Announcing my new book: THE CREATIVITY CHOICE

The science of making decisions to turn ideas into action

I'm excited to finally announce that my book, The Creativity Choice, will be coming out on May 6! This book puts together over 25 years worth of my own thinking and research about creativity and that of many others to examine not only how we get creative ideas, but how to make them happen, how to transform ideas into performances and products that enrich our lives, lives of those around us, and make a difference in the world.

In The Creativity Choice, I answer three groups of questions based the science of creativity and interviews with creative individuals, from my favorite YouTuber creating wonderful content about history of food (and food throughout history), to musicians, music label owners, and performing artists, to serial entrepreneurs, and to leaders from both billion+ dollar organizations and non-profits.

My first big question is why some people have ideas and never follow up on them. Research in my lab shows that we have a sort of an internal monologue when trying to decide whether to pursue and share our ideas. We have concerns about how others will react to them. Will they find them silly? Could they think we are challenging authority? Could they be angered? We also have more personal concerns. Are we getting too self-conscious? Can we handle the pressure? And the final consideration is how important creative work is for us. Is this something that is core to our identity?

By its very definition, creative work includes a lot of uncertainties – we are doing something new and there is no roadmap for how to get there or even certainty that we can. These uncertainties are experienced psychologically as risk. And risk leads to anxiety. Enough to make some not choose to pursue a creative idea. If we decide to pursue it, we do so not because we are fearless, but because we are able to tolerate the ambiguity and act in spite of it.

My second big question is what we need to know to equip us to persist on the often long way from having an idea to making it into reality. One thing I do not promise is a 6 or a 12-step program. If only you do this, in this order, you will surely get to your creative goal. Alas, that would not be honest. Creativity simply does not work that way. But what I do is discuss research based strategies that help move us along. A little taste of these:

Problem finding – asking questions, experimenting, exploring the problem space, and framing the problem from multiple angles may be more important than actual problem solving.

Creative drive has two aspects: motivation and focus. Passion fuels motivation for creativity. But beware of advice to find your passion. It is not something inherent to you and you just have to uncover it from its dormant state. Passion is something we build from curiosity and action.

A big group of tools for successful creativity are coming from an unexpected place. Rather than being tools for thinking and problem solving, they are tools for harnessing the power of emotions and managing emotions when they get in the way of our progress. If we learn how different emotions influence thinking and decision making, we can use it to our advantage. And if we learn how we can influence the course of our emotions – prolonging some, diminishing others, changing how we feel – we can take the edge off when our feelings threaten to interfere with creative work (or when we are in the throes of a full blown creative block).

My final big question is about what it take to build conditions for enduring and repeatable creativity. The key here is in the social side of creative work. Perhaps counterintuitively, creativity is social even when it does not seem to be. Even the solitary process of writing a book like The Creativity Choice depends on many influences, from research I have read by others in the creativity studies, to conversations with colleagues at conferences, to many creative individuals who generously talked to me as I was working on the book. And then there are also all those who support creative work, without whom the work would not be possible even if they do not directly contribute ideas. In particular, I spend time discussing how to create the infrastructure for sustained creativity and innovation at work and the role of leaders in this process.

My goal with this book was to demystify the creative process. Because creativity is not just for creatives or just for some geniuses who are hard to imagine or identify with. Creativity is within reach and it can be intentionally built and cultivated. I hope you who read this newsletter will find it intriguing and helpful.

Available for pre-order now at https://www.zorana-ivcevic-pringle.com/