Barriers to creativity
As a creative coach and consultant, I often run into questions about how people can be more creative.
In some organizations, or in life, the process of creativity, creative thinking and ideation are activities that sometimes seem all too fragile. Spending time on creative activities sometimes yield little to no significant results and as a result we resist ideation activities because of the perceived low return on the investment of time and money.
Most of us want to be more creative, but we may not create the circumstances and environment needed for successful creativity.
From my experience in working with coaching clients and work teams, the following are some of the common barriers that limits our creativity and the ideas that result:
- Lack of knowledge about creativity, creative thinking and creative problem-solving.
Often we want to be creative, but we don’t know how to. Creativity, creative thinking and creative problem solving are skills we can learn. It is not, as some think, a supernatural gift from some mystical deity or an inborn quality.
What to do?
Read some books about creativity, creative thinking and creative problem-solving. There are many great books on the creative process and how to approach creative problem-solving and ideation.
Not being a reader is also not a limitation. Many resources on Youtube vividly explain how creativity works and how to have and facilitate ideas.
2. Not having a creative process.
People that work in creative careers understand that creativity is a process. In 1926, Graham Wallas, outlined the four stages of creativity as:
- Preparation: Preparation is about actively researching resources from which ideas can potentially develop.
- Incubation: The second stage is about taking a break and allowing the unconscious mind to process all the information gathered, resulting in the involuntary integration of knowledge crucial for idea generation.
- Illumination: The third stage waits for the flashes of insight that leads to ideas to resolve the problem.
- Verification: The last stage was about the conscious and deliberate testing and finetuning of ideas to solve the original problem.
This is one way to approach creativity. Many other processes exist that support developing your creative ability.
What to do?
Research creative processes and use that knowledge to design creative strategies of your own.
Examples of creative processes include: The James Webb Young five-stage process, the Osborn Parnes creative problem-solving process, Design Thinking, brainstorming, and many more.
3. Lack of knowledge about the problem you want to solve or the idea you want to bring to life.
What often happens is that we are trying to create ideas and apply creativity while we don’t have enough information about the problem or the idea we want to implement. If we don’t know enough, we often create ideas that may be brilliant but may not solve our problems.
What to do?
Ensure you have defined the problem correctly, have the right people in the room when creating ideas, and ensure that all participants understand the problem and its consequences. Invite other role players with skills like specialists and consultants to add thoughts from the outside.
4. Solving the wrong problem.
Solving the wrong problem is something that occurs far too often. There is a focus on the symptoms. Or the focus is on the consequences of the issue. So we often end up with solutions that mitigate the effects or symptoms rather than solve or mitigate the cause of the problem itself.
What to do?
Do root-cause investigations and understand which problem is the one that needs solving.
5. Lack of time defining the problem/idea.
We get so excited about the problem that we jump into ideation and creative thinking even before determining the actual issue.
What to do?
Any creative process must allocate enough time to properly investigate the issue, its origin and the causes.
6. Lack of cross-functional and other knowledge.
Often we constrain ourselves by trying to solve the problems occurring in our environment and thinking that this problem is unique to us. This arrogance often causes us to miss solutions that already exist in other settings, different industries, or even places that are totally different from us. Usually, it may be as simple as consulting with other teams, departments, or partners to find out if they had similar problems and investigate and invite their ideas and solutions.
What to do?
Research how your issue, or problem, exists in the world. Reach out to people who have already solved problems like yours to give input.
7. Lack of incubation and ideation time.
We have an old saying where I am from: “There is never enough time to do things right, but there is always enough time to do it over”. We are constantly trying to race against time, and often, our packed schedules force us to make decisions quickly. Too often, we make the wrong decision leading to wasted time and money. Creativity cannot be rushed.
What to do?
Allocate enough time for research, incubation and ideation. Design your creative process so that there is flexibility for when a new and better idea comes up that it may be leveraged.
A guideline I follow in many ideation sessions is that of the third-third. This principle says that when we are in an ideation session, we will first suggest all the obvious ideas, then offer the possible ideas that are top of mind. In the third-third of the ideation sessions, we are tired, stretched, and even ready to give up when the genuinely unusual, disruptive and innovative ideas start appearing. If you end the session too soon, you never get to the third-third ideas.
8. Lack of courage to propose ideas and fear of judgement.
Often people don’t contribute their ideas because they lack the confidence to do so or fear that colleagues and bosses will think them clueless. Often outrageous and truly industry-changing innovative ideas are withheld because of these fears.
What to do?
Considered by some to be one of the 20 greatest scientists of all time, Linus Pauling allegedly said, “The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.” It is essential to set the rules for participation so that criticism and judgement are discouraged in the divergent thinking part of the ideation process.
Get an excellent facilitator to manage the process.
As a facilitator, I encourage silly, impossible and downright terrible ideas. Often I will contribute a few hysterically bad ones to create an environment in which almost any other idea seems reasonable by comparison. I also clamp down immediately on participants that judge and criticize as not to limit the flow of ideas.
9. Not recording ideas, insights and observations when they occur
One of the most significant limiting factors that constrain creativity is not recording ideas, insights and observations when they occur. If you don’t, it is too easy to forget your ideas, insights and observations.
What to do?
One of my creative thinking mentors was Win Wenger. His advice to us was to always carry a small notebook and a pen or pencil. The purpose of this notebook was to be a place where you could record ideas as they occur.
If you recorded only one idea, two observations, and three insights every day, in thirty days, you will have thirty new ideas, sixty observations and ninety insights. This is a powerful way of expanding and exploring your creative thoughts and knowledge.
You will be actively creating and recording new ideas, and you will also learn to be more aware of the world and how it works, which will become a fertile foundation for even more creative thinking and new ideas.
So, go buy a little notebook, start carrying it with you and get in the habit of recording your ideas, observations and insights.
10. Not giving yourself time for reflection and contemplation.
As important as it is to create ideas, it is equally important to give yourself time to reflect and contemplate your idea. It is about applying thinking to what your ideas would mean for you, for the problem it seeks to solve, and even its impact on the world. By purposefully thinking about your ideas, you will allow yourself deeper insights and even more ideas. You will begin to understand the impacts, effects and the consequences.
Of all my creative practices, this is the one that bears the most fruit.
What to do?
Set aside regular time to reflect and contemplate your ideas. Record your thoughts, insights and observations.
In conclusion
There are many more barriers to creativity than I mention here, but these are some of the more obvious things you can consider.
Happy ideating!
