These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world ― EmersonShe has joined the team two years ago as a project trainee and now she is one of the top rated performer in her team. Her formula to success is simple and well proven, though not many do it. She started like every other trainee and started exploring more than what was asked from her. That means, she had to dedicate all her time in learning and be determined to take up the challenges. She did that successfully. She then started contributing to the team and that was on par or even better than many of the senior members in the team. Well, she truly deserves all her success so far and I am sure she will continue to astonish everyone.
I was reading an article on creativity last week and suddenly I felt like taking this girl’s success and see what really is behind her success. Is it her creativity? This question itself turns out to be so dangerous as it let me doubt about my understanding on what is meant by creativity. In fact, I can say that I wish to spend no further time in thinking about creativity as it seems to be of too many things. But anyway, let me share what she did at job and outside her job and see whether we can get something out of it - the success formula.
Step1: Understand the task to be done
Step2: Find the similar work done elsewhere and study them
Step3: Identify the well proven and standard building blocks available
Step4: Put the blocks together and contribute her part to complete the given task
If the standard says the shape has to be circle, she will use only circle, if it has to be blue, it will be blue and she will refuse to use anything else. Of course, that works - obviously that is already researched and agreed by “the standard”. I am not sure whether people mean this a creative work. Please note, not everyone can just go and do step1, 2… and complete the task. It requires a whole lot of energy, practice and mind.
Let me quote few of the other things I noticed. She read books. She checked the internet on how to read and understand books and what kind of books to read. And she follows them when reading and choosing books. I don’t have to tell you that it works and she can read fast and read variety of books and know how to remember them. She often talks about right foods to eat. She talks about table manners. She can tell you what is the right way of eating a particular food. She adjusted her work timings to align with the best productive time for work.
Should I call her a perfectionist? I rather not as she is not trying to be perfect but just searching for best way of doing things. Does this mean she is an idealist who by definition always look for someone/something as ideal and follow? Do we see creativity anywhere in her style of getting things done? From the web: Creativity is characterised by the ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, and to generate solutions.
Are successful people always creative? And can creative people always succeed? Creativity, smartness, skillset, intelligence, innovative, perfection… are all connected, the same? When will you be allowed to be creative, at the early stage of your career or later? Walt Disney had to switch his job as he was rated not as creative as it required for the job. It could be true that his creativity was not good enough then. Or is the one who evaluated him not good enough to see the creativity? You see, if your creativity is not accepted then it is an absolute failure. How many of us know the Edison of India?
I think what you dream to achieve in your life and your determination to obtain it is what matters and the rest, whatever name you give to it, will automatically be part of your walks. Perhaps, that is what Emerson’s VOICE means and keeping that VOICE loud and clear in the midst of world’s noise is what can tell you who you are. Can you succeed without creativity in your work? Fine, I am leaving this post inconclusive as I neither have answers nor the right questions. ;)
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