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).

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.