Why we crave creativity but reject creative ideas

Love Creativity, But "Creative Ideas" Turn You Off... Why?

Most folks view creativity (the result of a creative idea) as a something to behold, that is until you present them with an actual creative idea. I believe it's because a creative idea not only opens up new perspectives; it also triggers a profound sense of uncertainty.
You see most living creatures "learn" that uncertainty, or the more focused term "apprehension", is good for survival.
An example is the infant who has no "natural fear" of a honey bee, until it "learns" by either "experience" or "observation" that the creature can harm them.
Once the infant is "painfully stung", or sees an authority figure's reaction to the creature, an association or "trigger" of "insect = pain = flee" is created in the subconscious.
 

 
It's what some call a "survival programming". And it has nothing to do with "logical thinking"... That's the job of your conscious mind. (Neither is it survival "instinct", that some say we ARE born with. That's a topic for another article.)
The bad news is that once that association or trigger has been created, that "programming" is permanent... and in the mind's eye, it's very "real"! And now you can see how most of your "fears" were created, and even more so illogical.
The good news is that these fears, associations, or triggers (in geek speak, that "programming") CAN BE UPDATED so-to-speak. Consider your subconscious an UN-erasable memory bank. You have infinite space, but you can NEVER erase anything that you've learned. You CAN however install a "later statement" that adjusts that "original association" for a more desirable result. (HOW this is done is again a topic for another article.)

Back to why those "Creative Ideas" make you feel uneasy:

The next time that "great idea" elicits silence or eye rolls, you might want to have a little pity for those folks. Fresh research indicates they really don't know what a creative idea looks like. And that creativity, celebrated as a positive change agent, actually makes folks skittish.
 

 
"How is it that people say they want creativity but in reality often reject it?" said Jack Goncalo, ILR School assistant professor of organizational behavior.
Well, he wrote a report on two 2010 experiments at the University of Pennsylvania involving more than 200 people. And the studies' findings included:

• Creative ideas are by definition novel, and novelty can trigger feelings of uncertainty that make most people uncomfortable.
• People dismiss creative ideas in favor of ideas that are purely practical -- tried and true.
• Objective evidence shoring up the validity of a creative proposal does not motivate folks to accept it.
• Anti-creativity bias is so subtle that people are unaware of it, which can interfere with their ability to recognize a creative idea.

For example, subjects had a negative reaction to the creative idea of a running shoe equipped with nanotechnology that adjusted fabric thickness to cool the foot and reduce blisters.
To uncover the apparent bias against creativity, the researchers used a subtle technique to measure unconscious bias -- the kind to which folks may not want to admit, such as racism. Results revealed that while folks explicitly claimed to desire creative ideas, they actually associated creative ideas with negative words such as "vomit," "poison" and "agony."
Goncalo said this bias caused subjects to reject ideas for new products that were novel and high quality.
"Our findings imply a deep irony," wrote the authors, who also include Jennifer Mueller of the University of Pennsylvania and Shimul Melwani of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. "Revealing the existence and nature of a bias against creativity can help explain why people might reject creative ideas and stifle scientific advancements, even in the face of strong intentions to the contrary."
Uncertainty drives the search for and generation of creative ideas, but "uncertainty also makes us less able to recognize creativity, perhaps when we need it most," the researchers wrote.

"Revealing the existence and nature of a bias against creativity can help explain why folks might reject creative ideas and stifle scientific advancements, even in the face of strong intentions to the contrary. ...

The field of creativity may need to shift its current focus from identifying how to generate more creative ideas to identify how to help innovative institutions recognize and accept creativity."

With this information in mind, are YOU really open to creative ideas? Of course most of you will answer to the affirmative because your "intent" is there.
But when "push comes to shove" CAN YOU COMMIT TO THE ACTUAL CREATIVE IDEA?
You might see where I'm going with this. If not, Let me give you an example: All of your life, you have been surrounded by family, friends, associates in and of the "employee mindset". It's therefore safe to say that like it or not "you've been programmed with the employee mindset".
Even though you often hate the tedium of your job, office, plant, boss, etc., you endure by the justification that you feel secure. After all "It's what you KNOW", "It's what you DO", It's WHO you ARE", Right?
Now let's say that you've worked at 6 big companies in your lifetime. Your work record is impeccable. In fact you've achieved a "management" or at very least "the expert" position with each. You've experienced layoffs with several of those companies. In spite or because of it, each time you've moved on to an even better position.
You've got 10 years "in" with your present employer and they (and you) are preparing for #8 RIF (Reduction In Force) in the past 5 years.
And I'll just bet dollars-to-doughnuts that each time, you've busting your hump at your job... put out an extraordinary effort... AND your updated that resume... again... haven't you!
Now, someone comes along and presents you with a creative idea... one that will have you earning more in 3 months than your present yearly salary... to work from anywhere you like... the opportunity for you to step away from the tedium, the "pseudo security", the feeling of indenturment, living paycheck to paycheck, etc.,etc.
And yet sadly, like those folks in Concalo's experiments above, although you honestly enjoy, respect, and even "crave" the idea of "creativity"... you will REJECT "creative ideas" ONLY because of your own "uncertainty" or "fears".
And even more sadly, as a result of your subconscious "programming" you'll probably never even come close to seeing your hopes and dreams realized.
Well guess what friend... Here comes a "creative idea" again. So stop "sitting on the fence" "thinking" about your hopes and dreams... and start "living them"!
Keep your "day job" if that's what floats your boat. You won't need to sell a body part to buy in. You won't need to sacrifice your family time, bowling, or your softball coaching.
Matter of fact at the end of the day, you'll probably be "looking for things to do" in your spare time.
And it is NEVER too late... you are NEVER too old... and there is no such thing as "overqualified" here!
One parting thought for you: I seriously doubt that there has ever been a man or woman whose final words were "Rather than taking time to enjoy my life, I really should have put in more time at my job"
Similar info can be found http://www.empowernetwork.com/dusky/crave-creativity-but-reject-creative-ideas/  

... To Your Success,

 

Baltimore Dave

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