The narrow view that creativity is confined to the arts is completely cultural. Fortunately, that narrow view is being forced to widen by a multitude of voices around the world. There is a growing awareness that creative thinking of all kinds is the engine that drives innovation as well as the glue that holds it all together. Dan Pink wrote about the growing need for creative thinking in business in, “A Whole New Mind” way back in 2005 . Sir Ken Robinson, at the 2006 TED Conference, delivered his presentation, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” “A Whole New Mind” was on The New York Times main and long-running best seller lists for over 100 weeks. Sir Ken’s presentation has been viewed over 20 million times.

So, what does that mean? Well, “A Whole New Mind” is just one in a number of well-researched works exploring the importance of creative thinking in the market place. It helped set the stage for new, innovative thinking about how we get things done. Since 2005 there have been a slew of well-written books and a plethora of articles in leading business magazines urging all of us to push the envelope in creative, critical, analytical, and design thinking. Sir Ken Robinson speaks to a global concern about inadequately preparing our young people for a rapidly changing world. Robinson makes the point that in a business and economic environment in which we are unable to predict anything, a cookie-cutter approach to education is just not going to, err, cut it.

So, whatever kind of creative you are, from scientist, to business person, to visual artist, dancer, musician, or whatever, spread your wings a little, and start exploring.

YOU are in business. Technology has opened the door for everyone to promote and market themselves. The upside of that is just that, you can promote and market yourself easily. The downside for introverts is that you can no longer afford to be as much of a hermit as you would like to be. The good news is that you can learn how to be more out-going. It’s scary, but you can do it. Develop those people skills, people.

More good news: Whatever product or service you offer it has never been easier to communicate with your customers and prospects. In fact, there are so many different ways to share your wares that it can be overwhelming. Take a deep breath, do a little research, and find out what works best for you. Are you a designer, architect, engineer, tinkerer? There is a ton of great information available to you to help fuel your particular kind of creative genius. The over-riding themes are: Don’t be afraid to experiment. Don’t be afraid to fail. Every time you try that new gadget out you not only find out what doesn’t work, you find out what does. (Think Doc Brown, “Back to the Future”.) Innovation is all about building on what has gone before, so get out there and innovate, innovate, innovate!

Related Article: Creativity

Even though our world continues to change rapidly, there are underlying principles that make that change possible. There are still no magic wands, silver bullets, or secret potions. There are still no shortcuts. It’s up to you to choose to grow every day. Feed your mind good stuff. Try new things. Build on what works. Have fun. Be creative…