CREATIVITY is within us all, there is no need to test anyone for CREATIVITY. Everyone has the capacity to be CREATIVE. Many researchers have found that CREATIVITY is attributed to simply hard work—about 10,000 hours of it. The individual should possess a capacity for endurance, concentration, commitment, motivation, playfulness, openness, simplicity and EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. CREATIVITY is not a matter of intelligence or IQ. Carol Dweck did numerous studies and found that those who credit innate talents rather than hard work give up more easily when facing a novel challenge because they assume it exceeds their ability. S. de Beauvoir said; “one is not born a genius one becomes a genius.

It is up to the teachers and mentors to open the “window” to allow the CREATIVITY to flow.  “Anyone can cultivate CREATIVITY,” says J. Houtz, professor at Fordham. He says that we ALL are rich in this potential, CREATIVITY does not come naturally, learning the right skills we all can develop CREATIVITY. All children express CREATIVITY.

“It is important to study what others of an earlier generation has done,” said P. Picasso. Within the 10,000 hours of studying the fundamentals, the building blocks, one develops the high level of CREATIVITY. This knowledge becomes intuition after the 10,000 hours. The intuition then allows one to fly free.

There is no fast track for CREATIVITY. Genes do not make one creative, it is the 10,000 hours. Mozart did the deliberate practice from the time he was three years old. He studied all the masters before him. No one is born with skill or CREATIVITY. Deliberate practice allows the top performers to maintain their skill. CREATIVITY is only a result of good work habits. Picasso said;  ”He started out drawing like Raphael, but it took him a lifetime to learn to draw like a child.”

CREATIVITY is not a thing it is a process. Any one can aspire to CREATIVITY through deliberate practice, 10,000 hours.

References:  N. Andreasen, Waitzkin, M. Gladwell, G.Colvin, T. Tharp, D. Shenk, P. Tough

Categories: PERSPECTIVES Philosophical Perspective

ron winnegrad

Ron Winnegrad has been a Perfumer and teacher for 46 years. As a perfumer, Ron has been able to express the world he sees through a rainbow of olfactive and emotive visions. As a teacher, Ron has helped others to see fragrance through his own multi sensorial lens.