Creativity Is Not Just For Kids

 A selction of quotes on CREATIVITY:  

--------------------

George Land conducted a research study in 1968. What the test shows is that non-creative behavior is learned.

Land did a creativity test on children in the age group 3 to 5. This was the same test he conducted to select scientists and innovative engineers for NASA. He tested the same children at 10 years of age, and again at 15 years of age. The results were shocking.

While the creativity in 5 year olds was 98%, it went down to 30% when they reached the age of 10. And it was just 12% when they were tested as 15 year olds.

When the same test was given to 280,000 adults, the creativity was just 2%.

--------------------

The basic components of the creative process are involved in play. It generates new experimentation, possibilities, and exploration of unlimited fantasy and reality. For the development of a healthy personality, play is crucial.

An adult who has lost his/her creative spark can be taught how to be creative through play. Through a series of experiments they retrieve the child’s sense of wonder in adults. Participants in a creativity training program are taught how to fit into place in the process of creativity, and increase self-confidence in their creativity through play.

-----------------

Creativity begins with a foundation of knowledge, learning a discipline, and mastering a way of thinking. You can learn to be creative by experimenting, exploring, questioning assumptions, using imagination and synthesing information. Learning to be creative is akin to learning a sport. It requires practice to develop the right muscles and a supportive environment in which to flourish.

Generative research shows that everyone has creative abilities. The more training you have and the more diverse the training, the greater the potential for creative output. Research has shown that in creativity quantity equals quality. The longer the list of ideas, the higher the quality of the final solution. Quite often, the highest quality ideas appear at the end of the list.

-------------

Beliefs that only special, talented people are creative (and you have to be born that way) diminish our confidence in our creative abilities. The notion that geniuses such as Shakespeare, Picasso, and Mozart were `gifted’ is a myth, according to a study at Exeter University. Researchers examined outstanding performances in the arts, mathematics, and sports, to find out if, to reach high levels of ability, a person must possess an innate potential called talent.

Few showed early signs of promise prior to parental encouragement.” No one reached high levels of achievement in their field without devoting thousands of hours of serious training. Mozart trained for 16 years before he produced an acknowledged masterwork.