The Trick to Treating Creativity Right

I was once in a job interview where they intentionally asked “impossible” questions.

“So are you a pioneer or a settler?” the interviewer probed.

“Uh, I would think I’m a pioneer in trying to explore new ideas…” I replied.

“So what’s wrong with being a settler then?” They asked.

Question after question, they continued to pose two opposites, and then grilled me on why I didn’t choose one of them. It was incredibly frustrating. There was NO right answer.

Then, they finally asked a question that really got me going: “Are you creative or are you patient?”

I had had enough and decided to push back. “That’s a false dichotomy.” I said. “Creativity DEMANDS patience.”

Taken aback, they didn’t know how to respond. So, I took the opportunity to continue.

“You may not know this about me but I write music, and I’ve learned it takes a long time to cultivate, prune, and develop an idea from its infancy to fruition. In fact a piece of music that is only 4 minutes long may take 4 months to write, because creativity in its best form takes time. Sure, there are fits of inspiration and passion, but those are rare. Rather in my experience, I’ve come to learn that creativity demands patience. And if you hire me I’ll show you what I mean.”

(Photo: I felt so frustrated in the interview!)

They seemed a bit ruffled by how I flipped the table on them, and after the interview I knew I had failed. But a couple of days later, I got the job offer. More on that story and it’s “spooky” ending later, but what does this have to do with influence and success?

Most people don’t believe they are very creative, because we’ve been taught to think of creativity as something that belongs to the realms of the musically, artistically, or otherwise gifted people. But the truth is, if you solve problems, you are creative. In fact, you are VERY creative.

And creativity demands patience.

Thomas Edison and his miraculous inventions comes to mind. However, the thing that most people DON’T know is that Edison DID NOT invent the lightbulb. By 1878 the idea of a filament burning in a vacuum tube of glass had been around for decades. Rather, Edison’s genius was experimenting and finding which filament burnt best and longest.

Here’s what happened.

In 1840, British scientist Warren de la Rue introduced a lightbulb that burnt a platinum based filament. The catch was, platinum didn’t burn for very long AND it was extremely expensive. But his idea of a glass bulb endured, and over the next several decades, many other scientists built on de la Rue’s innovation. But they all ran into the same problem: What material was affordable AND would burn for a long enough time?

Enter Thomas Edison. With the rapid growth of electricity, Edison wanted to create a source of light that rivaled the traditional gas and oil lamps at the time. So he got to work. Building off of the progress of others, he tried a platinum filament but ran into the same problem as de la Rue 38 years earlier.

Then he tried cardboard, reduced down to carbon, and coated in fine soot. It worked… but not long enough.

Then he tried other materials from grasses, to sugar canes, cotton, linen, hemp, and even palmetto… the state tree of South Carolina. Over the course of a year, and by his records, Edison tried 2,774 different ways to make it work. That’s roughly 8 to 10 attempts per day, or about 1 failure every single working hour.

Can you imagine working for an entire year and having a mission-critical failure every single hour of every single day?

(Photo: What Edison’s lab looked like, courtesy Wikipedia)

What incredible patience and endurance!

Then, in 1879 Edison discovered that bamboo… when reduced to a carbon filament… could consistently burn for over 1,200 hours. Thus the beginnings of cheap and reliable modern light was born.

Creativity demands patience.

If you are working on something, or trying to figure out an idea, keep at it. Persevere. Good creativity depends on good ideas. And it takes a while to refine, improve, and develop good ideas from bad ideas.

So often we get discouraged when our desired result constantly eludes us. We may even think we aren’t making any progress at all. But remember: Don’t mistake a lack of completion for a lack of momentum. Wherever you are, whatever you are facing, keep trying. Maybe take a break to assess and regroup, but trust the process.

The path of obstacle and uncertainty is the only path that truly successful and creative people have ever walked, and you’re in good company. Just ask Thomas Edison.

(Photo: that one time I made a music video of my piece with an actual burning piano. The video will never see the light of day, this photo is all that remains.)

So, what about my worst interview? Well, I did eventually get to show them what I meant. After I was hired, I started composing a piece… that became unlike anything I’ve written before or since. Maybe it was the frustration I felt in the interview, or other unresolved issues bubbling up to the surface, but the piece had a distinct “Halloween” feel to it. And so for months I worked, waiting for the right moment.

Later that year our work division had a talent show (fittingly in October) and that’s when I performed, “The Haunting” for the first time… in front of the very people who interviewed me.

If you want to see the only recorded video of that performance, click below. But before you do, take a moment and imagine this in your mind:

“You and some friends are out on Halloween and come across an old, rundown, deserted house. You don’t want to go in, but your friends dare you to open the door and…walk inside. Listen to what happens next…”

Sit back, relax and click here. I recommend you close your eyes and just listen to this story unfold!

May this piece inspire your own creative moment, and have a Happy (and safe) Halloween,

Christian

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNQNqkcuqHQ