Without effort there is no creativity.

Mozart complained in a letter about being considered a prodigy, when the truth was that, he said, no one in the world had worked more on musical technique than he had. In another, he highlighted his predisposition to work as opposed to idleness and regretted having gone fourteen days without writing a single note. "But not because of laziness or carelessness, but because it was impossible for me". And he is one of the most prolific and creative composers in the history of music. But what is creativity?

"It is creating, creating something new", says artist Cristóbal Toral, for whom "creativity comes from a vocation." An initial vocation that "is a mystery" and that, in his case, was painting. Then you need skills, and preparation... but this is not enough. "Because you can paint very well, but not contribute anything". "Creativity, in short, is a constant struggle in which you have to be very alert" and "with the desire to innovate and renew yourself," he summarizes.

Toral, one of the most recognized active Spanish painters, has also experienced "moments of blockade and difficult moments." "But of course, that is resolved by painting, painting and making mistakes on the canvas, and that's how things emerge... as Picasso said, inspiration must catch you working."

"I remember when Botero, who was a very good friend, invited me to his boat in the summer. One day I said to him: 'But Fernando, have you seen the wonderful boat you have, its design...? This is a beauty, a work of art!'... And he laughed," he recalls, although the recently deceased Colombian sculptor ended up agreeing with him.

"With this I mean that creativity is expressed not only in art, but in countless things," says Toral, declaring himself a "passionate about design" and citing examples that range from car hubcaps to current coffee makers.

The leading researcher of creativity is the American psychologist Teresa Amabile, who does not teach at an art school but at Harvard Business School, the most prestigious business school in the world. Her research, which spans more than forty years of clinical experiments and observations in sectors such as new technologies, currently focuses on how to enhance creativity in the work environment. Companies like Pixar or Apple have invited her to explain her ideas, as well as the Davos Forum. She has no shortage of illustrious antecedents.

To illustrate the emergence of an idea, a light bulb is usually used. It's not by chance. It was an invention by Thomas Alba Edison, who registered more than a thousand patents throughout his professional life. When he presented it in 1879, he had been researching it for more than a year and said he had made more than a thousand attempts. They asked him if he had not become discouraged after so much failure and he responded that there had been no failure, that he had simply learned a thousand ways on how not to make a light bulb.

"Much of the brakes on creativity arise from social conventions, prejudices and stereotypes, one's own prior learning, repetitive and rote educational systems, the tendency to conform, insecurity and fear of rejection, failure or failure. ridiculous," lists psychologist Guillermo Ballenato Prieto. "Criticism is usually a great enemy of creativity, it is advisable to reduce it in organizations, as well as limit the sanctions as much as possible when a mistake is made."

Edison, for example, in addition to other creative tricks, tried to encourage the creativity of his employees and imposed a quota on his workshop of one minor discovery every ten days and one major discovery every six months.

It is one of the examples that Ballenato gives in the courses to develop creativity that he offers at the Carlos III University of Madrid. Edison's goal was for all of his employees to take on the challenge. One of his most advanced students, Henry Ford, learned from him his organizational techniques and ended up becoming one of the most important industrialists in the United States as the founder of the Ford automobile company. "Feeling that we can overcome adversity helps us overcome them," says Ballenato. Ford put it in other words in one of his most quoted statements.

Amabile says that, when he began to address creativity as a topic of study, research focused on the personality of the genius and not on the work behind it, but that, in reality, ordinary people can also be creative, including children. . Ballenato follows that line.

"You can train the mind to develop creativity," he maintains. "It is a mental gymnastics that can incorporate several strategies. Among them, I would highlight the value of breaking habits, giving a vote of confidence to the absurd, looking beyond the apparent, broadening the perspective, investigating and enriching the mind with new information, keep a record of ideas...".

Like Amabile, Ballenato highlights the importance of motivation and team collaboration. "With the exchange of ideas, there is a cross-fertilization that is nourished by new information, perspectives, relationships and associations of ideas," he says. As well as that of work organization: "More horizontal and egalitarian structures tend to enhance creativity more than excessively vertical hierarchies," he summarizes. "At the same time, it is necessary to reward initiative, contributions and ideas," he adds.

"A good work environment and high motivation are excellent catalysts" for creativity, he says. He also recommends disconnecting and, in a sense, wandering, to overcome blockages. In these cases, Cristóbal Toral seeks inspiration in nature and its unlimited diversity. "There are no two greens the same nor are there two leaves the same," says the painter with admiration. "Creativity implies nonconformity, openness to change, 'going beyond' the conventional. It is a state of consciousness and, ultimately, an attitude toward life."


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity