INSPIRATION IS TERRIFYING

Doubt is part of any creator's process, but our revulsion to change and uncertainty runs deep. Research shows that to move past it, we must get comfortable with stepping into the void.

- MATT RICHTEL

So you want to be a creator?

You have ideas. You think of them before you go to sleep. You've mentioned them at cocktail parties, to your spouse, to friends who have started businesses, to fellow engineers, to people who play guitar or do comedy at open mic nights. You have a family member who is a screenwriter. You've heard yourself say sheepishly, “I've had this idea..." or "Can I tell you my idea...” and then your voice peters out.

Or maybe you're not sure you have ideas. You sense that there could be one or two innovations in your pocket.

But what do you know about creativity? What business do you have pursuing the Big C-word? Does it have anything to do with you?

Before I tell you that you know more than you think you do, and the steps are much more accessible than you imagine, I must first explain the hidden barrier. I refer here to the D-words, The Big D-Word, Doubt. Then there's the Little D-word-disgust.

Yes, creativity might disgust you, if you're honest. It's terrifying. Vomit-inducing, like a toxin.

Check out the science.

POWERFUL RESEARCH comes from Jack Goncalo, a highly innovative thinker about creativity who, along with two collaborators, asked themselves a question: Do people really like creativity and creators?

This seems like a brainless question. Really? Do people really like creativity? Do we really like ice cream, puppies, rainbows?

In reality, the question they were asking is a fantastic one. In journalism circles, we sometimes call this kind of inquiry "the smart-dumb question.” The idea is to take an idea we think we are absolutely certain we know the answer to and ask if we really are, in fact, absolutely certain. Have we taken a basic assumption for granted?