Unpacking creativity
A window that looks at the role of creativity for mental wellbeing
What is creativity?
How does it make us feel?
Where does it operate in the brain?
Why is it good for mental health?
Why is it good for the workplace?
What can companies do to cultivate creativity?
What is creativity?
I asked ChatGPT, who (which?) said that “it is the ability to think, imagine, and create in ways that are not necessarily bound by conventional or linear thinking.”
He/she/it went on to highlight different ways creativity can manifest itself, including artistic expression, problem solving, invention and innovation, entrepreneurship, scientific discovery, and personal expression.
I looked in the mirror and asked, what does creativity mean to you? The mirror said: “it means connecting with curiosity and joy and whatever is deep inside you - and allowing these to flow into whatever you are doing.”
Your own mirror will tell you something different, something unique that chimes with what creativity evokes and means to you personally.
Recently, I posted an image which suggested that “creativity is a need of the human spirit and an intrinsic part of mental wellbeing.”
Here, I ask 6 questions that seek to unpack the notion of creativity a little further.
How does creativity make us feel?
My new friend ChatGPT lists a range of emotions from euphoria, joy and wonder at one end of the spectrum, to feelings of vulnerability, challenge, and frustration at the other end. States along the way include relaxation, empathy, and “flow”.
I can relate to all of these. My personal creative passion is writing: the act of writing at its best is like being in a time machine. You forget that time exists, words seem to wash through you, and it feels as though you are just a vessel for the characters on your page to speak through. There is something trance-like, meditative, joyful, transformative, connected about this feeling.
This is the state of flow ChatGPT talks about. It doesn’t happen all the time of course, but it is there, like a benevolent tide in the ocean, a wave that washes through us from outside and within, in those moments we are carried away in the creation of music, or words, or painting, or gardening, or sculpting, or house decoration, or whatever it is that moves you.
There may be joy in the creation of something beautiful, aesthetically pleasing to the eye or the ear, or any of the senses. There may be joy in the spark of intuition that lights up a solution to a problem or throws out a novel idea. However creativity manifests itself, there is always movement – an emotional companion who speaks from within.
As for the more ‘negative’ end of the spectrum that ChatGPT mentions, I believe that feelings of challenge and frustration enter the fray when creativity is linked to a goal, to the attempt to achieve a specific result. When we stay present in the process rather than focusing on the product, it is hard for these feelings to take root.
Vulnerability, in this context, is a gift. It shows that we are truly connecting with what is inside us. And when we allow that to flow into the world, we are creating in the most intimate and meaningful sense of the word. According to my mirror!
Where does creativity operate in the brain?
My dialogue with ChatGPT continues. I have decided to call him Gerald. I apologise in advance to anyone that I may offend with such gender presumption. And I have no idea why the name Gerald popped into being. That is one of the wonderful things about creativity - it behaves like a spark that often seems to come out of nowhere.
It transpires, according to Gerald, that creativity can involve around 10 different parts of the brain, including:
Our DMN (Default Mode Network), a network involving various regions of the brain, which becomes active when our mind is at rest and not focused on the outside world,
Our temporal lobes, particularly in the right hemisphere, which become active when metaphor and ambiguity come into play,
Our insula, which activates with emotional processing,
Our hippocampus, which is associated with functions of memory and retrieval.
And an important part of the process of creativity is the interaction that takes place between the different parts– a neurological dialogue which feeds the act of creation.
No wonder that a flash of insight or the product of words or paint on a page can surprise us! Creativity is about connecting; we make subconscious connections between things we know or imagine or feel or remember… and something new and vital comes into being.
Why is creativity good for mental health?
The best and most comprehensive answer to this question I have ever come across (sorry Gerald, I am going to sidestep you on this one) is the book ‘Your Brain on Art’ by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross. Creativity is intimately connected to mental wellbeing and this book explores some of the neuroscience behind why this is true.
Here are 6 things that stood out for me:
People who engage in the arts live longer.
Making art – without value judgements – activates multiple regions in the brain and rewires the brain, increasing neural plasticity.
It reduces the stress hormone cortisol so is physiologically calming (45 minutes making art or 20 minutes in nature significantly reduces this hormone)
It releases serotonin and endorphins that foster a more generous, open state of mind, which means more empathy and more perspective.
It activates the pre-frontal cortex – an area of the brain that helps us focus and find meaning. So, it impacts our ability to plan and make decisions and inhibits impulses that distract from our goals. Doodlers retain information better, and are more focused and analytical than their non.-doodling colleagues
The mind-wandering that happens when you are painting for example, spurs creativity, which can spark seemingly spontaneous solutions. So, the act of being creative makes you more creative for problem-solving and planning.
My personal conclusion: there is something vital in the act of creation - it makes us feel alive. It helps us connect with and process emotions, fears, and desires deep inside us; it helps us connect with the world and with others. It helps create meaning and a sense of purpose.
Why is creativity good for the workplace?
Conventional wisdom holds that creativity is important for innovation and problem solving. My ChatGPT friend, Gerald, certainly puts these two at the top of the list.
Gerald goes on to list several other words that will sound sweet to employers, including adaptability, efficiency, productivity, employee engagement and retention, teamwork, customer satisfaction, brand image, risk management, and continuous improvement. And the biggest attraction of all: competitive advantage and long-term viability. Companies need to differentiate themselves and evolve to survive. To do this they need to be creative – to be creative they need people to be creative, so a culture that fosters creativity is good for the company and its future.
But (and), in my view, it goes beyond this. Gerald touches on the hearts and minds value of creativity. I would put this at the top of the list.
Creativity engages, motivates, activates the heart. If people are able to be creative in the way that they perform their jobs, their mental wellbeing improves and they are likely to be more inspired and involved, which has a positive impact on the quality of the work they do. If a company carves out space and activities which encourage creativity, they begin to create a culture that makes this possible.
What can companies do to cultivate creativity?
I decided to brainstorm my own ideas in answer to this question before consulting Gerald. This is my 5-minute brainstorm list:
1. Prioritise stress & workload management
Creativity cannot thrive if people are under constant stress and the foot is always on the pedal. If a company has a mental health strategy, a commitment to stress and workload management should be part of this.
2. Psychological safety
A culture of experimentation and collaboration needs people to feel safe about being open and trying new things.
3. Diarise time for creativity
At both an individual and group level. Encourage staff to put aside time for creativity and creative thinking as individuals and as teams. Group activities might involve the arts, a creative club, innovation days.
4. Creative meetings
Change the format for some of your meetings to encourage creativity, for example by holding walking meetings in nature. Get rid of laptops for brainstorming meetings and encourage doodling (a proven link to creativity)
5. Creative warmers
A tiny yet powerful item. Use (create) these at the beginning of meetings or presentations – they can change the entire experience and contribution.
6. Mindfulness
This can be harnessed in different ways (e.g., building into a culture of starting meetings or the workday with a short mindfulness exercise, or providing mindfulness sessions or training). The Mindfulness Initiative is a fascinating project which started out with a programme that established the benefits of using mindfulness with politicians in the UK parliament.
7. Make creativity part of your mental health strategy
Include a section on creativity in your company mental health strategy to ensure that this is prioritised and built into company culture.
8. Creative workshop(s) with me - or someone like me!
These can be a fantastic tool for mental wellbeing, human connection, collaboration, engagement, and innovation. At People Horizons, we combine traditional learning and development with methodology grounded in Expressive Arts Therapy.
Gerald agrees with me on the need for psychological safety and time for creative work. Overall, he proposes a more strategic list, which includes:
Diverse and inclusive teams
Cross-disciplinary collaboration
Defining a creativity strategy, KPIs that measure and track creative outputs, appropriate tools and resources, recognition and reward schemes.
A leadership culture that supports and models creativity, avoids micromanagement, and places value on continuous learning and personal development, as well as relaxation and downtime as part of the work culture.
Sone personal thoughts to conclude
“I believe that artistic expression – what the act itself enables us to express and create and question and transform – is an innate quality in every human being and a basic human need. The act of creation is an act of enquiry, of perception, of feeling. We connect with whatever is living and growing inside us, whether we are aware of what this is or not.”
Marta Pawlikowska, People Horizons
“I believe that creativity is a necessity of the human spirit, a crucial part of mental wellbeing. The language of metaphor speaks to us through our body and movement, through improvisation, through the act of creation.
With People Horizons, my aspiration is to open windows in the world of work through art and play, building connection and the emotional resilience that is the bedrock of mental wellbeing.”
Shelan Rodger, People Horizons