In a study of divergent thinking among 1,500 people, 98 percent were ranked at the “genius” level. These happened to be Kindergarten students. A study of the same group five years later ranked only 32 percent as geniuses at divergent thinking and only 10 percent received that ranking another five years later. Why? We are all born with the capacity to think divergently but lose that skill as we grow older, thanks largely to learning structures and rules instilled in the classroom, Robinson said. Looking someone else’s answers on a test, for example, is considered cheating in school, he said, but in business we call this “collaboration.”
Creativity is putting your imagination to work, Robinson said. Part of solving the creative puzzle is finding the right medium to flex your creative muscles. It is a dynamic process, he said, that requires a medium. And innovation and creativity need to be an organization-wide priority that takes group dynamics into consideration. Ideas must flow freely and we must get at the heart of what stops that flow if they don’t, Robinson added.
The questions we must ask, Robinson said, are not how creative and intelligent are you but how are you creative and intelligent. What tools to you have at your disposal and how do you best use them to realize your full creative potential? We don’t aim too high and fail, Robinson said. Rather, we aim too low and succeed. Cultivating innovation and creativity will help us aim higher and succeed, he said.
Biography of Sir Ken Robinson
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Sir Ken Robinson Ph.D., is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources. He has worked with national governments in Europe and Asia, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, not-for-profit corporations and some of the world's leading cultural organizations. For 10 years he was professor of education at the University of Warwick in England and is now professor emeritus.
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In 1998, Sir Ken led a national commission on creativity, education and the economy for the UK government, bringing together leading business people, scientists, artists and educators. He was the central figure in developing a strategy for creative and economic development as part of the peace process in Northern Ireland, working with the ministers for training, education enterprise and culture. The resulting blueprint for change, "Unlocking Creativity," was adopted by politicians of all parties and by business, education and cultural leaders across the province. He was one of four international advisors to the Singapore government for its strategy to become the creative hub of Southeast Asia.
Sir Ken is in high demand as an inspirational speaker with a unique talent for conveying profoundly serious messages with enormous humor, passion and wit. He speaks to audiences throughout the world on the creative challenges facing business and education in the new global economies. His latest book is, Out of Our Minds: Learning to to be Creative. In 2005 he was named as one of Time/Fortune/CNN's "Principal Voices." In 2003, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts.