After reading How to be Creative, the first thing I
thought is ‘am I creative?’ I honestly don’t even know how to answer that
question. Obviously I haven’t made any huge innovation or I’d be famous, but at
the same time I don’t think I’m dull and unimaginative. The article states that “creativity is a
skill” but it does not clearly define how to acquire that skill. In fact I
found the article very scattered as to “How to be Creative”. You can either
waste time and play ping pong and wait for your imagination to take off or you
can work hard because “all great thinkers are great workers”. Should I try to be creative at my expertise or
approach a new territory as a beginner? From what I learned in this article, is
that there are many ways to be creative, and that it depends on your situation
and how you handle it, and that we have to trust ourselves. I believe that while
creativity may be a skill one can acquire, the actual inspiration and motive
someone has is what defines creativity. Along with that, what one defines as
creativity is ever changing. Creativity changes over time; what it means to us
today is completely different from what is means fifty years ago or a hundred years
ago. Personal experiences can change creativity and bring out various and new ideas. Some people find creativity in art and
architecture while others find creativity in science and technology. I
personally am most likely to find creativity in business through innovation and
technique. The creativity in business is
actually very interesting to me and I believe that it is the key to be
successful. Haydn Shaughnessy’s Forbes article on “Why Is Creativity More Important than
Capitalism” brings together my view on creativity through the more business
minded world. The chart below presents interesting data on the outgrowth of
creativity over capitalism, scientific progress, and technological progress.
These
findings make me want to determine what makes someone creative? Why is there
such an outstanding growth in creativity over other progresses? I think that as
more people explore and go beyond what they perceive is the norm, creativity is
maximized.
I feel like when I was younger I was much more creative than I
am now, probably because I let my imagination do the thinking. Also, my dad has
always been an invention geek and is creating little things here and there. He
has definitely impacted me and my ability to think outside the box. However, as
I’ve grown I’ve been geared more towards an environment based on relevance and
practicality. As an accounting major, creativity is not a key skill focused on.
I have actually not even heard that term
used in any of my accounting classes. After reading this article I want to
learn on how I can bring creativity to the accounting profession.
2. What are your personal experiences with
organizational creativity? Have you worked at companies that felt or behaved in
ways that made them more creative or, even, especially uncreative?
Unfortunately I have never worked at an organization that has
made me feel creative. I was a teller at Wells Fargo for 2 years and then I did
accounting internships at Deloitte and Temple Inland. With my past experiences,
everything has to be done by the book. Rules and guidelines need to be followed
and there is little grey area. “Creative accounting” is actually a negative
term in the profession because it means you’re finding a creative way to understate
costs and overstate earnings. "Creative accounting" in this sense
is the root of a number of accounting scandals. This may be the reason you don’t
hear the world creativity in accounting. They want you to stick to the books
and the rules, not find a creative loophole to avoid paying taxes. While there are so many negative connotations
attached to creativity in the accounting organization, it is important. If it wasn’t
for Enron we wouldn’t have SOX and the higher standards of internal auditing.
At some point, someone’s creativity caused an economic disaster, in which the
accounting profession was able to learn and modify the current standards. Creative accounting would be even more
beneficial if ethical people figured out these schemes and created ways to
protect it from happening. Creating ways
to protect our economic future through accounting can be something to focus on
as a positive view to “creative accounting”.
3. Do you think you, as an individual, are even
capable of being creative by yourself? And, better yet, do you think a group
within an organization is capable of being creative?
Yes, I believe everyone is capable of being creative. It just
depends on if the person has the drive and motivation to do something with their
ideas that makes the difference. I also believe a group within an organization
has the ability to be creative. Ideas often bounce from people to people, and
the more diversity there is in a group, the more potential there is for ideas
to develop.
4. What do you think about this article and the
way this author describes different creative types of problems and, thus,
different creative processes? Should we trust ourselves just to know or sense
when we need one type of approach versus another?
As mentioned early, I think this article is not about how to be
creative, but more about ways different people are creative. I do believe that
we should trust ourselves when it comes to creativity and not be confined by
the approach someone else thinks we should approach. Everyone should have a
mindset of creativity and strive to be creative in what we do.
