It is infinitely valuable and everyone looks in the wrong place for it.
Creativity is what makes everything worth living for. It’s what keeps humans from being outsourced and automated. It’s the future of our economy. I work with the greatest entertainment companies in the world. When I tell people my career, they often tell me “I’m not creative.” They’re wrong and stupid!
When I talk to people in “creative” careers, they often think the same way – that creativity is a special gift that comes to them. They’re wrong and stupid.
Everyone’s wrong and stupid.
The dictionary’s definition of creativity includes “original ideas” which I don’t believe exist, so Oxford’s a dummy too… whoever they are!
Right, Smart
Creativity is the ability to create. Too often it’s linked to a magical idea of imagination and wonder. If you’re imagining and wondering, you’re not creating… and creating comes from solving problems with a tangible result.
I want a bowl of soup (problem). I open the can, pour it in a bowl, nuke it. I have a bowl of soup (solved). I was creative. I created.
You have the ability to solve problems, you do it every day. Your problem solving brain works great, and your imagination works great too!
99% of stuff sucks
I’ve been watching a lot of Shark Tank. It dawned on me that the successful entrepreneurs have a similar quality to the funnest entertainers in the world: Single-mindedness. They are focused on solving one big problem.
A funny standup comedian decides they want to be a funny standup comedian when they are not a funny comedian. Here are some of the steps that they go thru.
- watch standup
- write
- get on stage
- suck
- write
- suck
- get on stage
- suck
- write
- don’t get distracted by trying to impress other comedians
- write
- get on stage
- get some laughs
- get on stage
- suck
- write
- don’t get distracted by trying to get some obscure gig
- watch what funny comedians do
- ask people for help being funnier
- write
- suck
- suck
- do okay
- get on stage
- watch what unfunny comedians do
- suck
- write
- do okay
- don’t get distracted by trying to be popular on social media
- get on stage
The hardest part of this whole thing is not the sucking, or the writing or the other stuff. It’s the sticking to the one task. That’s one thing that separates the funny comedian from the 99%. The other main thing is setting the goal of being funny.
Everyone’s ready
You or your team don’t need to be right or smart. You don’t need some special imagination or spiritual enlightenment. You basically need a single goal that’s attainable and the patience to attain it.
Scattered is the opposite
It’s similar to an alcoholic hitting rock bottom. Rock bottom is not a universal place for everyone. It’s a point when the sufferer says “this is my main priority and I will sacrifice a lot to solve it. I will even suck, face it, and ask for help.”