends a lot more time actually brainstorming, evaluating, and finding a solution that will put them ahead of competitors. There is a lot of pressure to succeed in business, and the creative thinkers are the ones who end on top. An artist can be creative, but I think the creative process is not going to be utilized by the artist to its fullest. This seems a little contradictory since the artist is supposed to be the creative “right-brained” individual. However, Since the artist has unlimited freedom and potential to create, they can create a work of art without even thinking about other possibilities. That art could be great, but it could also have caused the artist to miss out on something more. The businessperson is not allowed to do this.In an industry where everybody is aggressively climbing to the top, you have to think creatively just to survive. Effectively utilizing the creative thinking process has very direct effects in the business world. I think it says a lot more to be in an industry full of restrictions and paths that are cut out for you and being able to use the creative process to break away from the crowd than to be completely free to make whatever you want.I think that this semester, I have completely flipped my view on business.This class has made shown me that the creative process is a very important part of business. Not only that, but it has shown me that a lot of jobs where you do not think of creativity are actually the jobs that require the most, whereas the“creative” jobs have so much freedom you do not have to be creative to find solution (although the creative will always come out on top no matter what career you go into).
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By Morgan Campanella
What if you had the chance to be a child for a day? Would you build a futuristic spaceship out of Legos? Draw an abstract piece of art to hang on the fridge? Create your own “business” in your backyard? Today, I would pass by the Lego set, too busy to build a spaceship, I would say my art was not good enough to be displayed on the fridge, and argue that someone else has already thought of something better than the business plan I had in mind. Somewhere along the way, there was a shift in perspective. We trade abstract ideas for concrete thoughts. We forget positive reinforcement and remind ourselves of what went wrong. We lack child-like enthusiasm and feel trapped in the mundane routine of simply getting things done. As an adult, we lose our creative confidence, or self-efficacy. We lose the belief that we have the ability to produce creative outcomes because we do not have time to be creative; however, if we want to succeed in the workplace, we must find this child-like creativity that once nourished, sustained and controlled all of us. If you asked a group of children at school and group of adults at work to solve a problem together as a team, I think you would find very different results. Children brainstorm ideas without the fear of being wrong, and ask questions without second guessing themselves. They have a willingness to be vulnerable and a willingness to criticize. They do not fear that their idea was not good enough, and do not mind telling others that neither was theirs. They do not fear being “politically correct,” or making sure everyone is contributing evenly and fairly. On the other hand, adults give power to their ideas and questions, and are less likely to handle criticism well. They take criticism personally and always aim to be the smartest person in the room. They are less open to the diversity of ideas and believe that there is one “right” solution to a problem. Adults worry about offending others. They do not want any one member to feel singled out and desire equality among the group. Children are not governed by rationality or consequences; they have the benefit of not knowing what is possible, allowing them to experiment with new ideas and reach the creative capability that is lacking in the workplace. I love the idea of being in relationship with creativity. According to the “Intro of Self-Efficacy and Creativity Tests,” much like any healthy relationship, creativity is something you have to work at regularly, make an effort towards, and choose on a daily basis. I found this to be an interesting concept; the need to have a personal, long term relationship with creativity. When we think of creativity as the means to reaching a goal or solution, we quickly realize that the creative process must come to an end. It is only when we lose the concept of “satisfaction,” and “perfection” that we allow creativity to take over our day to day stream of consciousness. Children do not wake up and say that they want to be creative, it is something innate inside of them. We cannot enter a business meeting, project or assignment and tell ourselves that we must be creative, when we have not worked to practice creativity in our everyday lives. It is only through practice that we can hone and embrace the methods that work best for us. The creative thinker exhibits the characteristics most associated with child-like behavior. The creative thinker is open-minded, able to take risks, breaks the rules, imaginative, playful, curious and persistent. Many of these characteristics are seen in children, and often looked down upon. These are the characteristics that build intrinsic motivation; in children and in the workplace. According to Amabile’s 1996 study, the three main elements of creativity in the workplace are expertise, creative thinking (problem solving) and intrinsic motivation. We need to teach children to keep exercising this way of thinking, instead of punishing them or molding them into a societally acceptable version of themselves. Can you imagine the explosive creativity that would take over the work force if children remained in relationship with their child-like creativity? We need to teach children that it is rewarding to carry these characteristics into life and into the workplace. Whatever your situation in life, go on mission to find your sense of creativity. Play games, color in a notebook, use your imagination, try the things you have always wanted to try, ask questions, and push yourself out of your comfort zone-- this is where true creativity begins to grow. Be in constant relationship with creativity, and work to strengthen your creative characteristics. Find techniques that bring your brainstorming to life, and bring your creativity with you wherever you go. Next time you get the chance, dream as if you were a child again. By Adriana Berg
Before I started this class if you would’ve asked me if I was creative, I would have said “I was as a kid but not so much anymore”. As I grew older, I became under this impression that creative people just had it because that is who they are, almost as if they were born with it. On the first day of class you asked, “What is creativity?” This small question really got me thinking. To some, creativity may mean an artist who creates beautiful pieces of art and always has extravagant designs. And to others, it may mean an engineer who found a new way to build bridges more efficiently. This is something I have changed my views on over the course of this class. Instead of thinking of creativity as a god given talent, I now think of it as people who think outside the box to solve difficult problems in new ways. Another thing I have learned about creativity is that there are many ways you can go about being creative. I used to think that creative people just sat there and let the brilliant ideas come to their mind. I now understand that people use everything from mind maps to SCAMPER charts to help them be creative. One way I have personally been more creative is by thinking outside the box and trying to find new ways to solve problems. I have also learned not to settle for the first idea that comes to mind, because if more than one person comes up with the same solution, then it is not that creative. I have been trying to apply being creative to my everyday life alongside school. For example, every single morning I make my bed, but it takes forever because I have silk sheets, so they slide all around. One morning I got tired of wrestling with my bed, sat down and started brainstorming ways to make this a much faster and more efficient process. After brainstorming and trying and failing multiple new ideas, I finally landed on one that works much better. I learned that if I put my weighted blanket on top of my top sheet rather than under, then it will hold down the sheets while I am trying to make the rest of my bed. A change so slight and simple that completely changed my morning routine to be much more time efficient. Another way I have been trying to be more creative, or “as creative as I was as a kid”, is by taking thirty minutes a day to do something that puts me out of my comfort zone. Whether it be reading a new genre of books that I have never read before or shopping for clothes that I would not usually wear, I am trying to push myself to do more uncomfortable things. I think this is a good way to force myself into trying new things and getting outside my comfort zone because new and fresh ideas never come from within your comfort zone. One day I decided to shop for some clothing that was a little bit out of the box and over the top. After I purchased the clothing and got home, I started to question my choices. The only reason I was questioning my clothing choices was because I had never seen anyone wear anything like it, and I was nervous that people would look at me funny for wearing them. Once I decided that I did not necessarily care what others thought of me, I wore the outfit and have never gotten so many compliments in my life. This was a great example to show me that trying something new can be scary, but if you just take a leap of faith it will all work out in the end. This relates to creativity in school as well. Sometimes trying new things can be scary, especially if you are presenting it in front of a ton of college students, but you must always at least try because you never know the outcome. Not only does this relate to school, but also work as well. I used to be afraid to speak up and share my thoughts in meetings because I did not view myself as qualified as the others sitting in the meeting. One day I just decided to speak up and tell them my idea, because after all if I was in the meeting, they believed I had some sense of knowledge towards the subject. To my surprise they actually loved my idea and implemented it across all of their offices. Overall, this class has really made me tap into my “inner kid brain” and bring out the fun of creativity again. Rather than trying to force myself to be creative when I have an assignment due, I now do small exercises everyday so that I can work on getting my “kid creativity” back and it has helped me so much. |
Creative Thinking & Problem SolvingFall 2020 class, students contribute posts. ArchivesCategories |