Paradoxes of Creativity

I like this list of eight paradoxes of creativity from creativity thinker Michael Michalko (author of Thinkertoys, among other works):

To create, a person must

• Have knowledge but forget the knowledge;
  
• See unexpected connections in things but not have a mental disorder;
  
• Work hard but spend time doing nothing;
  
• Create many ideas yet most of them are useless;
  
• Look at the same thing as everyone else, yet see something different;
  
• Desire success but learn how to fail;
  
• Be persistent but not stubborn; and,
  
• Listen to experts but know how to disregard them.

These remind me a lot of the insights of the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus.

What other creativity paradoxes can you add to this list?

[photo credit: RvO]

Comments

[Graham Horton]

Understand that rules are important, and yet break them constantly.

Understand that good ideas must be relevant, yet constantly be thinking about irrelevancies.

[David LaMorte]

The one saying that we heard a lot in art school was "Learn the rules before you break the rules." That was probably the most valuable lesson I learned in my 4 years there.

[Shalini Bahl]

These are awesome. Here are a few that come to my mind:

Be aware of thinking patterns shaped by the past to be creative in the present

Being mindful in business is profitable. Yes, for many this is paradoxical.

You can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it (Einstein quote)

In order to live a life of abundance, be free from desire for abundance

To be more productive, practice doing nothing regularly.

[WDF]

Plan but abandon the plan as needed.

[Nimmy]

Lovely! Here's my paradox.

Get passionate about the idea and throw yourself into it while at the same time staying detached in case it doesn't take off (or even for that matter gets taken over by a collective - stronger - force later on...)

[Roger von Oech]

Jimmy, Shalini, WDF, David, Graham: Thanks for your additions!

[Roy Jacobsen]

How about:

Creating something original starts with something that already exists.

[Ambulance Charlotte]

These are awesome. Being mindful in business is profitable. Yes, for many this is paradoxical. keep it up

[Shakespeare's Debtor]

Roger,
Why the prohibition on mental disorders?
There are enough exceptionally creative manic- depressives that some people theorize the condition is an aid to creativity.
Temple Grandin is autistic, but is very creative.
(Perhaps Michael Michalko does not consider these to be mental disorders. At least some mental health professionals would disagree.)
John (Shakespeare's Debtor)

[martha hart]

Listen to your inner artist's voice without listening to the external critics/naysayers/supporters... they always want something that fits into a category they already know. You're trying to find new ways.

Thanks - lovely post.

[Mark Dykeman]

You can find innovative ideas in the mundane and commonplace.

[Chicago Web Marketing]

Great idea and nice information shearing your nice information good luck

[Randy Bosch]

"Nothing endures but change". Heraclitus

[Bill Wren]

Some of these are variations on what others have mentioned:

- Break the rules within the rules.

- Remember to forget.

- Still is still moving. (Willie Nelson)

- A straight line is the least interesting distance between two points. (not sure who said that)

- Don't confuse the true with the real.

[Rajeev]

Truth has many faces. Yesterday's Truth can be today's Untruth. And this is true.

[Randy Bosch]

Recognize non-repeating patterns.

[Samuel]

This is "sort of" a paradox if you let it sink a bit.

"No one is smart enought to be a 100 % wrong"

Or maybe it isn't ;) But I really like it and it fits here.

[Mathieu]

Learning how to fail is to me, a life on its way to success.

Another I would add is that everything is modifiable, no matter how solid it seems.

[Suzanne]

Regarding: Creating many ideas - but many of them are useless

Perhaps we shouldn't label our "excess" ideas as useless, but just unusable for the time being. Sometimes the idea is good but the conditions are not right to use it yet (& even later it might need some tweaking)

[Chicago Web Site Marketing]

Being mindful in business is profitable. Yes, for many this is paradoxical. Temple Grandin is autistic, but is very creative.

[doug]

Develope a sophisticated eye, but learn to see like a child

[Charles]

Everything in moderation - including moderation.

[Tim]

I wouldn't call this a paradox, more of a way of looking at things differently, which has definitely helped me noodle through some problems:

“… We mold clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that makes the vessel useful. We fashion wood for a house, but it is the emptiness inside that makes it livable. We work with the substantial, but it is the emptiness that we use.” – Lao Tzu

[Foz]

To create, a person must

* Have knowledge but forget the knowledge;

Not true - example: a symphony composer can be enormously creative - example: the creative use of dissonance without forgetting for a moment the rules that govern harmony or the structural conventions which bound the genre.

* See unexpected connections in things but not have a mental disorder;

Not true, crazy people have left an enormous legacy of valued creative work - Captain Beefheart had not a stable mind.

* Work hard but spend time doing nothing;
Not true, often creative works of esteem come from folks who actually practice their craft only on rare occasion - example: J.D. Salinger

* Create many ideas yet most of them are useless;
True - but hardly a paradox. A pile of waste accumulates beside many a worker, creative and non-creative alike.

* Look at the same thing as everyone else, yet see something different;
True - but again, not in the least paradoxical. Everyone looks at the things everyone looks at. A creative work is rarely actually creative in the sense that it arises from a view or sensation never before extant but rather typically is creative in the sense of presenting that view or sensation in a context which is surprising to many in the audience. This is not a paradox of seeing that which cannot be seen, but rather the act of successfully directing the attention of the audience to look at the commonplace with juxtaposed perspective.

* Desire success but learn how to fail;
WTF? - Everyone desires success, everyone fails. This does not apply only to left-handed people, or only to those we choose to call "creative". People who don't get back up off their ass after falling down don't get much done... where is the paradox in that fact of life?

* Be persistent but not stubborn; and,
This statement means nothing. One man's persistence in another man's bull-headed refusal to accept reality. Moreover, creative people are often superbly stubborn. Example: Einstein's later years devoted to working [and failing] to produce a unified field theory which would collapse the uncertainty principal... was that persistence or a bull-headed refusal to accept reality? Whichever you choose, this work was in fact "creative".

* Listen to experts but know how to disregard them.
Well, as regards this list, the second half at least is in my opinion good advice.

[Charles]

Secret by Wang Wei (699-761)

No. It is not enough to despise the world.
It is not enough to live one’s life as though
Riches and power were nothings. They are not.

But to grasp the world, to grasp and feel it grow
Great in one’s grasp is likewise not enough

The secret is to grasp it, and let go