Creativity has long been looked upon as an activity behind the closet. No wonder many myths have developed around the creative process. Not to be left behind, there are many myth busters out there as well!

What myth proponents and myth busters refuse to see is that creativity is a very individual thing. It is not a subject of study amenable to rules and too many do’s and don’ts.

Here are some common myths about creativity along with my comments:

Myth 1: Creativity is inborn and only a chosen few are creative.

While it is true that creativity is inborn, it is not true that only a chosen few are creative. Everyone is born creative. In the process of growing up, educating ourselves and adapting ourselves to our environment, we slowly add blocks to our creativity and forget that we had it in the first place. The difference between a creative person and a person who is not so creative is not in the creativity that they were born with but in the creativity that they have lost.

Myth 2: Creativity can be developed by using certain methods, tools and techniques.

Methods are okay as stepping stones to creativity but eventually they act as mental straitjackets. They hinder creativity for the simple reason that creativity is not a predetermined path. It is about laying out your own path. While methods come from experience, creativity is a foray into the unknown. There can therefore be no formulas or recipes for being creative.

Myth 3: Creative people are weird.

Well, some of them may come across as ones but most are regular people who wear a tie and have bosses to report to. The truth is that everyone is creative in their own way. It may be a hard pill to swallow but even the most stuffy, straight-laced person is as creative as anyone else. It’s just how and how much one uses one’s creativity. So the statement “Creative people are weird” suddenly turns into “All people are weird”. And being a little different never hurt anyone anyway?

PS: Some of the most creative people are the bureaucrats and ministers in Singapore. (You surely need creativity to make rules, not to follow them.) You will agree that they are far from being weird!

Myth 4: Only the creative types have creative ideas.

We all have this mental image of the ‘creative types’ complete with the goatee, piercings and the coffee mug. Well, these ‘creative types’ in most cases are creative and are able to come up with ideas but that does not preclude everyone else from being creative as well. The fact is, almost all of the research in this field shows that anyone with normal intelligence is capable of doing some degree of creative work. Creativity depends on a number of things: experience, knowledge, technical skills, talent, an ability to think in new ways and the capacity to push through uncreative dry spells. Intrinsic motivation is especially critical.

Myth 5: Creativity is spontaneous.

This is certainly true. We have all experienced that brilliant moment, when seemingly out of nowhere, we get some brilliant idea. It can happen, anytime, anywhere (it usually happens to me when I am shaving). But the opposite is not necessarily untrue. Creativity can be worked upon as well.

Ideas, concepts, images, tunes, and phrases do pop into consciousness for no apparent reason, but scientists have discovered that creativity is mostly conscious, hard work. Mozart’s ‘spontaneous inspirations’ were no accident. Mozart worked incredibly hard and was enormously productive. He came out of an era in which the musician was related to the craftsman. Craftsmen don’t wait for spontaneous inspiration. They get to work.

Myth 6: Creativity only applies to science and the fine arts.

This one I completely disagree with. Creativity can enhance and enrich each and every experience be it work, relationships, investing, sports and even accounting! To be alive is to be creative and to be creative is to be alive.

Myth 7: Pressure situations spark creativity.

To each his own is what I say. High pressure situations work for a lot of people. People come up with wonderful ideas with their backs to the wall. At the same time, relaxed situations and environments also tend to spur ideas in a lot of people. The key is to identify what works best for you.

Myth 8: Competitive situations foster creativity better than cooperative situations.

Reminds me of the capitalism vs. communism debate! Competition causes lots of ideas to be generated and sometimes companies create an environment where the employee with the best idea is rewarded. While this method does work, it works for all the wrong reasons. By keeping ideas to themselves, the employees don’t allow ideas to be refined by anyone else’s input. They just work silently on their own and hoard up ideas for the opportune moment.

Collaboration gives an extra something to even the best ideas. Without it, the idea is limited by just one person’s perspective. It could have been helped along by a couple of more minds.

Myth 9: Creativity is a specialist’s role.

It’s amazing how many people discount ‘professional’ creativity as something reserved for people like designers and writers. Not true! In fact, I’d argue that just about any job can be helped by a healthy dose of creative thinking.

Myth 10: Creative people always have great ideas.

Most creative people only have a few great ideas out of a barrel-full. It’s these few “gems” that make the process worthwhile for the dreamer. They too encounter failure like anyone else. But then failure drives them to try harder the next time.

]]> http://tickledbylife.com/index.php/myths-about-creativity/feed/ 2 http://tickledbylife.com/index.php/3-myths-related-to-training-and-learning/ http://tickledbylife.com/index.php/3-myths-related-to-training-and-learning/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:00:17 +0000 Shalu Wasu http://tickledbylife.com/site/?p=287 Myths have a way of perpetuating themselves. There are quite a few related to training and learning too. Everyone seems to believe in them. So much so that they have become sacrosanct and no one even bothers to question them.

When I heard some for the first time, it was in the context of a training program that I was myself going through. My first reaction was: ‘Wow! That sounds incredible.’ In the enthusiasm of the collective wows that were generated, I accepted the myths as truth.

But I soon realized I was not comfortable believing in them. Intuitively, I knew they could not be true.

Now all these myths seemed to be backed up by solid research though. So I wondered if I was being my usual arrogant self by questioning these supposed universal ‘truths’.

But I started my probe anyway and what I found really warmed my heart! These were myths for sure, very similar to urban legends that get popularized without any sound basis. Read on and join me in smashing them.

You remember 10% of what you read, 20% of what you hear, 30% of what you see and 90% of what you do.

This is a widely repeated statement by trainers all over the world. Maybe you’ve been subjected to this statement at some time as well. I hope you have not made it though! The round figures are easily remembered but completely wrong.

The findings can be traced to one D.G. Treichler, an employee of Mobil Oil Company, who put forth these figures in 1967.

However, the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science has laid claim to the figures, saying they are based on research in the early sixties and bizarrely adding that ‘we no longer have – nor can we find – the original research that supports the numbers’.

Though, there are many arguments against these figures, one that is most obvious is that all the percentages are perfectly round. What research into human behaviour ever resulted in four different round numbers?

In communication, only 7% of the meaning is conveyed through the speaker’s words, 55% through his facial expressions and the rest 38% through tone of voice.

I am sure you have come across this lulu too, especially if you have attended communication or NLP programs. In one sweeping statement, words are reduced to an insignificant role in the great game of communication.

Yet, when we think about this deeply, the fallacies start becoming obvious. Is it really possible that if I get lost in Shanghai and ask a passer-by for directions, I’ll have to work out the correct route mostly from their facial expressions and tone of voice, and not from the words they use?

The findings are attributed to research done by Mehrabian but, in reality, they are just a distorted version of what Mehrabian himself has to say on his website. He expresses the results of his research in the form of an equation:

Total liking = 7% verbal liking + 38% vocal liking + 55% facial liking

He explains that “this and other equations regarding relative importance of verbal and nonverbal messages were derived from experiments dealing with communications of feelings and attitudes (i.e. like-dislike). Unless a communicator is talking about their feelings or attitudes, these equations are not applicable.”

We use 10% of our brain (or anywhere from 1% to 15% depending upon where you have read it).

This one is so popular, even Albert Einstein is usually roped in as one of the endorsers! The media too has played a role in orchestrating this myth. Many of us therefore look at it as given.

Scientists have tried for years to change this misconception. They have clearly stated that there is no scientific evidence to suggest that we use only 10% of our brains. In fact it is very hard to say what using just 10% of your brain means.

It could mean that I could cut 90% of my brain and be just fine or that I just use only one out of every ten nerve cells at any one time. Let’s attack this one with common sense.

First of all, it is obvious that the brain, like all other organs, has been shaped by natural selection. Brain tissue is metabolically expensive both to grow and to run.

It strains credulity to think that evolution would have permitted squandering of resources on a scale necessary to build and maintain such a massively underutilized organ.

Secondly, losing far less than 90 percent of the brain to accident or disease has catastrophic consequences. Various medical tests reveal that there does not seem to be any area of the brain that can be destroyed without leaving the patient with some kind of functional deficit.

Likewise, electrical stimulation of points in the brain during neurosurgery has failed so far to uncover any dormant areas where no percept, emotion or movement is elicited by applying these tiny currents.

Having dug hard and deep, I find no evidence at all to support this myth.

The most powerful lure of the myth is probably the idea that we might develop psychic abilities, or at least gain a leg up on the competition by improving our memory or concentration.

All this is available for the asking, the ads say, if we just tapped into our most incredible of organs, the brain. It is past time to put this myth to rest, although if it has survived at least a century so far, it will surely live on into the new millennium.

The next time you are subjected to this one, just ask the speaker politely “Oh? What part don’t you use?”

Read these interesting articles to find out more about these myths and other myths related to training and learning.

Myths about adult learning

Myths about coaching

We use 10% of our brain

Myths about communication

Myths about NLP training

Myths about train the trainer

You’ve probably heard this left/right brain dichotomy before. It goes something like this: the left hemisphere of the brain is logical, deductive, mathematical, etc., while the right hemisphere is artistic, visual and imaginative.

The idea stems at least partly from the classic studies of split brain patients performed by Sperry and Gazzaniga in the 1960s. At an intuitive level, I do not agree with this, so I decided to do some research and this is what I found.

There are some functional asymmetries in the brain, and it is true that certain regions of both hemispheres are specialized for particular functions. Speech illustrates this, but also shows that nothing is ever so simple when it comes to the brain.

In most right-handed people, speech is processed in both hemispheres, but predominantly in the left. In some left-handers, speech is processed either predominantly in the right hemisphere or on both sides.

All complex behaviours and cognitive functions require the integrated actions of multiple brain regions in both hemispheres of the brain.

All types of information are probably processed in both the left and right hemispheres, perhaps in different ways, so that the processing carried out on one side of the brain complements, rather than substitutes, that being carried out on the other.

Every mental faculty seems to be shared across the brain, with complementary contributions. It is the combination, not separation, that matters. The mutually exclusive model has all but disappeared from the literature.

People can no longer be characterised or caricatured as right and left brainers. This is now seen as a primitive form of simplistic labelling or phrenology.

It seems like a situation where some results from a study a few decades ago have been extrapolated, distorted and stretched to build this story.

So the notion that someone is “left-brained” or “right-brained” is absolute nonsense. It is like arguing that my left eye is better for movies and the right one is better for reading the newspaper!

Overall, I can’t care less about this whole thing. What matters to me, is not which part of my brain my creativity resides in, but the fact that it does and what I can do to nurture and enhance it.

Shalu is a Singapore based creativity consultant and trainer. His next creativity workshop – ‘Success though creativity and innovation’ is on the 30^th and 31^st October at NUS Extension. To find out more, click here.

]]> http://tickledbylife.com/index.php/right-brain-left-brain/feed/ 2 http://tickledbylife.com/index.php/bursting-the-boss-myth/ http://tickledbylife.com/index.php/bursting-the-boss-myth/#comments Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:58:18 +0000 Harvinder Kaur http://tickledbylife.com/site/?p=776 “There is no such thing as a ‘boss’,” he announced, leaning back with his cup of green tea. The three of us burst out laughing – together. We worked in the same department and had to meet a deadline in three days to keep his bossy highness in good humour. This man was obviously getting tipsy over green tea! Or may be he was unemployed – perpetually so. Perhaps, he was a boss himself waxing eloquent trying to deconstruct his role verbally, while holding on to his golden throne. Just a subtler form of power play. Anyway, it was party time and the strangest of theories could be entertaining at times.

“The ‘boss’ is an illusion and like all illusions its strength depends on the perceiver’s mind,” wisdom poured like a fountain. So, what was he suggesting, if the three of us practiced concentration hard enough our pot-bellied, tyrannical, gold-toothed corporate master could be…whooosh!!!?? “Of course, there are no magic wands,” (Oh my God, the guy was a mind reader!) “but if you try hard enough and long enough you can be free of the bossiness of others if not get rid of the boss figure.” I wonder if he noted the frowns and sighs that went round the room. “There is no great secret behind this Рonly the simple understanding of the web.”  The web? www…the answer to all ills? Don’t tell me this was going to be a combined form of advaita philosophy and matrix maya churned together by some glib talker who never worked under pressure or had to fend for a family? “What web?” someone burst forth. I wasn’t the only one listening!

“The web of life – the reality of our being connected. Life is not a vertical or linear arrangement, it’s more like a mass of wires connected. While it’s not possible to always reach each wire centre directly there is always a connection.” That was a good idea Рprovoke the boss’s wife-wire, or kidnap… after all, those connections would produce fairly direct results. “But remember, if you snap or cut a wire, the entire system is affected.” What a mind reader! Or may be it’s just obvious, that’s what most – all(?) bossed-upon employees want to do!

“You have to work towards finding the mass of wires that meet at an interval and try to produce an effect there.” So networking was the key, right? “Sometimes a good hard shake-up gets a dysfunctional interval to start again.” Ah revolution! So, that’s what he’s been talking about all along. I always knew revolution was the answer when came to some bosses at least.
“…Or an exchange of wires sometimes can work….”
What does it all mean? Not in woolly, abstract terms but for real-life people like us with deadlines and performance pay?

“…which just means that you’ve got to make the person see from your and other points of view, whether the person is your boss or your servant. Perception is all.” Easier said than done, my boss was severally myopic – literally and metaphorically. He hid and remedied one type of myopia by wearing contacts, but what is the answer to the myopia of the mind? How to make him see? “Begin by what the person does understand and is sensitive to and then take him to that he yet doesn’t fully comprehend.”

“Oh yeah! Like start from profit and take him to more profit! And if you really want him to see anything besides – forget beyond profit or his ego, it will take ages, I’d probably leave this job and move on by the time that happens, if it happens at all. Who cares about his transformation then?!”

“Transformation requires patience and knowledge or wisdom. First, the knowledge of the right ‘wires’ (read, string pulling!) and secondly, the knowledge to let go and wait patiently for the signal to reach the right point. But remember, sometimes, you just can’t pass electric current through a fused wire. It will take time and perhaps more than one stuck signal for the web to take out and make new the fused wire or even replace it.”

Fused wire? …Replace it?…I couldn‚Äôt quite make out whether he was talking about death and resurrection, or sending someone to a really transforming workshop, or simply saying that hang on there till more people push and he‚Äôs forced to quit, may be even fired. My devilish serpent tongue was licking my lips. Anyway, I still guess it would take some serious time for his bosses to realize that he‚Äôs fake‚Ķ. And what if it did happen? He may be replaced by yet another wired up character rather than a live wire one. That‚Äôs being back to square one ‚Äì with a different boss.

I wonder if he thought the same way about his bosses, and they about their respective bosses…where would this lead to? God?…or back to the web of which we are all an integral part? The notion of hierarchy leads to the ultimate boss РGod, and he’s NEVER directly accessible! You don’t even know whether his representatives are really his representatives, may be they are just pretending or worse, are self-deluded. If God isn’t the answer that leads us back to the web and the onus is on us, and a lot of wire work needs to be done. While you are at it, do the work as best as you can, make the right noise in right places, if possible in the right way and wait…and wait…and wait…and if nothing happens Рsip green tea – it’s good for the heart!

Harvinder Kaur is an educator and a writer, currently heading an international school in Mumbai.

Weight loss isn’t always that quick though and it is important to understand that although there are many promotions on TV and the Internet that promise otherwise, they don’t always ring true. One thing to remember is that when you hear hype in the media, chances are it is just that. People are trying to sell a product to the unsuspecting person who wants the fastest way to lose weight so they make sure that you listen to them.

Your might even have friends who have blogs that tell you a variety of things that will help you lose belly fat but you have tried them and they just don’t work. There are several common things that people believe when they want to understand how to lose weight and most of them are false.

Here are a few myths that we have found not to be true:

Myth #1: The Best Way To Lose Weight Is By Doing Cardio
There are a lot of cardio myths out there that have everyone working their behinds off because they think this is the key to the fastest way to lose weight. Some say you have to do this before breakfast, others say you have to do it for 20 – 45 minutes and still others say it has to be intense cardio.

The reality is that although cardio works you have to do it over a period of time if you want to have a rapid fat loss. You also have to be willing to change your lifestyle towards eating more whole foods, vegetables, fruits and nuts.

Myth #2: If You Want To Lose Belly Fat This Supplement Will Work
For any supplement out there you will find thousands of websites saying they will help you lose belly fat or by adding the supplement to your regular diet it will help you burn fat. The challenge is that there have been not studies or scientific evidence that say that supplements help in every situation.

For some people the vitamins, minerals or other supplements are actually helping them get better nutrition. With better nutrition this will automatically help you lose weight over time and this eating better can be the best way to lose weight.

Myth #3:  You can lose weight without doing exercise
There are several websites that tell you this because they have some sort of fat burner or metabolism raiser that says it is for people who hate to exercise. The bottom line is that if you really want to know how to lose weight exercise is a part of it. You can tell this is true if you spend most of your time in front of the TV instead of going out and walking around.

A little exercise may make you see that this is true because if you are eating right and getting some exercise it will help you burn your belly fat. This could be the fastest way to lose weight.

Myth #4: Losing weight is easy
We don’t know who came up with this one! The best way to lose weight is to eat better and exercise. However, it depends on how much you want to lose whether it is easy or not. Those people who work on ways to loose belly fat can tell you it isn’t all that easy.

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Matt Lisk is a fat loss expert who has used his knowledge to lose over 80 pounds of body fat, reduce his body fat percentage to under 10% and to resolve a variety of health issues he was experiencing. He is the author of Lean State University’s Fat Loss 101 Newsletter at http://leanstate.com