The Essence of Creativity

by Ed Barguiarena, Creative Director

“Wow! She is such an amazing—designer, chef, writer, musician, athlete, speaker, physicist—I could never do that.”

Consider this: What is the essence of the creativity I am witnessing? What is the the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality that makes this creative? 

Another person’s creative mastery can be a blueprint for how you might choose to unpack your own creativity. And it doesn’t have to be in the same areas that you are pursuing. Music can inform customer service, architecture can inform strategic planning. Take a look at the “big picture” gestures: the way a person thinks, moves, and responds to creative challenges. How is creativity expressed in their work and in their life style?

One of the things I love to do with our clients is expose them to lots of creative people through recordings, videos, books, photographs, etc. We explore specific work examples and then discuss why each one is uniquely creative in its own field of study. What’s creative in car design may not be creative in city planning. Although every field has its own distinctive details, it’s the essence of creativity in any given field that we can use for our own creative work.

Look for what you think is the essence of creativity in someone that inspires you and then borrow, mimic, copy, and steal. How might the essence of creativity in one area be applied to your own work—personal or professional? 

Feed your creativity.