138 – How to become an everyday creative | Ft. Mykel Dixon
Myths abound on the concept of creativity. Far from being a skill afforded to a chosen few, creativity is an innate human attribute that expresses itself in countless ways. Indeed, it has frequently served our species as a survival skill. Mykel Dixon works to help people recognize this reality and discover what makes them uniquely suited to contribute…in his words, ¨find their magic.¨ Unlocking the potential of self-expression is the theme of today’s conversation, as the author of ¨Everyday Creative” takes creativity out of the box.
Lessons Learned
1:21 The Freedom to Fly
In Dixon´s experience, the word ¨creativity¨ can trigger feelings of intimidation. In turn, these individuals may be discouraged from taking advantage of opportunities that would otherwise be a fit for their interests. This mindset can direct our professional lives, our personal lives, and even our romantic lives. An important part of unleashing our creativity is allowing ourselves the freedom to discover, to push the boundaries we place around ourselves. Something as simple as an introductory workshop could open entirely new possibilities.
3:06 What Happens to a Dream Deferred?
Suppressing our natural inclination toward creativity is practically impossible. Even buried beneath the weight of our adult lives, our inner children will find a path to play. Dixon speaks to the pent-up creativity lurking within many of us, lamenting a cultural atmosphere that fails to value it appropriately. Innovative solutions to our new challenges will prove decisive in the future of organizationations across industries. With the arts and humanities expected to shape our world in unpredictable ways, creative potential has never been more potent.
7:01 Recognizing Opportunities
We are often trained to take a very narrow view of creative power, limiting it to high-visibility pursuits such as music and visual arts. However, to a careful eye creativity makes itself obvious. Devising effective answers to the countless questions you come across every day is an exercise in creativity. Dixon himself places great value on his journey of discovery, which took him around the world and through multiple strata of society. Such eclectic experiences forced him to see the world in a new way…an essential element of creativity.
14:55 Brand New Eyes
The benefit of giving creativity room to flourish has gained near-universal appreciation in recent years. Children can draw the idea of creative potential into sharp relief. Their minds are tremendously flexible, passively discovering novel associations on a full-time basis. Essentially, they have not been trained not to think. Lack of creativity is a learned idea…which means that it can be unlearned. A crucial aspect of leadership is to curate a more vibrant team dynamic by challenging team members to find their own inspiration.
18:01 Thinking Time
In many cases, we say ¨I am not creative¨ when we mean ¨I do not have time to create.¨ With so many demands on our time, there is precious little space left to simply let our curiosities wander. An atmosphere that values solutions but not the discovery process that birthed them is destined for failure. For these reasons, we should consider creativity our responsibility to ourselves, a by-product of our own self-actualization. In order to change our results, we must first take time to devise a new approach…this is creativity in practice.
27:22 Demonstrating Your Development
As an organizational leader, perhaps your most important responsibility lies in modeling the results of the methods you endorse. No leader would ask team members to do anything that they would not do themselves. If you are asking those you rely on to pour more of themselves into the group effort, you must be willing to do the same. Sharing unpolished ideas, and taking calculated risks are behaviors that must be encouraged from the top down. Most importantly, there has to be room for failure in order to encourage true growth.
Connect with Mykel Dixon:
Website: https://www.mykeldixon.com/
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/mykeldixon
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mykeldixon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mykeldixon/
