How the Creative Mind Works: Unlocking, Harnessing & Engaging It

Jason Clarke, it is said, flunked senior high school getting the lowest grades in his school’s history. What a failure! Well, he’s put paid that now, teaching many company heads and countless others how to capture their creativity and solve the world’s problems through his ‘Minds at Work’ venture.

My reflections on breakfast with Clarke from earlier this year in learning how the historical creative geniuses unlocked and harnessed their powerfully creative minds are as follows:

Firstly, we must interact with our world, experiencing and capturing the stimuli, noting it down as it comes. The greatest geniuses were diligent note-takers. Even when we get ideas at 2 A.M. or in the bath or as we’re about to fall asleep, we need to take this raw gold down.

Secondly, we must assimilate the stimuli we’ve noted and allow our minds (including the powerful subconscious mind) to explore the new data and create something from it. This process can take some time, so a little patience is important.

Thirdly, we must find a way of expressing the creativity that comes from assimilating and re-configuring the data from our explorations. Expression comes in a myriad of forms, but is essentially about using the developed ideas in meaningful ways.

At times, we’ll get a conflagration of thoughts and ideas all lining up in unison; we’re blessed as we respond in faithfulness; following, capturing, and obediently engaging our minds toward the destination of creativity and innovation.

At other times, we run dry of inspiration, but we should not be too despondent; perhaps we just need to get ourselves some fresh exposure to the sorts of environment(s) that engender the flourishing of the right brain.

Getting there--running hot on creativity, with a brain and heart to burn--is nothing short of inspiring and it promotes the feeling of being totally, sensuously alive.

Copyright © 2009, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.