Why do we need creativity?
WHAT IS CREATIVITY?
The word, “creativity”, in our society, has mistakenly been limited to only artistic endeavors, but it also encompasses essential parts of everyday life – divergent thinking, problem-solving, and innovation. Whether it's a professional navigating office politics or a child figuring out the right way to construct a sandcastle, creativity is essential and utilized every single day. "We all have creative potential," says Mark Runco, Ph.D., director of the University of Georgia's Torrance Center for Creativity & Talent Development. "Our job as parents and teachers is to help kids fulfill it."[1]
Unfortunately, that creative potential may be going unfulfilled.
The Creativity Crisis
Studies show that creativity is on the decline in the United States. In a 2010 report and 2017 follow-up study*, data indicate that “children have become less emotionally expressive, less energetic, less talkative and verbally expressive, less humorous, less imaginative, less unconventional, less lively and passionate, less perceptive, less apt to connect seemingly irrelevant things, less synthesizing, and less likely to see things from a different angle.”
Many have referred to the declines shown above as a Creativity Crisis for our children. Given that today’s children are tomorrow’s workers and leaders, this Creativity Crisis is of national concern.
In a 2010 IBM Global Survey of more than 1500 CEOs from 60 countries and 33 industries worldwide, creativity was selected as the most crucial factor for future success. That’s right — the most crucial factor, above hard work, discipline, integrity, or vision. Yet, in America creativity has declined steadily since 1990, and creativity programs in schools continue to be cut.
In the modern world, creativity is not a “nice to have” it is a “need to have”. Though some have a natural gift, creativity is a learned behavior. Creativity is a core factor in how you approach things, how you act or react to new circumstances, your proclivity to look at things in different ways, your willingness to question, experiment, and take chances. In other words, creativity is not “what you are” as much as “what you do.”[2]
Creative thinking
in action
To demonstrate the importance of creative thinking, consider the follow scenario:
Sarah (age 6) and Daniel (age 7) are energetic 1st graders at Wayne Elementary School. One day during recess, they find that there is only 1 ball available to play with, and they can’t figure out who gets the ball between the two of them. Daniel asks a teacher to help resolve the situation, and it is decided that they will both get five minutes with the ball. However, Sarah then uses her creativity to create a game where they can both use the ball together. While Daniel did nothing wrong, he ended up relying on someone else to resolve the situation, whereas Sarah used her creativity to achieve a better outcome.
Now, imagine that Sarah and Daniel are all grown up and in the early stages of their professional career. Daniel (now 26) encounters an unforeseen problem regarding his important presentation on an emerging competitive market research to senior management. He’s frustrated and struggling to figure out how he’s going to get through the situation. Sarah (now 25), who has also been tasked with preparing a presentation for her higher ups, encounters her own problem. However, having had her creative potential fulfilled, rather than getting frustrated, Sarah begins to develop a solution.
TORRANCE TESTS OF CREATIVE THINKING
Kyung Hee Kim, Ph.D., an educational psychologist at the College of William & Mary, in Virginia, spent the past decade studying the creativity scores in more than 300,000 students in the U.S. from Kindergarten to the 12th grade. The news is not good: “Creativity scores have significantly decreased since 1990,” she says. Moreover, “creativity scores for kindergartners through third-graders decreased the most, and those from the fourth through sixth grades decreased by the next largest amount.” This is especially concerning as it stunts abilities which are supposed to mature over a lifetime.[2]
“Children aren’t given the opportunity to express their own ideas or come up with their own way of doing things. Instead, the answer is A or B or C.
There is only one right answer.”
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT OF 2001
Furthermore, our education system is currently not positioned to curb this trend. Due to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, many schools have eliminated courses for subject areas and activities not directly aligned to the NCLB's accountability standards for Federal funding. Significantly more time is spent preparing for standardized exams focused on specific core subjects, including Math, English and Science, and less time supporting creative, child-driven learning.
As a result, in the U.S., music and the arts, widely understood as building blocks for enhancing creativity, among other skills, are considered peripheral activities more appropriate for a few talented students rather than the masses. This is in stark contrast with countries, like Hungary, Japan, and the Netherlands, that consistently rank among the highest in math and science test scores. These countries have long adopted mandates for arts and music education programs.[3]
IMPACT ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Related to Daniel and Sarah’s story mentioned above, studies have also found that the benefits of creativity have lasting effects that are important when children age and enter their professional career tracks. IBM’s 2010 Global CEO Study, consisting of in-person interviews with over 1,500 CEOs from 60 countries and 33 industries, uncovered that in this current world plagued with increasing complexities, CEOs believe that creativity trumps all other leadership qualities, including rigor, management discipline, integrity or even vision.[4]
Employees feel similarly, as creativity is regarded as one of the top 3 personality traits most important to career success. On the contrary, 78% of those surveyed in an Adobe Systems study of college-educated employees wish they had more creative ability.[5]
[1] Miranda, C, “Why we need to let kids be creative”, CNN.com, January 3, 2012
[2] Kim, K, “The creativity crisis: the decrease in creative thinking scores on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking”, Creativity Research Journal, 23:4, 285-295; 2011
[3] Ponter, J. “Academic Achievement and the Need for a Comprehensive, Developmental Music Curriculum.” NASSP Bulletin. Vol. 83 No. 604, February 1999.
[4] 2010 IBM Global CEO Study: Capitalizing on Complexity
[5] Creativity and Education: Why it Matters. Adobe Systems, Nov. 2012