Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

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October 13, 2008

Is That Noisy Guy On Twitter Creative or Just a Pain in the . . . ?

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 12:31 pm

It’s Complex

Paradoxical Creativity

When Csikszentmihalyi wrote Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, he found that it wasn’t easy to pin down what determines a creative life, it seemed to hinge upon the determination to follow a creative instinct.

What Dr. C. did was describe how creativity works. He laid out how culture evolves as curious and determined individuals transform domains. He explained how we might learn from the lives of those men and women to add creativity to our own. He found the commonalities in their struggles and strategies. This is what he said about them.

Are there no traits that distinguish creative people? . . . If I had to express in one word what makes their personalities different from others, it would be “complexity.” By this I mean that they show tendencies of thought and action that in most people are segregated. They contain contradictory extremes — instead of being an “individual” each of them is a “multitude.” Like the color white that includes all the hues in the spectrum, they tend to bring together the entire range of human possibilities within themselves.

The qualities are present in all of us, but usually we are trained to develop only one pole of the dialectic. We might grow cultivating the aggressive, competitive side of our nature, and disdain or repress the nurturant, cooperative side. A creative individual is more likely to be both aggressive and cooperative either at the same time or at different times, depending on the situation. Having a complex personality means being able to express the full range of traits that are potentially present in the human repertoire but usually atrophy because we think that one or the other pole is “good,” whereas the other extreme is “bad.” . . .

Perhaps a central position, a golden mean, is the place of choice, what software writers call the default condition. But creative persons definitely know both extremes and experience both with equal intensity and without inner conflict. –Csikszentmihalyi, p. 57

He named ten antithetical traits both present integrated in dialectical tension and called them the Ten Dimensions of Complexity. I call them the Ten of Paradoxes of Creativity.

Either way, they make us crazy.

The 10 Dimensions of Creative Complexity

Each trait that Dr. Mihaly uncovered is a contradiction, a complexity, a paradox. Each contributes to making it hard to predict creative responses. If you consider the list as a whole, you’ll see how such a “complex individual” might find “fodder” that fuels curiosity, innovation, and original ideas. It’s also easy to see how less “exhuberant” people might find these contradictions confusing, difficult, and frustrating. What do you see?

  1. Creative individuals have great physical energy, but they become extremely quiet when they are at rest. This restful period can lead others to think that they are not feeling well or that they are unhappy, when the truth is they are fine.

  2. Creative folks tend to be both highly intelligent and naive at the same time.

  3. Creative people are disciplined and playful simultaneously. In some creative people, this can mean that they are responsible and irresponsible at the same time as well.

  4. Creative minds move between a spectrum of fantasy and imagination and a firm grounding in reality. They understand the present and need to keep in touch with the past.

  5. Creative individuals seem to be both introverted and extroverted, expressing both traits at once. An image to explain this might be that they are shy showoffs, if you can picture that.

  6. Creative people are sincerely humble and extremely proud in a childlike way. It requires ego to have a risky, fresh idea. It takes self-doubt to hammer it out to a workable form.

  7. Creative folks don’t feel as tied to gender roles. They feel distinctly individual. They don’t feel the barriers of authority or the rules of what they are “supposed to do.”

  8. Creative individuals are thought to be rebellious. Yet, in order to be creative one has to understand and have internalized the traditional culture. Therefore creativity comes from deep roots in tradition. Creative people are traditional and cutting edge.

  9. Creative people are deeply passionate about their work, yet can be extremely detached and objective when discussing it.

  10. Creative people are highly open and sensitive, which exposes them to pain and suffering, but also allows them to feel higher values of joy and happiness.

I plan to pair Dr. C.’s research with my educational background to offer some actionable ideas for stretching our creativity as we go about our business and our lives.

Creativity in Action

So is that noisy guy on Twitter nuts or creative? So if I’ve made you curious, even just a little bit, that’s start. Curiosity is the cure for boredom. Curiosity fuels ideas. Ideas keep blogging alive.

Move it forward by asking everyone you meet today one question. Make today “one question interview day.” What will your question be?

Mine is this . . . Do you have paradoxes in your personality?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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15 Comments to “Is That Noisy Guy On Twitter Creative or Just a Pain in the . . . ?”

  1. October 13th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
    Jannie said

    So THAT explains me - I’ve always thought something was really wrong with me for seeming such a dichotomy in my personality traits.

    I’m creative — yay! I’m not nuts after all !!

  2. October 13th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
    Amy Derby said

    I bought his book after the last time you quoted from it. It’s amazing, too amazing for me to understand I think. I keep reading certain parts over and over.

    But there was one thing that I was like “See, brat? I don’t have a personality disorder. I’m just creave.” And she muttered something about I must have eaten too much paste as a child. :-)

    I definitely think creativity is one of those things that people who don’t have it don’t get. Like being allergic to some basic thing, like corn or wheat. It seems weird to anyone who hasn’t experienced it.

    Oh, and I was just telling someone on twitter the other day that I love (really hate) the people who send break up notes when they unfollow, as though they need to justify it by giving a reason when really I don’t care at all. Like I’m not religious enough or too gay, etc. But my favorite this week was “I like you. You’re just too crazy for me to keep up with.” I’m crazy enough to take that as a commpliment.

    I think creative and crazy kinda go hand in hand. As long as we don’t chop off our ears, it’s ok.

  3. October 13th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Jannie!
    Creative, are ya?
    Yep . . . and our parents just thought we were moody. :)

  4. October 13th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Amy,
    You’ve got it all down just the way it should be. Creativity looks kind of crazy in the same way that folks who think like we do are smart and folks who don’t are . . . well . . . either not smart or difficult. :)

  5. October 13th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
    Jannie said

    Einstein, Mozart, Beethoven et al, et al, et al were pretty weird dudes. Thank God! (Literally - thank God.)

  6. October 14th, 2008 at 8:26 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Jannie,
    And they had weird hair too. [grin]
    Yeah, we all bring our unique thinking to the questions the world sets in front of us. When value each other the result can be symphony. :)

  7. October 14th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
    KatFrench said

    I love Cziksentmihaly’s work about as much as I hate typing his name.

    What really jumped out at me from that list was the introversion/extroversion dichotomy, because I see that in myself a lot. I have a lot of the classic traits of introversion, and consistently score as an INFP on Myers Briggs tests, but when I tell people I’m an introvert they tend to look at me like I’m claiming to have three heads and be from Mars. Especially when I used to act in community theatre and sing at church and weddings.

    Good stuff, and definitely looking forward to your actionable stuff!

  8. October 14th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
    Mike said

    Great topic; stimulating post. An editorial comment I hope you won’t mind. This sentence, “He named ten antithetical traits both present integrated in dialectical tension and called them the Ten Dimensions of Complexity” is awkward to read. Especially, as it follows the long quote from Csikszentmihalyi. I find it’s not intuitive that “both” refers back to men & women and “present” seems confused between verb and adjective. : )

    This was my first visit and I will be back.

    Cheers

  9. October 18th, 2008 at 3:59 am
    Mark McGuinness said

    I love Cziksentmihaly’s work about as much as I hate typing his name.

    Nicely put Kat, I can relate to that. It always feels like a high wire act when I write it up on a whiteboard (somebody ALWAYS asks how it’s spelt).

    A friend of mine once said she didn’t understand how I could write such sensitive poems when I watch so much football. I couldn’t help replying that it BECAUSE i watch so much football that I can write such sensitive poems. I wasn’t quick enough to quote Doctor C though.

  10. October 18th, 2008 at 5:39 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Kat,
    What good is information if we can’t do something with it. Meanwhile I see Mark’s here. Do check out his new program, Lateral Action, it’s great stuff combining creativity and productivity.

    On the introvert/extrovert thing, I find it easy to let my extrovert come out when I know that I’m holding the “virtual” microphone. I’m much more the life of the party when the party is mine to take care of. Extrovert shows up on my radar when it’s my responsibility to be so.

    That often happens to be the same times that people are around to see me. When those occasions wear on me, people don’t seem me go off myself for refueling. :)

  11. October 18th, 2008 at 5:46 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Mike,
    I don’t mind editorial help. I come publishing . . . people have been editing my sentences for longer than I can remember.

    Glad you this. More are coming — ten more to be exact.

    You’re not a stranger anymore. :)

  12. October 18th, 2008 at 5:49 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Mark,
    Dr. C comes in handy when people seem to be confusing. Which is, what? every few minutes?
    Hope you’ll hang around and your advice. It’s always nice to have pro in the discussion. :)

  13. October 19th, 2008 at 9:22 am
    Lissa Boles said

    ‘Shy showoff’. Yup - that about sums it up.

    Until the last few years, I always found it hard to explain why I go ‘dark’ (rest period - full stop and unplugged - don’t know how long for - see ya later peeps).

    Everyone worried about me, so I worried about me. But when I got round to applying objectivity (another great observation Dr. C made) I could see the wisdom of the pattern, at least for me, and that there was nothing to worry about unless I fought against my own rhythm.

    Gotta go and get this book. Sounds like it would add lots of value to some of our research on callings and purpose. Thx for mentioning (again), Liz.

  14. October 19th, 2008 at 9:55 am
    Creative « i write things said

    [...] Creative Thanks to Jenny Kelly and some cool website: [...]

  15. October 19th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Lisa
    Weird. This server stuff is eating my comments. Sorry about that.

    I know the “shy showoff.” We do fine when the party is in our own home, when we’re holding the microphone, or when we’re with people we know one on one. The rest is a little complicated. Yeah.

    The book’s wonderful.

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