On creativity
After just pouring through Cameron Moll’s blog this morning, I came upon this tidbit of wisdom that I just couldn’t help but pass on. Graphic designers, photographers, web-designers — enjoy!
Cameron Moll:
Fear is the Adolf Hitler of creativity killers. It is responsible for supressing and destroying more brilliant ideas than all of the other creativity killers combined. It is a core ingredient of the most potent creative poisons. Fear limits the volume and dilutes the quality of the ideas we generate. It radically constricts the judgement of creative directors, bosses and clients.
Kodzis identifies top creativity killers, some of which include casting premature judgement upon ideas in their infancy, establishing unrealistic deadlines, dealing with managers whose moods change with every iteration, committing creative suicide through lack of discipline, and doing more of the same.
Whenever I hear someone utter the rationale “…because we’ve always done it that way,” I am forced to suppress the urge to throttle them. For creative professionals, it is both insult and injury wrapped in one backward reaching statement. The essence of creativity is the pursuit of something different. The antithesis of creativity is to keep doing what has always been done.
I’m reminded of Greg Storey’s confession upon turning thirty-five:
There is no secret sauce to what I have done with one exception, I never stop working on my confidence.
Hear hear, brother. In my book, there’s no better tranquilizer for fear than confidence.
