Creativity is fun!

This principle is self-explanitory for anyone who has been creative. Everyone has experienced creativity at one point or another whether it be experiencing personal or another's success. Technological innovations like the Nintendo Wii and the Angry Birds game application are just a few simple examples of how creative thinking is fun. Most importantly, creativity is more exciting when we experience the result of our own creative efforts because we witness and appreciate the efforts that it took towards the success.

 

Creativity can be fun because it engages people to think differently, share opinions and put thought into action. This principle creates value to any workplace by creating a positive environment, which results in better collaborations between individuals.

 

I strongly believe in this principle because I see the value it brings to myself and others. At times, it can even create a different mindset with someone who is reluctant in thinking creatively. Also, I believe that fun can root from accidents or mistakes that lead to laughter amongst a team. For example, some creative methods can lead to unexpected results that end up being humorous (like funny pictures or words). Another way that creativity can be fun is acknowledging the process of information sharing and understanding how others would approach a task or problem. This can be fun by the simple learning experience we get.

 

When discussing other principles, I have explained that I take on as many opportunities where I can be creative. That being said, I feel as though I employ this principle regularly by trying to approach the creative process with a positive attitude and a carefree spirit. By doing so, I allow myself to have fun with the process as well as with others. This creates value to my life because I am able to approach situations with a better mindset and show others that I enjoy thinking creatively so that I have better opportunities of applying it.

 

However, what prevents me from applying this principle more consistently are again, my own interests. As many may agree, I tend to have more fun with creative processes that I enjoy. For example, I may be more receptive to fun when doing projects for marketing classes as opposed to those in accounting. I realize that I should approach every creative process as equal opportunities to have fun because it is the process and environment that generates the fun, not the work itself.

 

An opposing point of view towards this principle may be that creativity can be frustrating and cause strains between relationships. I see this point of view to be valid because there are times where the creative process can be frustrating when facing setbacks and can create strains between friendships or colleagues because of opposing creative efforts. What is important is that we realize and take advantage of the positive outcomes of creativity so that we can overcome any obstacles (together) that may arise in the process.

 

A question that still remains regarding this principle is:

Some individuals believe they are not creative and therefore do not see the "fun" in its process. That being said, how can we show the value and fun from creativity to these types of individuals?

Good health powers creativity

Good health is something many of us take for granted when we are young because we feel that we have enough time in our lives to make up for poor decisions we have made. In terms of creativity, good health is crucial because it fuels our energy to take the extra step towards success. Whether it be to have the motivation to finish and act upon an idea or strategy, or even to think creatively on the spot.

 

Healthy minds come from healthy bodies.

 
Retrieved from: http://livingwithpower.org/healthy-minds/

 

We can improve our health by making small lifestyle changes from sleeping 15 minutes early to ignoring a late night sweet tooth and having a glass of water instead. By doing so, it can create value to your body by improving self-esteem, energy and ability to concentrate. In relation to this principle, good health can provide value by enabling an individual to have the energy to complete a project successfully. I believe that a sharp mind that roots from good health is the key to unleashing creativity within us.

 

I have recently applied this principle in my life by making certain lifestyle changes which have positively impacted my daily life.

I continue to practice good health by:

- "eating like a diabetic" in order to ensure I recieve adequate vitamins and nutrients (and keeping refined sugars and deep fried foods to a minimum)

- no longer pulling all-nighters and making time in my day to finish assignments and other tasks

- taking frequent breaks away from frustrating or negative environments

- learning to balance work, school, family and life better by keeping track of plans in a day-timer

I feel that these lifestyle changes have impacted my life positively because I feel more confident about myself and the relationships I have established so that I am able to recieve the support that is sometimes needed when applying my creative nature to work, life and school. By doing so, I improve my chances of success and more importantly, be able to work through hardships more effectively.

 

What prevents me from applying this principle more consistently is that I am still learning ways in which I can be more healthy. Because popular media can sometimes distort information for marketing purposes (ie. think of all the fad diets that are being marketed to our society that can be harmful or useless) and I find at times that I become victim to them. By doing so, I can change healthy habits into harmful ones that can set me back. I realize that it is important to maintain good health by filtering what the media tries to market to society.

 

An opposing point of view towards this principle may be that different individuals share varied meanings of what "good health" means. That being said, one individual may feel that "good health" roots from making decisions that may not necessarily be "good" for the body but good for the mind and soul. For example, one may believe that treating yourself with sugary snacks is good for the soul because it does not restrain the individual from wants, which can create inner-conflict. I can agree that this point of view can be positive in that treating yourself from time-to-time is a healthy decision but we must also make these decisions that also consider our mental, physical and emotional health.

 

A question that still remains regarding this principle is:

Even the healthiest of minds and bodies can at times, practice unhealthy decisions. That being said, can the odd unhealthy decision still lead to creativity or is that mere chance?

 



 

 

 



Good entertainment powers imagination

This principle describes that entertainment that we individually enjoy can create value to us by expanding our imagination. When we engage in live entertainment or interesting movies, we are able to expand our imagination by exposing ourselves to different situations, behaviours and emotions that we may not be familiar with. As a result, this exposure enables us to delve deep into an unknown place where we can imagine what it is like to be there. With this concept in mind, "good" entertainment is completely subjective but can be shared amongst individuals that share a common demographic or culture. Furthermore, entertainment is not limited to common art forms like music and drawing but can extend to board games, recreation and even understanding different individuals!

To best employ this principle, it is very important to understand that different individuals find entertainment in different places. Even though you may not engage in video games, it does not mean it cannot create value to another individual. When we are biased towards different forms of entertainment, we limit ourselves to different forms that can be useful for us.

In my personal life, I try to be receptive of what other's find entertaining. For example, I attend live concerts that I may not necessarily be interested in but make sure to go with someone who is, so that I can have a better understanding of how it can be a positive form of entertainment and how it works for evolving their imaginations. One of my favorite forms of entertainment are board games because they are more tangible to me than video or online games. I also find them entertaininig because it can create real relationships with others, or test existing ones in your life. A board game that powers my imagination the most is Scattergories where the objective of the game is to think of unique words for 12 different categories where your opponents are given the same letter that it must start with. This is entertaining for me because it helps me think on my toes, but strive to be creative so that I can think of different words from my opponents.

Retrieved from: http://erinqtan.blogspot.ca/2011/07/21st-century-board-games.html

What prevents me from applying this principle more consistently are my own assumptions of other forms of entertainment. At times I base whether I believe a form of entertainment to be positive or negative on one experience. By doing so, I limit myself to different experiences that can alter my understanding and view on types of entertainment. For example, I do not find country music as an appealing form of entertainment but have only based it on a few songs and not the entertainment that it's live form can bring.

An opposing point of view towards this principle may be that all forms of entertainment can be positive for anyone. This mindset is valid in that entertainment that we may not find appealing can still power our imagination by first finding and understanding the value that it brings to those who do find it entertaining. By doing so, we can be imaginative and more knowledgeable of forms of entertainment we are not accustomed to.

A question that still remains regarding this principle is:
Much of the time, it requires money to subject ourselves to different forms of entertainment (ie. buying concert or movie tickets) and that can limit an individual to choosing what they are naturally interested in. That being said, what are other methods we can expose ourselves to different (valuable)forms of entertainment that can create value but not be costly?

Imagination powers creativity

Without imagination, society would struggle in innovating and essentially growing. This concept also applies to the individual. As technology evolves, I believe that we are more able to express our creativity, but it takes an imagination to create such technology and strategize ways on how to use them. Take a computer program like Adobe Photoshop for example, it is accessible to many individuals but it takes an imagination to use it creatively for advertising, capturing and describing emotion through visuals, and many other art forms.

 

Imagination can be fed by being open to different art forms like music, photography, live entertainment and others. I also believe that our imagination can grow from being receptive and understanding of others' points of views that can expand our knowledge and mindsets. Applying this principle can create value to an individual by enabling them to understand ways in which their creativity can be expressed.

 

I apply this principle by wanting to know different hobbies and interests of others. By doing so, I am able to expand my knowledge of different mindsets and how they employ their interests by using different forms of technology and art. This creates value to me as an individual because I feel that I am a well-rounded individual and can relate to different types of individuals. Also, I am able to educate myself in ways that I can use my imagination to drive my creativity. For example, I have recently opened my mind to typography and am very interested in the power of font type, size, color and etc. that helps convery a message or emotion. I research many different types on YouTube which help widen my imagination.

Here is an example of one in particular that I enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuiKJ0rRTAo

 

What prevents me from applying this princple more consistently are the internal struggles and excuses I generate that prevent me from finding ways that help expand my imagination. Using Adobe Photoshop again as an example, I would think that it is too costly and time consuming for me to learn and use but would truly create a competitive advantage when positioning myself as a graudate to businesses. By doing so, I neglect other alternatives to this program such as GIMP or Krita that can still help unleash my imagination in a different form.  

 

An opposing point of view towards this principle is that regardless of how many ways we attempt to expand our imagination, it does not necessarily result in creative success. That being said, it takes effort and drive to turn imagination into creativity. I believe this principle to be valid because it also takes a creative mind to turn an imagination into something more valuable to others.

 

A question that remains regarding this principle is:

Even if we dislike and believe that a certain type of art (ie. heavy metal music) does not help us fuel our imagination, can it still be valuable in how we employ creativity?

Reflecting solves problems

This principle of reflection desribes methods in which an individual can take time to solve a problem.

 

Some ways include:

- walking away from a problem and re-approaching it with a refreshed mindset

- giving sufficient time to establish different methods to tackle a problem

- adjusting busy schedules to make time for personal time (and making it a regular occurence) 

 

Reflection is important to exercise as an individual so that it can be applied to a workplace as a team to better establish efficiency. Reflection can create value to individuals as it is the first step in understanding one's self and establishing a calm mind. The importance of reflection aids in speeding up the problem solving process and increases the chances of success.

 

I apply this principle regularly by giving myself sufficient time to reflect on a daily basis. Although I do not encounter problems everyday, I like to make an effort to exercise this principle everyday so that I become used to employing it. Every night, I make sure to go to bed 10-15 minutes before I actually intend to so that I can reflect on my day. Some nights when I am stressed from school, work or personal life, I tend to give myself more time. I also successfully employ this principle while doing school work. When I find that I do not understand how to solve a problem, I take time away from it by taking a short break, working on a different problem or a completely different course, having a drink or small snack and sometimes leaving it entirely for the following day or two. My employment of this principle has created value because I am able to reapproach a problem with a refreshed mindset and am more likely to be able to solve the problem.

 

What prevents me from applying this principle more consistently are internal struggles. For example, when I encounter a very difficult problem to solve, I tend to get discouraged after trying several approaches. Often times, instead of taking the time to reflect, I push myself to attempt to solve the problem by using the same methods - which is of course, a waste of time as I am applying the same unsuccessful method over and over again.

 

Retrieved from: http://parentpalace.com/2012/09/albert-einstein-quotes/

 

 



 

One may oppose this principle's point of view with the mindset that reflecting causes over-thinking which can sometimes distort an individual's ability to solve a problem. Also, refleting can be time consuming and a waste of time especially when problems must be solved under specific time constraints. I agree this point of view can be valid because there are times I recognize that when I spend too much time reflecting, I do not leave enough room for acting upon my strategies.

 

That being said, a question that still remains regarding this principle is:

How can we ensure that the time spent reflecting creates value and not an excuse for avoidance?

 

 

 

Learn from failures

Learning from failures first starts from acknowledging and accepting a failure. When we do so, we are closer to learning from the experience and growing through them.

 

Learning from failures can create value by helping us understand:

- how to approach a similar situation in the future

- personal strengths and weaknesses

- what external forces that can hinder success

- ways that creativity can improve a given circumstance

 

Whether we experience personal failure or witness another's, the learning experience is just as valuable. It is generally harder to learn from another's failure because often times, the outcomes do not affect us. To best employ this principle, an individual must be aware of others in his/her workplace so that the learning experience is on-going and second nature. However, when learning from another's failure there is a fine line between constructive learning (such as asking strategic, business-related questions in a respectful manner) and being nosy (gossipping and considering opinions of others before generating your own).

 

Retrieved from: http://www.etsy.com/listing/116638767/printable-quote-art-success-is-not-final

 

I believe that this is a valuable principle that I employ regularly. Although I am not proud of admitting certain failures, I am however proud that I have learned from them and am able to improve myself. The most valuable failure I have experienced was my experience in a Chemical Technology course in SAIT. After high school, I was unsure of what courses I wanted to take in university and made a last-minute effort in jumping into a course. As a result, my first post-secondary experience was one that would descrease my GPA and therefore prevent me from admission into other programs in the future. Eventually I grew to understand my strengths as a student and became more aware of what undergraduate program would unleash my creativity in a structured form; marketing! I pushed through my second year by taking open studies at Mount Royal and eventually gained acceptance to my current program. I have definately learned from this failure in that I am more aware of my tastes as a student and take better precautions when making life, career and education decisions. It took some time to accept my failure, but now I am thankful that I experienced this failure early enough to correct it.

 

An individual may not see the value in learning from failures because it is believed that failures should be viewed as negative experiences and therefore, should not be learned from. This mindset may believe that accepting failure can breed one to take no extra effort towards success. I understand this point of view in that there should be a limit to how we view failures as positive experiences so that we are able to strive for success.

 

What prevents me from applying this principle more consistently is the time it takes me to accept a failure. At times, it can be hard to accept a failure quick enough to correct it. Self-doubt and a decreased sense of confidence sometimes prevents the learning experience of failures to become valuable. By doing so, I concentrate too much on the negative outcomes of a failure that I neglect understanding what decisions led to the failure.

 

A question that still remains regarding this principle is:

Often times when we experience a failure, we do not consider learning from them until we experience a similar situation where we can apply this new understanding. Is it important that the learning experience be considered right away in order to better understand the details more clearly as the experienece is fresh in our minds?

Develop your creative competencies

Often times when people ask what program I'm in, I get the usual response of "I'm not that creative!"

It is obvious that many people believe that successful marketers are naturally creative. But I believe that we are all creative in different ways and that our success depends on our willingness.

 

This principle describes that creativity can be developed and that it is an ongoing process as long as we welcome it.

Developing one's creative competencies are significant because by doing so, we create new methods and innovations that drive our economy forward.

 

I also believe that creativity does not depend on how much money we invest to expand our resources, but how we seek to expand our resources to create more meaning.

 

Retrieved from: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/unleash-creativity-workplace/

 

I always strive to apply this principle when I seek any opportunity. I believe that I have a variety of friends who teach and introduce me to new concepts that I have grown to appreciate and understand. I think this is crucial in my future career as it makes me a well-rounded marketer who can adapt to different clients.

 

I have been recently successful at applying this principle by understanding my weaknesses as an individual (ie. hand drawing). I have tried to develop this weakness by understanding other ways that I can express emotions in art form by using textures and colors to create abstract art. By doing so, I am developing a weakness into a creative strength.

 

What prevents me from applying this principle more consistently is concentrating too much on my own interests. For example, I take more effort in new forms of creativity that I am more interested in than others. By doing so, I limit my exposure to different lifestyles and hobbies that can create value in my future career and life.

 

An opposing point of view towards this principle may be that conventional ways of developing creativity (such as listening to music, watching others and engaging in different forms of entertainment) limit our creativity to the type we expose ourselves to. This is a valid point of view because by watching others, we only develop their version of creativity and not our own.

That being said, a question that still remains regarding this principle is:

When we attempt to develop our creative competencies, are we only adapting another individual's application?