Exercise Your Creative Muscle

I woke this morning thinking of the fundamental connection between the three creative degrees I’ve been fortunate enough (thank you, student loans and grants) to achieve. Architects are often stunned when I explain the studio model is used in all three: textile and apparel design, architecture and creative writing. It’s all about opening the mind to new ideas, setting parameters, and allowing the brain and the hand to work together to create.

I also had the fortune to get a week at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) in Greensboro, North Carolina. In the one-on-one session that ended the week, my coach advised I’d scored very high on creativity. I wondered, why am I not seeing this in my work? The idea of wanting to recognize the results our efforts is true for anyone who has pursued an answer to the question, “what is leadership development for me?” Or, what is the RIGHT leadership development for me? My answer would be to ensure it includes as many different perspectives as you can gain access to.

I was in corporate America—the Fortune 500 version. CCL shared most leaders have only 5-15% of their days available for creativity and innovation (if lucky). Always interested in writing, I joined a writers group and then a network, where I took classes.

Then I left corp-A and got a masters of architecture—drawing and making models was mind blowing. Learning the rules involved in creating perspective architectural drawings became a study in seeing how a change in point of view can add tremendous insight into whether your work is actually achieving your vision.

Then I got an MFA in creative writing. More feedback and intelligence on writing than my brain could handle? Also mind blowing. My creative muscle became pretty flexible.

Am I done flexing my creative muscle? No. What’s my solution for exercising it? I’ve been pondering this, especially for my architect peers, who generally need help writing and are already so overwhelmed by project demands, their “to do” list only grows. And the demand to develop leadership skills, especially today with competition high for design talent, has never been greater. But in this profession, what is leadership without continually nurturing creativity?

How about 5-minute writing prompts? More on this in my later posts.