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The Church of Creativity

By Peter Lloyd

In some ways creativity resembles religion. To begin, it’s a mystery. No one has explained, at least to my satisfaction, how it works. More to the point, in order to perform a creative act, we have to believe. Any writer, composer, or artist who stares at a blank page knows the feeling. Likewise any scientist, inventor, or innovator who confronts a seemingly intractable problem.

Creative people must venture where no one has gone in order to break new ground. None of them knows what they will unearth. Yet they proceed in the belief that they will discover something new, create something better, or solve the problem that urges them on. Possessing such an abiding belief makes creative people not unlike religious believers. As a rule, we embrace what we don’t understand and pursue what we do not know.

But creativity not a religion. Creative people ain’t got no truck with creative creeds, gods, revealed truths, dogma, or sacred texts. Should you hear anyone associate any of these things with creativity, nod politely and move on. No gods? What about Alex Osborn, Tim Hurson, Roger von Oech, Stephen R. Grossman, Betty Edwards, Arthur B. VanGundy, Gregg Fraley, Teresa Amabile, Michael Michalko...?

Our leaders rise by the merit of their work rather than the age of their declarations. They argue with each other and alter each other’s conclusions. Anything that resembles dogma in this chaotic free-for-all has earned its temporary stature. Our longest-lasting truths were established long before the first creative act. If you come across anything that looks, sounds, or smells like a sacred cow in the field of creativity, tip it over.

Calling creativity a religion would be like calling dancing a science. You could make a case for the claim, but why? Approaching dance as a science threatens to take all the fun out of it. That’s not to say that science can’t be fun or that it’s not an art, but that’s another issue. What are we talking about anyway? Salsa? Jitterbug? Ballroom? Ballet? Flamenco...? Okay, maybe line dancing.

I confess that I once considered establishing a Church of Creativity—a tongue-in-cheek homage to the mysterious aspect of this powerful force for good and evil. Unfortunately I did not capture and protect the name Church of Creativity, even if I could have. I thought about doing so when I wrote something called Creative Humanism—the idea that Creativity might give the current representatives of Humanism something more emotionally satisfying to offer their adherents.

I say “unfortunately” because, before concluding this Workout, I checked to see if anyone currently used the term "church of creativity." To my shock and horror, a racist cult on the moral underbelly of the world claims to have trademarked the name. I can think of no more scathing insult to the name of creativity. But it proves, at least, that no all-loving god protects Creativity from evil or shame.

Peter Lloyd is co-creator with Stephen Grossman of Animal Crackers, the breakthrough problem-solving tool designed to crack your toughest problems.