Some people express their creativity through art, photography, poetry, writing, dance, cooking, making things with their hands, etc. The world seems to be divided into “creative” and “non-creative” types, and too many people resign themselves to the latter category. (Facing the scary paths on our life & leadership journey)- re-Work Under Title
David Kelley, the founder of the design firm IDEO and a professor at Stanford University, says that “Creative confidence is the natural human ability to come up with breakthrough ideas and the courage to act on them.” Self-efficacy is commonly defined as the belief in one’s capabilities to achieve a goal or an outcome. Innovation is an economic imperative that calls for more people to be innovating, more often.
“You are creative. All you need to do is find ways to express to express your creativity.”
-Lorrin L. Lee
Most people do not express themselves through their creativity because of getting criticized or judged by others. Some even do not want to show or experience failure as it is an embarrassment to them. Too many people are afraid of failure, when in reality it is through failure that one eventually achieves success and breakthrough. “Fear of failure” from childhood that has been in your thought patterns not just holds you back from doing things you want to do or try, it also holds you back from thinking creatively or on an innovative basis.
Real creative and innovative types sometimes want these things to take place as it lets them know of how they can improve what they are working on. “The inescapable link between failure & innovation is a lesson you can only learn through doing.” – David & Tom Kelley
Creativity is within each of us. Oh, yes, it is especially buried by the routine work you do on a daily basis. Interestingly, sometimes the spark of creativity is dimmed by criticisms, work obligations you do or just simple neglect.
Expressing your thinking when you create an idea or produce a breakthrough result demonstrates thinking inside-and/or-outside-the-box. The difficulty here is that many people, when as a child you were criticized for the creativity you were trying to produce. This can get ingrained into you and continue into adulthood.
Creative Confidence
Too many adults lost their creativity as a child and moved on to other things away from being creative. This gap from childhood to adulthood has a lot of adults cringing when it comes to talking about unconventional ways to move a business forward for greater success.
- View challenging problems as tasks to be mastered
- Develop deeper interest in the activities in which they participate
- Form a stronger sense of commitment to their interests and activities
- Recover quickly from setbacks and disappointments
Guided Mastery of Creative Confidence
Guided mastery is the process of overcoming your fears through a series of small steps. In learning how to get your creativity back, creative confidence helps you with four independent processes or steps you can work through. These include:
Reclaim Your Creative Confidence: David and Tom Kelley “The world seems to divide into ‘creatives’ and ‘noncreatives,’ and too many people consciously or unconsciously resign themselves to the latter category.”
Break challenges down into small steps and then build confidence by succeeding on one after another. The process may feel a little uncomfortable at first, but the discomfort quickly fades away and is replaced with new confidence and capabilities.
To regain creative confidence, here are 4 strategies for getting you past your fears that can hold you back from showing your creative independence.
Fear of the Messy Unknown
Being creative in problem solving involves creating an environment where people can generate ideas without fear of criticism. In brainstorm sessions, no idea is a bad idea. You want to generate as many ideas as possible.
Fear of Being Judged
In being creative and innovative, you just may get people to criticize or judge your ideas. This can be a good thing as they may actually be giving you some food for thought to improve on your ideas. Do not always take criticism or judgment as being negative. Good feedback can be more helpful to what you want to do than not at all.
Fear of the First Step
Who hasn’t sat staring at a blank computer screen or a blank piece of paper in front of you, unable to take the first step on a project? Creative efforts are hardest at the beginning. Once you get started, your ideas will begin to flow.
Fear of Losing Control
You need other people to help spur your thinking, test your ideas and to give you feedback. Involving others does mean letting go of at least some control.
Broaden Your Perspective
A little confidence in creativity leads to a lot of confidence in everything else.
There are no rules.
Don’t judge your thoughts.
If you’re stuck, take a break.
There will never be “wrong” art. It may not turn out the way you want it to, but that doesn’t make it wrong.
Develop Reciprocal Trust
Trust your co-workers even when they criticize or judge your ideas. They may actually be giving you some food for thought to improve your idea.
The world needs more creative leaders who are not afraid or fearful of creativity. How do you react with creativity through your employees? Being independent when you express your ideas to your employees or co-workers can say a lot about you.