The Creative Mind

Why business needs people with Asperger’s syndrome, attention-deficit disorder and dyslexia. - IN 1956 William Whyte argued in his bestseller, “The Organisation Man”, that companies were so in love with “well-rounded” executives that they fought a “fight against genius”.

Today many suffer from the opposite prejudice. Software firms gobble up anti-social geeks. Hollywood bends over backwards to accommodate the whims of creatives. Unlike the school playground, the marketplace is kind to misfits. Recruiters have noticed that the mental qualities that make a good computer programmer resemble those that might get you diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome

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Related: Brain Differences and Creativity

http://talentdevelop.com/4731/brain-differences-and-creativity/

There is growing support for the creative value of mentally stepping away from our work for a while, and not being so captivated by only consciousness.

Neuropsychologist Eric Kandel writes, “When we take the wrong approach to a problem, which happens often, we get nowhere by continuing to think about it. But if we refrain from thinking about the problem and distract ourselves… [we] transition from a rigid, convergent perspective to an associative, divergent perspective.”

Visual spatial learners are more likely to be a late bloomer, as well as creatively, mechanically, emotionally, or technologically gifted.

Lesley Sword (of Gifted and Creative Services Australia) explains, “Temporal, sequential and analytic functions are thought to be associated with the left hemisphere of the brain. In contrast, spatial thinking involves synthesis, an intuitive grasp of complex systems, (often missing the steps) simultaneous processing of concepts, inductive reasoning (from the whole to the parts), use of imagination and generation of ideas by combining existing facts in new ways (creative thinking)."

Your Best Life in the Arts with Dr. Eric Maisel - In this 14-week class you will work directly with America’s foremost creativity coach.

Who Should Attend?

Fiction writers, memoirists, poets and nonfictions writers (including professionals contemplating writing a book); visual artists; performers; composers; stage and screen professionals; craftspeople; individuals wanting to create more deeply and more regularly; blocked creatives; people who’ve abandoned the arts and want to return; coaches, therapists, and other professionals who want to learn about the challenges of the creative life; and anyone interested in the creative life.

Learn more at the program site

http://talentdevelop.com/YBLITA

In a culture where being social and outgoing are prized above all else, it can be difficult, even shameful, to be an introvert. But, as Susan Cain argues in this passionate talk, introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to the world, and should be encouraged and celebrated.

Related:
Susan Cain notes Bill Gates is an introvert, but not shy, and Barbra Streisand, who famously suffers from stage fright, is a shy extrovert. Cain notes, “Shyness and introversion are not the same thing. Shyness is the fear of negative judgment, and introversion is a preference for quiet, minimally stimulating environments. - From my post Creative Introverts
http://blogs.psychcentral.com/creative-mind/2011/07/creative-introverts/

In her NYTimes article, Cain writes, "Solitude is out of fashion. Our companies, our schools and our culture are in thrall to an idea I call the New Groupthink, which holds that creativity and achievement come from an oddly gregarious place…But there’s a problem with this view. Research strongly suggests that people are more creative when they enjoy privacy and freedom from interruption." -From my post Developing Creativity in Solitude
http://blogs.psychcentral.com/creative-mind/2012/01/developing-creativity-in-solitude/

Do you remember how much you felt and thought as a child? Probably a lot, especially if you were gifted and creative. As an adult, we may have learned to cover up or set aside much of our inner life, in order to get along with others and do our jobs.

But if we want to be more fully alive and creative, it can really help to understand and stay in charge of our thinking and feelings.

By David Dobbs - My post two days ago on the links between depression and creativity sparked some smart comments. Perhaps the best was sent to me privately by the excellent blogger The NeuroCritic, and I am highlighting it in its own post here, with The Neurocritic’s permission, because it makes a an important point that I failed to note in the original piece: These links between madness and creativity don’t make the more severe manifestations of depression or bipolar disorder any less destructive or painful.

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One of many related TalentDevelop posts: Rethinking Creativity and Depression

http://depressionandcreativity.org/139/rethinking-creativity-and-depression/

Article by Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D.

Creative people think differently. But why? There is no magic bullet or single pill. We all have the potential for creativity, but there are so many different triggers that can broaden our minds, inspire, and motivate. Of course, there are just as many triggers that can shut down our minds. Since creativity is so important for individual well-being and societal innovation, it’s important that we systematically pull the right triggers.

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More perspectives of Kaufman in my post: Scott Barry Kaufman on Kick-starting Your Creativity

http://blogs.psychcentral.com/creative-mind/2012/03/scott-barry-kaufman-on-kick-starting-your-creativity/