| This causes two significant problems: 1) If the situation changes, it's
difficult to know what to do to make needed adjustments and, 2) You can't
pass on your methods, the specific ways that you are accomplishing things,
to others-you don't have the knowledge.
This was the situation Bandler found himself in. His effective counselors
had no knowledge of what it was they were doing that made them effective.
So, he decided to observe both groups to see if he could determine subtle
differences in their approach.
He identified a number of specific techniques being used only by the
effective counselors after analyzing hundreds of hours of video tape. While
he had no idea why these techniques would make a difference, he decided
to teach them to ineffective counselors to see if they became effective.
They did and NLP was born
Applying NLP to Creativity
In my opinion, creativity is another ability where people go from unconsciously
incompetent directly to unconsciously competent. This is true for most intuitive
skills; skills we learn as an infant, like walking and talking.
However, in this instance I had to teach others this skill and I was
having trouble identifying what it was, specifically, they needed to learn.
Most books I read on the subject of creativity were either nebulous about
the process, or cutesy, providing "little exercises" to help us
learn how to "think outside of the box" or "express the freedom
to color outside of the lines." In my experience, these types of exercises
had no long-term value, didn't enhance the individual's basic creativity.
I wanted to use Bandler's process, or something similar, to determine those
behaviors, attitudes, whatever, that made someone creative.
With help of the world's foremost NLP expert, Bob Dilts, we developed
an interviewing process that enabled us to determine how the effective designers
were operating differently from the ineffective ones. We then developed
a very successful workshop to enhance creativity.
One of the first things we learned was what creativity isn't.
1. It isn't beginning from scratch, starting from a blank sheet. None
of the really creative game developers ever started from scratch. They always
had inspiration from some place or something that was eating away at them.
It might be an image that suggested a story that suggested a game, or an
experience they wanted to represent, or a feeling they wanted to convey.
It didn't matter, so long as it led to a game idea.
Some of the ineffective developers had a vision of creating something new that no one had ever seen before. They thought they were cheating
if they got an idea from somewhere else; that they weren't creating,
but copying. This belief made the creative process something beyond their
(or anyone else's) capability.
A few years later I read Isaac Asimov's book, Asimov's Chronology
of Science & Discovery. He makes clear |
that nobody discovers anything
without building on what has come before; without inspiration from
another source.
2. It isn't developing the skill of "thinking out of the box,"
or any other tricks. The effective developers didn't think about the
creative process or what they could do to enhance their creativity. They
never said, "Now, I can't be limited in my thinking. I've got to think
out of the box on this one." For them it was a natural process; the
way they thought about the problem, not a way they thought about the way
they thought about the problem.
In the long run "tricks" and ways of trying to force creativity
get in the way of being creative because they don't support the creative
process itself.
So what is creativity?
We identified four of the critical characteristics of creativity:
1. It is innovation: Building on something that has come
before, making subtle, but significant, changes to what is already known.
2. It is being sensitive to unexpected developments: This is a
type of "cue sensitivity," a skill that can be developed that
helps identify changes in the situation that if taken advantage of can have
a significant impact on the outcome.
Winston Churchill said, "Men stumble over the truth from time to
time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.
" Developing the skill of "cue sensitivity" helps assure
that you won't be one of the ones who hurry off, unaware of what has happened.
3. It is being curious about, "What would happen if":
You notice that I didn't say, "You think about what would happen if"
The operant phrase is "being curious about." Curiosity is central
to creativity and an essential characteristic to living effectively with
others. The good news is that it a characteristic that is part of the human
condition; part of who we all are.
Sure, it's possible that your curious nature has been stepped on a few
times in your life. You may even have disciplined yourself to keep your
curiosity under control; after all, "curiosity killed the cat."
But it's still there below the surface, just waiting for you to let it loose
again.
What enlivened my own curiosity was committing myself to wonder, to allow
myself to be awed (or odd), to revel in the fascination of a line of ants
stealing honey from the counter-top, to be amazed as I watch a 747 take-off,
or a fax being sent to , and immediately received on, the other side of
the world. As the punch-line from one of my favorite jokes says, "How
do it know?" One day I realized that I had a choice, I could chose
to be a cynic, or I could chose to be innocent. I chose innocence. The world
is so full of wonder, I didn't want to miss any of it.
So, the natural characteristic of curiosity is central to our ultimate
success as people living in the world without it, ineffectiveness is guaranteed. |