Image Credit: Kendall Helmstetter Gelner
One of my favourite speeches of all time is Ken Robinson’s TED talk on “How School Kills Creativity”. I even have it featured on the top slider above (Yes, it’s that good!). Ken Robinson opened a whole new world to me, a world that made total sense and answered a very important question that I frequently found myself asking throughout high school and university – “Why do I suck at statistics and math in general?”
I’m not horrible and quite frankly very capable of achieving a tolerable mark, got a C+ in my university quantitative methods course. However, solving math problems never felt natural to me. Preset methodology and a complete lack of creativity in following steps to get the one and only answer. And it was this idea that the answer will always be the same without having the ability to re-invent* the set equation or model that made the course and many months in university dreadful. I am not saying that statistics or math cannot be creative, it certainly can. I am just not a creative mathematician.
Back to Ken Robinson and Creativity
Ken Robinson believes that creativity is about having original ideas and that creativity is where you are pushing the boundaries to new and unexplored territories. This can certainly be achieved in statistics but you cannot make anyone learn anything, some are just better at other things. Even though people may look similar, they still think in very different ways. People also see the world in different ways and people certainly have different strengths. And the problem that lies within our education system is that we are putting everyone through the same mill except for a few in specialty schools.
Definitely not!
Everyone of us has a purpose or a talent they need to discover. And the problem in our society is that many underestimate their intelligence and capacity. The quote right beside my computer is true, “If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”
In the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) commencement speech below, Ken Robinson urges people to follow their passions. He continues says that a life is not a one way street, if you find your passion- your world will transform around you. If you do the things that fulfill you – your life will take on a greater purpose and meaning.
And this is the exact moment, you might say:
I have to agree, it`s not and I`ll be honest with you – I still haven`t found my passion. But what I am doing and what you can still keep doing is to keep searching for it.
Human talent is very deep…
Ken Robinson`s example of Death Valley in Spring 2005 shows the true potential in everyone one of us. “Death Valley is called Death Valley for a reason,” he says, as it seems as there is no life there. But during winter 2005, 6 inches of rain fell onto Death Valley, encouraging flowers to sprout – a once in a lifetime spectacle.
Death Valley was not dead but simply dormant as right beneath what seemed liked dead surface are the seeds of possibility, simply waiting for the right conditions to come. And when the conditions come, life and growth is predestined.
This applies to all of us. Life cannot resist the right conditions. But you have to create these right conditions. Go out, discover, fail, learn, feel, be open, and try new things for your own creative flourishing and your success will be waiting to be discovered. As Ken puts it, always keep your mind alive, feed your imagination, and never take any ideas for granted.
Simply, use everything you have.
Who knows- I may have just discovered my passion for developing people`s talents.
