I want to start this article by debunking a popular myth because I’m sure many of you already have a preconceived notion of what this is about before even finishing. Creativity is not limited to certain professions we call creative or artistic.
Creativity is within all of us and is not restricted to our professional domain or daily activities. It is our primary tool for solving problems.
Creativity itself is not a way to solve problems, but it is the fundamental tool for facing our situations. For example, getting from point A to point B is a good example of how creativity can be used. Let’s delve into what’s behind this.
When we try to determine how to get to an unknown place, we look for a way to get a route. Nowadays, this is as simple as opening our smartphone and using a map application. These apps often provide us with a route, but the final choice depends on various parameters, such as how familiar we are with the area we are passing through and the destination we are heading to. We also consider external factors, like whether the recommended place is safe or not. Once we’ve evaluated all this information, we make a decision.
In practical terms, this is the general and simplest process of problem-solving using creativity. We take information we already know, whether obtained in the moment or based on our previous experience, and use it to generate new knowledge—in this case, a travel route. This is creativity: transforming known information into something new, which can be useful not only for solving “problems” but also for more everyday situations.
As I mentioned in the previous section, the knowledge we have about a topic related to what we want to create is vital as it gives us a broader perspective on possible solutions. The greater our experience in a subject, the better and more complex our contributions will be.
For instance, it’s common for people in engineering to propose solutions from their work environments, while those in business and marketing transform metrics into impactful decisions for their work.
It’s important to clarify that anyone can generate new knowledge, but those with greater experience will not only have the ease but also the skill to generate more complex knowledge in a specific area.
As a software developer in my day-to-day work, I observe that within the IT field, some professions overlap. For example, user interface design requires an understanding related to broader areas like graphic design, even though the former is not a direct profession of the latter. This does not exclude other IT professions that can contribute in these areas.
Outside the IT field, there are clear examples of how to transform present information into new knowledge. For example, in medicine, professionals constantly compare current patient parameters with those necessary to ensure the best quality of life, applying treatments with the right dosage since not everyone requires the same intensity.
In the field of law, lawyers are experts in interpreting and applying laws to current situations. Although laws have general guidelines, a lawyer’s creativity allows them to adapt the laws to the specifics of each case, considering if other regulations need to be applied.
Specialization is key to developing creativity because the more one studies, the easier it is to see relationships between information. Information is an interconnected network, so the closer two topics are, the more related they are, and the more aware one is of these relationships, the better contributions can be made to a situation.
Perhaps the greatest misunderstanding about creative professions is the idea that they create something from scratch, as if they are capable of generating something from nothing. However, these professions have a field of knowledge and a framework. For example, designers do not work without a clear direction or specific techniques to communicate their ideas through their designs and presentation media.
To summarize, creativity is not reserved only for artistic or creative professions; it is a skill present in all of us and essential for problem-solving. We use creativity to transform known information into new solutions, from mundane tasks like finding routes with map apps to performing professional tasks. Specialized knowledge and experience in a field allow us to generate more complex and effective solutions. Creativity, then, is not creating from nothing but using available knowledge innovatively to face challenges in various areas of our lives.