Who Exactly Are ‘the Creatives’?

I’ve recently written two posts on creativity (“Creativity is a Burden“, “The New Era of Creativity“) and the highly “creative” people that I call Creatives.

In “The New Era of Creativity”, I wrote about how we don’t really know what creativity is, but we can recognize it:

When we encounter something creative, it seems to come from another planet. “Who came up with this?” , “I would’ve never thought of that”, “Brilliant!”, “Beautiful”, “Well that’s stupid,”–these are all reactions to creativity.

Image via Wikipedia

And while we don’t really know what creativity is, highly creative people are very distinct and possess defining qualities. By default, a batch of characteristics come along with being highly creative.

Most people’s gut reactions to this is, “but creativity is used in many ways in many fields by many people.” While this is true, human creativity is at the source of solving most difficult problems in the world, highly creative people are very distinct.

Another common reaction is, “I have tons of ideas. Aren’t I highly creative?” The answer: no you’re not. You’re a dreamer. Possessing some level of creativity is part of being human, and we all have ideas. But, if you are in fact highly creative, you execute on those ideas, or you will lapse into mental illness**.

Creatives are highly independent. High levels of creativity are inextricably linked to independence and individualism. Creative ideas are different by default, and even radical; if you are compelled by your own ideas and act upon them, you are by default different. And to be different, you must be willing to be independent and act on your own.

Creatives tend to fall into boredom, more than the rest of us. If your mind is full of marvelous ideas, the world is boring by contrast. Many people say, “ah, the world is so dull.” Sure, it is at times. But take that to a much greater degree and combine it with some creative ideas, and you have someone creating marvelous sculptures, art, and Disney World that are themselves from a different world.

Creatives are ambitious. If you are compelled by new and radical ideas, and act on them, you are by default ambitious. Who says you are able to do such things?

Creatives are “risk loving” (/accepting of risk). Through a similar line of thinking, highly creative people are willing to accept high levels of risk, at the very least. Risk loving does not necessarily mean they seek out dangerous things. If you are doing something new, you are doing something that feels risky.

Creatives are anti-authoritarian. They by default oppose anything that interferes with the progress of the ideas that compel them. Large institutions are the most frequent source of resistance to change and new things. Consequently, Creatives are by default against the explicit rules that inhibit change. (By doing things different, they also, of course, break implicit rules.)

Ego also plays a large role for the Creatives. If you do not have a strong Ego (or develop one), you will not be able to create, and you will not be able to sustain the strength and level of independence required to do something new, different, and dangerous.

Some would say these are the characteristics of entrepreneurs. That is because many Creatives are what people call entrepreneurs. This is also why you’ll find these same “entrepreneurial” characteristics in many contexts: professors, good teachers, researchers, artists, performers, and so on.

Some would also say these are characteristics of criminals. This is not the case. Creatives are compelled and driven by ideas of value. Creatives build; criminals do not.

If you meet a Creative, they are very distinct. Do you know any?

These are the defining characteristics that come to mind in the time I have to write this post. Are there other characteristics that should be included?

-Kevin
4.21.2010

**On that note, I’ll leave you with one more thing for you to chew on: there seems to be a strong argument that high levels of creativity are connected with manic depression/bipolar disorder. If this description of highly creative people I’ve given is in fact true, this makes a lot of sense (perhaps unfortunately). This is a very interesting side of the human condition, and I urge you to think about it. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to write about it. The meaning of mental disease is worth thinking about.

Bryan Hernandez

All good, but I think you left one out. Creatives fail a lot. da Vinci's flying machine didn't work, Lincoln lost around 12 major elections before becoming president, and, of course, Edison had around 9000 failed attempts to create a light bulb...
That said, creatives fail more than others because they put themselves out there and try more than others. As observers it's easy to be intimidated by the many successes said creative might have, but that's because people often preselect for established successes rather than focusing on the "grit" and personal qualities they obtained to persevere to those successes. A lot more could be said, but you get the idea.

Kevin Vogelsang

Absolutely, if you create, you have to accept the good with the bad. So Creatives do fail a lot. Comes with the territory of doing risky new things.
I wouldn't however put "grit" down as a defining characteristic of a Creative; it isn't necessarily part of their nature. However, it is certainly a characteristic possessed by the successful ones.
Of course, most aren't successful. It seems many Creatives live tragic lives in fact.

Bryan Hernandez

Ah yes, I was referring to the successful ones. It is interesting how most
will live tragic lives. I'd be interested to see some of that research
suggesting correlations to creativity and mental instability, such as those
with bipolarity. I read something once that made a similar assertion about
breakthrough scientists. One suggested that there was a disproportionate
amount of Jewish scientists who made breakthroughs because they, as is
anthropologically observed, the Jewish culture, had been minorities in the
rest of the society for which it contributed. That "comfort" or familiarity
in being an outsider or outcast or what-have-you is what might help them in
challenging the traditional dogmas rampant throughout most science.

Creative ideas are generally challenging, and perhaps people that already
consider themselves to be outsiders have an easier time believing in ideas
that are outsiders too.

Kevin Vogelsang

That makes sense. Willingness to be an outsider is/can be largely a cultural characteristic.

Who Exactly Are ‘the Creatives’?

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