Saturday, May 9, 2009

The Element - the meeting point between natural aptitude and personal passion


Sir Ken Robinson writes as well as he speaks. His latest book - The Element - is about the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. Robinson makes his point with well told stories and good humour and clearly shows the vital need to enhance creativity and innovation. It's a great read.


In The Element he identifies some of the features that make up creativity which he describes as a 'very practical process of trying to make something original'. Whether the expression of creativity be song, a theory, a dress, a short story, a boat or a new sauce for your spaghetti Robinson suggests some common features.


Creativity is a process - "a journey that can have many different phases and unexpected turns; it can draw on different sorts of skills and knowledge and end up somewhere entirely unpredicted at the outset."


Creativity involves several different processes that move through each other. "The first is generating new ideas, imaging different possibilities,considering alternative options". It also involves evaluating the ideas. He suggests that "creative work is a delicate balance between generating ideas and sifting and refining them."


Creativity always involves media of some sort to develop ideas. "People who work creatively usually have something in common: they love the media they work with."


Creative work also often involves tapping in to various talents at your disposal.


Enough from me - get a copy of the book - The Element - published by Penguin.



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