What is Pervasive Creativity? The term pervasive is used to suggest, imply or put forward the idea that the creative process is present and in action in every human activity, by everyone regardless of talent, ability or productive quality of any given activity.
The word pervasive came to the fore in my attention in relation to another unrelated matter so when checking the words meaning – ‘all encompassing, enveloping, invasive, persistent, omnipresent’, it occurred to me that it almost perfectly encompasses my understanding of creativity and its role in everyday life.
Creativity is valued, talked about, marketed and promoted in most business and education sectors and at all levels, what is to be gained from my or anyone else’s continued obsession with analysing creativity? For me the driving force is the thought that the fullest potential and benefits of creativity are going unrealised in about 80% of all sectors. The reason I make this statement is based on what I see all around.
Mainstream Education.
There is a broad range in the level achievements by students that are generally provided with similar education, taken factors of social, economic and environmental conditions into consideration the outcomes are still in contradiction to what is possible for the majority. Potential is not being realised or results achieved on the scale that it should be, why? I feel it’s not that we don’t know how it’s just that there are too many people involved in bringing about changes needed. We are so entrapped in the way ‘things have always been done’ that the changes that are made usually lag many years behind, we fear making a brave dramatic leap.
Sir Ken Robinson, an authority on creativity in education puts it bluntly, “the education system doesn’t need to be transformed it needs to be scrapped”. This man travels the world informing and promoting creativity in education. Many educational institutions that have encountered him have gone on to make sweeping changes based on the insights and shared knowledge from his lifetime dedicated to this subject. What about the ones that haven’t capitalised on his or other help from the sciences on creativity/human potential. My opinion is that many simply do not grasp a deep enough understanding of the subject to enable them to comprehend the potential benefits. Creativity is pretty well understood by the 20% that stand out at the forefront of achievement in education, technology, the arts etc. Neurologically, people are just not that different, evolution hasn’t given us an 80/20 divide between the really smart successful and the rest. Incorporating the science of creativity into education I believe would push us towards a more authentic return on natural potential with the majority of students hitting straight A’s (as a norm).
There are many issues that negatively impinge on a student’s journey through the education system that eventually show up in exam results. Addressing all of these may not be the remit of a school, but one thing is sure, the education environment presents a significant opportunity for not only education but the growth and empowerment of students. If we want to comprehend such life concepts as, drive, motivation, passion, purpose, self determination and the potential of an individual to carve their own unique niche in life then a closer exploration of the arts and the role of creativity is a place where discovery of understanding is closer to the surface. We will then possibly grasp why personal meaning, purpose and loving what one does actually produces higher levels of mental functioning.
The human is wired to avoid or ignore what is boring, uninteresting and deemed lacking in purpose; this is natural instinct at work. We will retain and recall experience and knowledge that is interesting and stimulating. There is a middle ground where we engage in activities for practical reasons with no strong feelings one way or another, this matters in an educational setting as the feeling will reflect in results attained. If for example a student needs maths for future college entry and career but does not enjoy the study of maths. Their choice is to develop a very positive ‘relationship’ to the subject – this will elevate their learning and recall capacity or option two – work twice as hard to get reasonable results. The same applies to all subjects studied.
The brain processes information, vast amounts, making a cup of tea involves complex mental processing, so does driving a car or developing a new technology; as far as the brain is concerned it is all just information processing with a purpose. The mechanics of this processing with purpose could be deemed the brains M.O. A.K.A pervasive creativity. If we could take a step back and consider the pervasive nature of how our brain processes and manages information then we will see beyond limited concepts of creativity and discover the key/code to unlocking human potential. Facilitating education in a manner that concurs with natural learning processes, I believe will result in a massive reduction in workload and a widespread increase in productivity and achievement. To date the development of education programmes has been industry centred, this is a mistake, too many winners and losers, person centred education balances the playing field as higher levels of potential are realised by more and more students, everybody benefits.
Entrepreneurship.
In business and enterprise ‘people’ are the most critical factor. In the current climate we hear of collapsing markets, bust banks and market cycles, what we really have is the end result of a perfect storm of decisions and choices made by people. There is enough knowledge of the human psyche out there to enable us to fully understand the factors that lead to poor decision making or bad choices. Enough is known to accurately predict all sorts of future outcomes. Enough is known to enable a much greater influence on how the coming years will unfold, we as a society can have a high degree of control and this can only be enacted when the creative power of the person is fully utilised and capitalised on. So much of the business and political system is strangled by red tape and overly complex systems. We are slaves to systems that are supposed to serve us. Many small businesses stay small due to the complex and burdensome regulations and laws attached to employing staff. Creative dynamic thinking can be targeted at this issue and every other issue out there to great effect, even more so when all interested harness not only their knowledge and expertise but their creative potential. There is an outdated notion still prevailing that creative ability belongs in the arts and in some business sectors with some wider spread in the high tech areas when the scientific fact is that creative ability is the driver of excellence in every profession and all activities that require a thinking functioning brain. Creative mastery is achievable by just about anyone. The brain can manage a degree or PhD, dynamic mental ability determines the productivity of knowledge and experience, the quality of application; if you don’t believe this just consider the errors made by highly qualified and experienced individuals. There is an art and science to getting thing right most of the time, professional development through education and training needs serious attention given to personal development. You can have one without the other but there is a price to pay. Any entrepreneur can develop the levels of mastery seen in the arts, design or technology and apply it to affect within their own field, no matter what that is. The clues to developing this mastery are found in the arts and can be understood with the help of science. I don’t expect you will find anywhere a successful artist not passionate about their particular art. When doing what you are genuinely interested in and passionate about the brain produces chemicals that support a higher level of functioning, greater retention of learning, improved recall, progressive growth in talent, skill and competence.
It’s not just what you know that counts; it’s how you process what you know.