The Myth That Stifles Your Creativity

There is a (false) belief that often impedes our creative spirit.

Reviewed by Devon Frye

Key points

• There is a universal myth that, quite often, depresses our natural creativity.
• Historically, creative accomplishments have relied on "old" ideas.
• Combining extant ideas can produce some of the most creative advancements.

One of the most persistent myths about creativity is that a creative idea is a totally original idea. That is, to be creative, one must be able to create ideas that have never been thought of—ideas that never existed before. The thinking is that each idea must be new, original, and fresh—a thought or an object that has never been created in any shape or form. It is absolutely original.

We often believe that new ideas must be revolutionary, ground-breaking, and world-shattering. The truth is that most innovative ideas are not. In most cases, they are simply the combination of previous ideas shaped into a new concept or format.

Creativity often involves the ability to take existing knowledge and restructure it into an innovative format. It’s about making connections with stuff that’s already there. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, brought this all into perspective when he said, “Creativity is just connecting things.”

One of the most cited cases of creativity centers around Johannes Gutenberg who, in 1450, created movable type and the printing press. Movable metal pieces allowed pages to be printed much more quickly than the standard wooden blocks used to press ink onto paper. His “combination of pre-existing technologies” created printing presses that could print thousands of pages a day.

This revolution allowed books to be printed more quickly and more efficiently—allowing the middle class to obtain them as never before. The result was the rapid spread of knowledge across the European continent. That intellectual revolution came about due, in large measure, to the combination of two previous (and seemingly unconnected) ideas: a wine press and a coin punch.

The ancient Greeks were also aware of the power of creative combinations. For example, it was the Greeks who combined soft copper with soft tin to create hard bronze. At its most basic level, the creation of bronze was simply a combination of already existing ideas. History also records these interesting combinations of pre-existing concepts:

1. copier + telephone = fax machine
2. bell + clock = alarm clock
3. trolley + suitcase = suitcase with wheels
4. igloo + hotel = ice palace
5. mathematics + biology = laws of heredity

We like to believe that creativity is the result of a determined, focused, and solo entrepreneur who, through a flash of inspiration, solves a problem for the betterment of humankind. It’s a great plot line for a TV show, but it ignores a basic fact of life about the stories of most innovations: They rarely include the human networks that sustain (and make possible) radical new ideas or changes. In fact, history is frequently edited in order to promote a sole genius or innovator. Phil McKinney, host of the nationally syndicated radio show, "Killer Innovations," put it this way:

"We have a saying in the innovation industry: 'There’s no such thing as a truly new idea. Ideas are the result of building on the work of others.' Many of the creative ideas that led to creating great companies were the result of a team. Some examples: Microsoft, Intel, Google, Skype, and many more."

We continue to think that to be creative is to have the ability to create new ideas rather than to combine old ideas into new configurations. It’s a persistent myth that frequently blocks us whenever we’re faced with a personal challenge or work-related endeavor.

To the contrary, however, creativity is not always a series of “brilliant new ideas,” but often is the result of a lifetime of experiences and diligence in working on combinations of those ideas (instead of giving up on them after one or two failures). The myth that every idea must be an idea never considered before (in the history of humankind) is a significant impediment to our ability to think creatively.