i believe that both our economic and spiritual future, good or bad, is directly related to …

[Buy the “Create Or Die” print here etc.]

I believe that both our economic and spiritual future, good or bad, is directly related to our ability to unlock the latent creativity within us.

There. I’ve said it.

It’s been six years since I first started blogging what would eventually end up being my first book, Ignore Everybody.

The book didn’t really start off with a plan. Like I said at the very beginning,

“So you want to be more creative, in art, in business, whatever. Here are some tips that have worked for me over the years.”

That was it. One person’s ramblings. No big, authoritative volume with lots of practical how-to’s, case studies and academic citations.

Some people didn’t care for that. “I paid $23.00 for a hardback edition and I expect RESULTS, dammit!”

Results!

Ah. But I never said anything about results. There was no plan, you see. That’s because there is no plan. There never is.

Writing about creativity is a messy business because creativity is a messy business.

Even using the word “creativity” in conversation is going to get you in trouble from some quarters. Stick your head above the parapet for just a few seconds and watch the arrows start flying at you.

Yet somewhere in the back of our minds, we all know it’s too important a subject to ignore, too important a reality not to confront.

Why? Because when I first started writing Ignore Everybody, I was coming at it from a very personal angle. Confronting one’s existential need to be “creative”, to express oneself etc. Which is why the book did so well with teenagers, college students and young adults just starting out in the working world. That’s the time of life to be thinking about all that.

But now, six years later I’m a bit older and bit more experienced. Maybe a lot more.

And time and experience has led me to conclude that even if we hate the word “creativity”, even if it’s a nasty, annoying, sophomoric, hipster-dipster, New Age gagfest that really should have no place among the serious, results-orientated world of equally serious, result-orientated grownups…

It’s where all meaningful growth is going to come from, both internal and external, whether we like it or not.

I don’t believe creativity can be taught, not really, but I do believe:

• That with a bit of prodding in the right places, individuals can train themselves to be more creative.
• That with a bit of prodding in the right places, individuals working as a team can train themselves to be more creative.
• That with a bit of prodding in the right places, companies and organizations can train themselves to be more creative.
• That with a bit of prodding in the right places, societies can train themselves to be more creative.

And that if they can do this, the value they create will be off the scale.

I’ll say it again: I believe that both our economic and spiritual future, good or bad, is directly related to our ability to unlock the latent creativity within us.

Let the journey begin…