There are still far too many people who believe that creativity comes from weirdos. You need more creativity? So employ and nurture some weirdos. With respect to this very old-fashioned thinking there are some points to be made.
1. The weirdo idiom implies that creativity can only be applied by a special 'breed' of person. This absolves everyone else from needing to be creative. If only the 'weirdo breed' can be creative, then there is no point, and no need, for anyone else to try. This is a very considerable danger.
Creativity is made inaccessible to everyone else. The worship of weirdos implies the impossibility of creative skills for everyone else. This is directly contrary to my own belief that creative thinking is a skill that can be learned, practised and used deliberately.
2. The weirdo route implies that an organisation need do nothing more about creativity than employ a few token weirdos. That now becomes sufficient action in the direction of creativity. There is now no need to get involved in training of any sort. There is now no need to encourage other people to be creative. The whole creative ingredient has been taken care of in a simple and direct way: employ a few weirdos.
NOT SO USEFUL
3. The creativity produced by weirdos is often not so useful. Creative weirdos often have to go to extremes to show that they are 'different' and that they are truly 'creative'. This can mean deliberately exaggerated manners and dress. The weirdos have to produce ideas that are rather extreme. If they produce a truly creative idea which is completely logical in hindsight (as many of the best creative ideas are), then this is seen to be too 'logical' and their creative status suffers.
So in order to preserve the weirdo status the ideas have to be a little bit weird as well. This gives everyone else the opportunity to say: 'That is a truly creative idea - but unfortunately not practical. So we do not need to do anything about it'. In this way creativity is being accepted into an organisation in a way that makes it unnecessary to do anything creative.
4. Weirdos tend to be rather protective and jealous of their creative talents. They do not want other people to be creative because this diminishes their own status. So they are dismissive of the ideas of others. They also do not encourage the idea that creativity is a skill that everyone can develop. It is much more valuable to keep creativity as a special talent which only a few special people have.
'RARE AND DIFFICULT'
5. To preserve their own 'specialness', weirdos have to make creativity seem rare and difficult. This makes it seem impossible to develop such skills in others. So no attempt is made to develop these 'impossible' skills
6. Any organisation seeking to do more about creativity will consult its own 'special' creative people. Such people will naturally be put in charge of the creativity programme. They are totally the wrong people to organise such a programme, for the reasons given above.
7. Where an organisation has some resident weirdos, then everyone else is turned off creativity because it seems so exotic, so special and so different. Since architects exist, very few people try to design their own houses. If there are 'special' people to do creativity, then it is no longer everyone's business. For the same reason I am not much in favour of giving special rewards for creativity, because creativity is a normal part of everyone's job - or should be.
8. Because they need to be protective of their own status, weirdos tend to reject ideas from outside or even ideas from inside. Weirdos want to be the sole source of creativity and feel threatened by other sources.
NATURAL MOTIVATION
All this may seem rather extreme and unfair on weirdos. The very term 'weirdo' is a considerable exaggeration of a natural motivation to be creative. I shall have some rather more complimentary things to write later about weirdos.
How did this weirdo route or idiom evolve? In most cases the answer is innocence. Most executives have not begun to understand creativity. They see creativity as different, as difficult, as disruptive and as high risk. Therefore there must be special people to do it. Having such special people avoids the danger of contaminating others who are expected to carry on doing just what they are supposed to do.
The crazy and whacky aspects of creativity are heavily promoted by those who follow the traditional line. Such people see inhibition as the major barrier to creativity, so being crazy makes you creative. This is why I invented the term 'crazytivity' some while ago. Being crazy and being different is not creativity.
Many executives are coming to realise just how important creativity is. Housekeeping, cost-cutting, downsizing are all important, but they are not permanent corporate strategies. Aspirin is great if you have a headache, but nobody lives on aspirin salads.
Today competence is becoming a commodity. Information is already a commodity. State-of-the-art technology is a commodity. What is really going to matter is value creation. And value creation demands either copying from someone else or creativity. Realising this, executives start looking around for a quick way of getting into the creativity business. The weirdo route offers a quick solution. So that is the route that is taken. Such a route seems much simpler than having everyone trained in the formal skills of creativity.
FORMAL TOOLS
Those few executives who have really bothered to look into the true nature of creativity get a big surprise. There is nothing mystical or magical about creativity. I am not writing about artistic creativity, which is a different sort of creativity. Self-organising information systems set up asymmetric patterns. Creativity is no more and no less than moving 'laterally' across such patterns. From this basis we can design the formal tools of creativity. These can be learned, practised and applied formally. Everyone can learn the skill. As with any skill, though, some people will be better than others.
Starting with my book The Mechanism of Mind, which was published in 1969, I laid out how neural networks form patterns. There is no mystique. The brain is specifically designed to be non-creative. That is why life is possible.
What can we now say in praise of weirdos?
1. They are strongly motivated to be creative. They put their energies into trying to be creative. Creativity is a top priority, not just a peripheral luxury.
2. They spend time seeking to be creative. This is important. If you spend more time trying to be creative, you will be more creative.
3. They are not satisfied with things the way they are. They continually seek to do things in a different way. This 'opposite' of complacency is very important and powerful.
4. They enjoy thinking. They enjoy being creative. They enjoy having ideas. Most people do not enjoy thinking at all.
5. By trying to be different, weirdos may unwittingly set up 'provocations'. Such ideas are not good in themselves, but if used as provocations can lead on to useful ideas (which is why weirdos should learn lateral thinking).
6. By their example, weirdos may encourage others to try to be creative. This can work either way. People may be encouraged or may be discouraged (as suggested above).
7. By over-emphasizing the nature of creativity, weirdos may serve the useful purpose of defining creativity as different - and therefore needing direct attention.
8. The rule-breaking free-thinking of weirdos may encourage others to open up a bit.
There are probably a lot more benefits that I have not spelled out here.
CONCLUSIONS
What conclusions are to be drawn from the above considerations?
1. That the weirdo route is an inadequate approach to creativity and will not give the best results.
2. That senior executives should make an effort to look into the true nature and logic of creativity and must escape from the old-fashioned myths about creativity.
3. That formal training in creative thinking should be essential for all employees.
4. That weirdos should learn the formal techniques of lateral thinking - and then show how they can be very good at it.
(For information on formal training in creative and constructive thinking please contact APTT (USA) 1 800 621 3366, fax 515 278 2245. There are certified trainers in most countries, with translations in many languages.)
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