Society seems to designate people to one of two categories: the "creative type" and the "science/math type." From what I've seen, so many intelligent, creative people believe that they're not simply because they have been led to believe that they can only be one of the two things. The problem lies partially in the strong association of creativity with visual and performing arts. Who do we tend to deem as creative? Artists, musicians, writers. Restricting creativity to these people is completely unfair. We are all creative. Yes, we fall on different parts of the spectrum in terms of creative strengths, but the ability exists in everyone. And, more importantly, our abilities are capable of growth and development.
Picasso once said, "All children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up." I believe that everyone is born creative. As kids, I'm sure we all remember creating our own stories and games no matter how outlandish they may now seem. What changes? For some reason, we seem to grow out of this and pursue new avenues that supposedly conflict with creativity. Creativity is not just the ability to be artistic and create art, it's the ability to be inventive and come up with new ideas and solutions to problems. Our education system conditions us to think a certain way to meet their standards by achieving a certain letter grade on a standardized test that, often times, ignores our individual creative strengths and weaknesses. We are forced into a cookie cutter mold of the "ideal student" and, eventually, the "ideal employee."
In 2006, Sir Ken Robinson delivered a TEDtalk titled "Schools kill creativity" in which he says, "... if you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original...And by the time they get to be adults, most kids have lost that capacity." Because schools and the workforce stigmatize mistakes, people become scared of making them and, in turn, stifle their own creative impulses for the sake of security. As a result, schools are preparing kids for a society that no longer exists. More and more jobs are centered around creativity in the great race to develop The Next Big Thing. Some jobs are beginning to value personal skills and experience over a college degree. Companies like Google, Apple and IBM have just recently removed the degree requirement from hiring consideration. What does this tell us? It is equally, if not more, valuable to strengthen transferable skills such as creativity and critical thinking as it is to pursue formal higher education.
There's a reason chemical engineering majors can get hired immediately in the business majors before graduates with business majors. Studying a subject like chemical engineering teaches you one of the most important life skills you can develop: critical thinking and problem-solving. Employers understand this and therefore look to people with similar majors when considering hiring new employees. They understand the value of transferable skills. Creativity is yet another powerful tool that's entirely transferable across everything you do. No matter what profession or industry you choose to work in, there are always obstacles to overcome that require creative thinking.
Physicists and mathematicians must devise creative solutions for research, marketing, and public relations specialists must develop interesting and attention-grabbing ways to appeal to the public, and architects and engineers must employ creativity in their designs and analyzation strategies. In your personal lives, creative problem solving can be the difference between the continuance and end of an important friendship or relationship. Having creative confidence minimizes the fear of making mistakes by providing you with the comfort of knowing that even if something doesn't go as planned, you can come up with an alternative solution. It completely alters your perception and empowers you to go out and augment the world around you.
Just like Troy Bolton learned that he can love basketball and theater in "High School Musical," you must also understand that your career or professional aspirations have no real effect on your creative energy and unlocking your full potential. If you're great at math and science, you can also be incredibly creative. The only hindrance consists of the limits you place on yourself. By assessing your creative strengths and weaknesses and taking steps to work on them, you are strengthening a skill that is necessary for every aspect of your life. It's sad to think that many creative people believe they are not and instead choose to dream and keep their ideas to themselves so as to not upset others or make mistakes. In life there are two types of people, there are dreamers and there are doers. The choice is yours, who will you be?
