Javier Crespo
Creative Consultant, Art Director, Spain.
Corresponding Author Details: Javier Crespo, Creative Consultant, Art Director, Spain. E-mail: javiercrespoestudio@gmail.com
Received date: 08th January, 2022
Accepted date: 26th February, 2022
Published date: 28th February, 2022
Citation: Crespo, J., (2022). Theory of Creative Winds. J Pub Health Issue Pract 6(1): 197.
Copyright: ©2022, This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
The individualism of being is a legend. Humans rarely think for ourselves. What made Homo sapiens an advantage over other living beings and made us masters of the planet was not our individual rationality, but our ability to think collectively in large groups.
This is how we were able to defeat Homo Neardental, innovate, create families, etc. Well, the Theory of Creative Winds explains the origin of Creativity, through the creative energy that human beings produce when we decide to think together.
Many people are familiar with creative energy in a spiritual way. The Theory of Creative Winds transforms that spirituality into a real visual process that helps us put order to our creative process, both individually and collectively, so that all projects can become a reality. In this theory we will discover how our creative capacity is totally linked to our values as people and our environment.
We will delve into a way of seeing the creative process different from how we saw it until now, putting order to countless concepts of our day to day that we did not know were key to generating creative energy.
The Theory of Creative Winds tries to show that the concept of Creativity is more than a concept, it is a way of living life in which we all want to or are not immersed in it. As with nature, we are key significant airborne particles that feed the winds that form causing life to exist.
Keywords: Creativity, Imagination, Experience, Motivation, Idea, Knowledge, Development, Homo Sapiens
For those who believe that creativity is a matter of individual beings and with an intelligence above the average, tell them that they are wrong. There is no proportional relationship between creativity and IQ; it is compatible to be highly creative and to have normal intelligence, or to possess high intelligence and to be lacking in creativity but not to be able to be creative, which is different. On the relationship between creativity and intelligence, the psychologist Howard Gardner makes an interesting analysis in his Theory of Multiple Intelligences in which intelligence defines it as a plural expression classifying that multiplicity of intelligence in seven (linguistic, musical, logical- mathematical, corporal, kinesthetic, spatial, intrapersonal, interpersonal and naturalistic) in which all of them are related to creativity [1].
It is super interesting, I recommend reading it. All these multiple intelligences are an intrinsic part of the creative process as individual values but not enough to generate creativity, which undoubtedly has a collective character and needs other variables that we will discover throughout this article. Therefore, knowing what creativity really is and understanding how it works are keys to discovering creativity the creative capacity that exists in each one of us and how to be able to enhance it individually and collectively, either to undertake our own project, direct or collaborate on projects with other people.
Sir Ken Robinson (1950-2020), considered one of the greatest experts on issues related to creativity, defined it, in a simple and forceful way, as the process of having ideas that add value [2].
But I want to go a little deeper into that definition, since although the concept is perfectly understood, people tend to disperse on what the process really means since knowing and understanding it is the key to knowing how to apply creativity to our lives, it is because this and trying to broaden the definition of Ken Robinson,
"Creativity is the consequence of making an idea come through knowledge and its development to be a real value."
As can be seen, the word process that Ken Robinson commented on, I break down the idea, knowledge and development into those three values, which are the three essential phases to produce the necessary energy to generate creativity.
According to another wise man, Jorge Wagensberg (1949-2018), in his book The Theory of Creativity explains that an idea is a suspicion of knowledge [3].
I also agree with this reflection. Having ideas is often confused with being creative and to become creative it is essential to have knowledge and the ability to develop. In this way, we come to the conclusion that an idea, supported by knowledge and its subsequent development, can generate creativity. Did I say can? Indeed, it can, since creativity is any process that ends in a result of value as Ken Robinson said.
But this, which seems so simple to understand, costs later to put it into practice since we find three important problems: First, visualize how the creative process works, from the generation of ideas to their development. Second, find the right environment for the process to work, that is, locate the people in your environment who will help to start the process. And third, put order to that creative process to plan that the ideas come true.
Well, the solution to these problems is found in the Theory of Creative Winds (TCW), which I present below, aims to demonstrate in a graphic, simple and metaphorical way why creativity is the result of the collective generation of creative energy between human beings. Imagine the movement of a windmill. Generating energy from the wind is simple, the wind passes over the blades of the wind turbine and causes a rotating force. Converting rotational energy into electrical energy. The generator's energy goes through a transformer to adapt it to the necessary voltage of the distribution network, generally between 20 and 132 kilovolts. Electricity distribution networks distribute energy throughout a region, both for homes and businesses.
Well, the functioning of the creative energy of the human being, starting from the established definition of creativity, comes to work in a similar way to wind energy, in which the wind turbine device is our creative being that we call Creative Mill (CM) that Its purpose is to generate the creative energy necessary to transform it into creativity. The three blades that compose it represent, each one of them, the three components that every human being has: imagination, experience and motivation, fundamental and necessary for the creative process to be generated, giving rise to the birth and movement of the idea, the knowledge and development, respectively, which from now on we will call creative and key forces in the process for creativity to exist. Observe the following image where this simile between wind and creative energy is graphically exposed [3].
Continuing with this interpretive simile, in order for the three creative forces to set in motion and generate the desired energy, it will be necessary to know the mechanisms of our CM and external agents essential for its operation
We all know that for there to be wind we need the sun's rays to heat the particles that make up the atmosphere, thus generating different air currents that result in winds. In our creative atmosphere, so that these winds are produced, our source of energy will be time, that is, our Sun. Without time, creativity is impossible to exist. It is obvious, but how many people blame themselves for undertaking a project You don't have time? Well, there it is, time is like the sun, it's a matter of knowing how to manage that source to generate the necessary creative energy
In our creative world the particles that heat that atmosphere and therefore make up the creative winds are called creative particles, which are the human values that inhabit the environment capable of generating creative energy. It is the attitudes and aptitudes of both ourselves and the people who live and coexist in our environment that feed the intensity and quality of the creative winds, so it will be essential in the entire creative process to detect them and if they are not in our environment, go out and look for them. Therefore, and continuing with the established simile, the creative winds will be the necessary intellectual and emotional movements or flows existing in an environment that facilitate the implementation of the three creative forces that generate creative energy. In a more earthly way, any of us, directly or indirectly, to generate and undertake new ideas, projects and adventures will depend on their success to seek, find and recognize the right people to help us and influence us to generate those winds.
In short, the Theory of Creative Winds comes to describe in a clear way that creative energy exists, and is defined as the intelligent movement that we generate as a result of putting an idea with the help of knowledge and development to seek its reality. It is a collective process, in which we have to be able to find the right environment to generate the necessary creative energy and make an idea come true. We do not have to have our own idea, it can be someone else's, nor the starting knowledge and experience in something concrete, which is something that slows down. It is about learning to look for that idea, knowledge and development, inside and outside our environment in order to bring the project to fruition. Ultimately, it is about planting the CM in the right place, therefore being a good Wind Hunter where ideas are not carried away by the wind. As homo sapiens that we are, over thousands of years of existence, what has made us evolve intellectually from hunters to farmers, from nomads to sedentary people, has been to live in community, socialize and exchange individual thoughts with the rest of the collective in for a result that benefits the group.
This tells us that our individual creative approach must be aware that it is part of a collective. And here is the most fantastic thing about it, the moment we discover that each of us has creative capacity and we begin to share it with the rest, we will observe that our world will be much more fruitful, beautiful and happy. Developing personal creative capacity, and being aware of the value that each one of us has for the functioning of this universe, will make us independent, but within a collective that will help us understand and live this new era. The creative capacity is, therefore, our stamp of personal exclusivity and not artificially reproducible, it is our Creative Self.
The MC, according to the Theory of Creative Winds (TCW), is the creative generator responsible for moving the blade of imagination by generating ideas and managing knowledge through the blade of experience, causing the movement of our blade of the motivation correctly execute the development of the idea. In such a way that the continuous joint movement of the three blades-phases generate enough creative energy for the initial idea to develop.
For your better understanding, the TCW demonstrates through the visual scheme of the MC the methodology of our creative being. This visual scheme helps us to visually identify, organize and synthesize the process to follow to make our projects come true. The CM is the right tool that every Wind Hunter should use to start their Creative Self and generate creativity. The MC describes each phase of the creative process. The three blades (imagination, experience and motivation) act as creative enhancers, main values that ensure that the three creative forces or phases are set in motion, phase of the idea through imagination; phase of knowledge through experience; and phase of development through motivation. If we look at the CM drawing, every creative process does not have to start through generating an idea despite its imagination enhancer to achieve a reality whose origin or not is normally in the need to solve something.
It may be that this idea may be caused by a knowledge through which a need has been detected and therefore generate an idea as a principle of solution, for example, the knowledge acquired from Einstein, together with his imagination, generated the greatest revolution in science. physics so far, the Theory of Relativity.
Another very different but also valid example is the one that happened to Enrico Piaggio who, being a manufacturer of aircraft, took advantage of his industrial resources and knowledge to reinvent himself by creating the mythical "Vespa" that turned out to be a worldwide success, managing to revive his aeronautical company that was Damaged by Allied bombing in WWII. All this reflection comes to explain one of the reasons why the MC scheme seems to me the right one to understand the creative process. It is a continuous circular process of these three phases: the idea, the knowledge and the development between those that once they start up feed each other, generating an energy that will lead to a final result that we call, then yes, Creativity. Next, to become familiar with this theory and its methodological tool of the CM, the components that make it up are defined below. Let's take a closer look at the CM graph.
It is the constant finite source necessary to generate creative energy. Without time it is impossible to generate creativity. That source is depleted for the purpose of our own existence. That's how real it is, therefore, let's take advantage of every minute of the day, let's be aware of the gift of living. As you can see in the graph, it is necessary in all three phases. But in each one of them time acts in a different way. For example, the time to think about the idea phase is super important that, when generating ideas, we have enough time without pressure, because you need to accompany or feed back that thought from other factors such as observation, reading, etc. In the time of knowledge, unlike the time to think about the process of the idea, which must be extensive and out of pressure, the time to investigate, inform and train is limited and measurable, which is limited by the process of Design Thinking (DT), which establishes a clear planning that makes the time just and appropriate. On the other hand, in the development phase it is time to literally create, the tests have already been carried out and we are in the construction phase in search of the final result. It is time for Creative Thinking.
The agents involved in this phase are the following:
In our creative process it is the enhancer that helps generate ideas. It is the basis on which our thinking is based to generate an idea of something that does not exist. Or visualize the existence of something existing in words. It is innate in homo sapiens and one of the most important differences between our human and artificial intelligence. We have all been more or less imaginative children, we are moved by the emotional and irrational and through these two instincts we manage to be able to create an infinity of expressions in principle, let's call it artistic rather than creative, so we must recover and work on those aspects to improve our willingness to activate Imagination. Therefore, although it is true that all those children who have developed in creative environments are more susceptible to enhancing their imagination, anyone, with the right attitudes, can recover the innate Imagination and work on it.
One of the three creative forces that make up our Creative Self to achieve a reality whose origin is normally in the need to solve something and powered by imagination. The idea moves any creative process, which is caused by the needs that it observes that must be solved. But what really gets you going is your imagination. In conclusion, the idea is caused by a need to solve a problem or a demand for something. Therefore, every idea in creativity has an end, but without the imagination that activates that principle, it is impossible to start that creative process and that is where our loneliness intervenes.
innovation - abundance - truth - friendship - humor - love - family - change - forgiveness - beauty - courage - humility - will - autonomy - sensitivity - independence and generosity.
These values / particles are what our source of energy, time, must enrich to feed the creative winds of the idea. Without time to dedicate to the growth of these values of ours and of our environment, it is impossible to activate ideas. We must take time to contemplate beauty, friendship, family as time for our independence, autonomy, that is, all of them values belonging to those already mentioned that directly affect us in this creative phase. The meaning of all these values, it is important, to identify them since each one of them feed the winds of the idea and help us to reflect on ourselves.
Creative Wind that acts on the idea that makes it easier to start thanks to an optimistic and practical attitude. Where some see difficulties in carrying out an idea, others see opportunities. The term positivism, in the creative process, refers to taking a more optimistic and practical attitude to be happy and obtain better benefits. Positive people always see the glass as half full and not half empty. Where some see difficulties, others see opportunities.
Creative Wind that acts on the idea. It makes it easier for our conscience to stop to think and act according to our own will but with the responsibility that this entails. Being aware of this situation of each one of us is basic to create; We are all part of the society in which we live, inadvertently, since we are born we are contributing to things happening around us that will change the course of life, no matter how insignificant they may seem.
It is the human capacity that is generated in the idea phase, by which we perceive in our mind something that has not yet been created and that we want to make a reality. Visual Thinking is, therefore, fundamental and basic to exercise it, and to know how it works to generate ideas. For more than 40,000 years that some of the most famous and important cave paintings in the world were painted in the Altamira Caves, until today when the digital age allows us to take a photo and publish it, the image has been an important witness in the communication and knowledge of everything that happened throughout history, long before the first writings and signs of communication appeared. Our brain, according to research carried out in recent decades related to learning styles, is considered an eminently visual organ. The expert in Visual Thinking or Visual Thinking Dan Roam revolutionized the concept of visual learning after the publication of the book "Your world on a napkin" (2010), where he explains, among other issues, the four processes or stages that occur in Visual Thinking : look, see, imagine and show.
If we put this process into practice, we will observe in the short term how the ideas that were initially abstract begin to be visualized in the brain as something figurative and totally drawable that will jump-start your creativity.
The agents involved in this phase are the following:
It is the enhancer of knowledge. It is the learning that homo sapiens experiences as a result of what was lived before the present. The experience was one of the reasons that led me to conclude that creativity is the result of a collective. Many times we have come across an idea that we want to carry out, and we are paralyzed by the fact of resorting to the support of other people, who have more experience than us, because we believe that this weakens you in the creative process. Well, it is the opposite. The great creative is that Hunter of Winds who continually seeks that environment to move creativity. We really do not know how many times ideas do not come out for fear of making those decisions. That very act of seeking experience in others is an act of wisdom and, therefore, of acquiring experience.
One of the three creative forces that make up our Creative Self to achieve a reality through giving solidity to the idea for its development. On many occasions it is proactive in the birth of the idea. Therefore, what makes an idea acquire value and meaning in the creative process is knowledge, a phase in which its creative enhancer, experience, gives us the wisdom and ability to assimilate it. But this phase is not innate and must be worked on since it is the heart of the creativity.
generosity - frankness - fairness - sincerity - work - kindness - clarity - commitment - challenge - altruism - loyalty - effort - perseverance - responsibility.
These values are the result, as I have already mentioned, of my experience, criteria and reflection. It is possible that creative particles that affect the idea may appear at times in this phase, these displacements of values towards knowledge are what make knowledge pro active the force of the idea. But as a rule in the theory of winds and to use the graphic of the Creative Mill as a tool for launching and monitoring a project in its creative process, we will start from the basis that the values that I present and define below affect the strength of knowledge.
Creative Wind that acts on knowledge. Investigating is seeing what others do not see. It is acquiring knowledge by investigating what is unknown to us at this time as a future and consequence of the Idea. That is why research must be channeled and directed through information, since information is what helps us to put focus and filter on a specific project. Knowing and locating the winds, where to obtain information, make it easier to work analytically and methodologically with our idea. Today, as I have already mentioned, we have the Internet, which is well used by our new Library of Alexandria.
Creative Wind that acts on knowledge. It is the wind of study and learning aimed at the consolidation of the idea, whose main objective is to increase and adapt knowledge for its development. While we investigate and obtain information, without realizing it, we are training, but that same act makes us demand a higher education to promote a rhythm appropriate to the knowledge of our Creative Self. Actually the wind of the formation is part of the time when studying a project that is born to an idea or it can be an air current that is generated from the result of research, caused, therefore, by the wind of the research.
It is the critical and rational capacity that helps to analyze the pros and cons of the idea in the knowledge phase to organize and plan its development. No idea acquires real value until it is conceived and studied in this phase. It is a way of learning while creating and seeking to implement solutions that better adapt to the needs of users; All of this avoids high costs in the creative process, which, if something were to go wrong, could be going back to rethink the strength or creative phase of the idea.
The agents involved in this phase are the following:
Creative enhancer of development that is activated as a result of having verified through the generation of an idea, which once investigated and put. in the knowledge phase it is suitable and feasible to bring it to reality.
One of the three creative forces that make up the CM to achieve a reality as a consequence of the idea and its justification through knowledge. What really makes an idea viable is development, where its Creative Enhancer, motivation, caused by the approval that knowledge gives to the proposed Idea and through its know-how builds the final result. In this phase of the creative process, Creative Thinking occurs - or in the world of design - Creative Thinking
Health - satisfaction - strength - fidelity - efficiency - winning - leading - justice - well-being - honesty - compassion - respect - innovation.
These values are the result, as I have already mentioned, of my experience, criteria and reflection. It is possible that creative particles that affect the idea and knowledge may appear at times in this phase, these displacements of values towards development are what make the development pro active the force of the idea. For the same reason, I consider that the creative process is a constant energy that makes everything created improved, hence innovation is a value with which we identify both people who generate ideas and people who tend to develop, since it is the link that makes ideas improve and evolve.
Creative Wind that acts on development whose function is to correctly channel the innate ability of the individual to perform or exercise an activity with ease. Talent, as aptitude, is the ability to perform or exercise an activity. It is usually associated with innate ability and creation, although it can also develop with practice and training. Talent is the only facilitating wind of creativity that its origin is in our Creative Self, it is of all winds, the one that most influences the final result of creativity, since it is the only one that is intrinsic to us and according to the approach , is directly proportional to creative ability. That is, talent does not become creativity when we apply ideas and knowledge to it, creativity is the end result.
Creative Wind that acts on development, in which collaborative work and group motivation is the basis for creative energy to reach the final result. In this wind I do not want to extend myself much, because on this subject there are countless books and theses that guide us on how to work together. In the development phase, collaborative work and group motivation is the basis for creative energy to reach the final result. In this phase, more than in any other phase, the leader is the key and the main axis for the creative force of development to work smoothly. Its mission is to create the environment, guiding and directing the team towards success.
It is the ability we have to generate an idea, where there was no previously, through development, previously going through the knowledge phase. It can be understood then by Creative Thinking, the acquisition of Knowledge in a particular way of cognitive approach that presents characteristics of originality, flexibility, plasticity and fluidity; and it functions as a strategy or cognitive tool in the formulation, construction and resolution of problematic situations in the learning context, giving rise to the appropriation of knowledge and, therefore, getting to the end of the creative process. In this way of thinking we tend to confuse text with context. Here the agile methodologies of Creativity as facilitators should not come into play, they disperse us and delay the process. The time in this phase, as we have already explained, must be limited and controlled. This is the reason why in creative thinking we tend to disperse more frequently and where the vast majority of ideas fail.
Therefore, according to the CM, each phase has an end, the idea finds the solution to some needs that knowledge plans so that development is built, generating all that movement creative energy. The objective, therefore, is to get the three forces to push and move with the same intensity creating a constant energy. For this, as we have seen the process is not complex, it is only a matter of understanding its operation and valuing the collective human character, without losing sight of the importance of the individuality that each of us can contribute to the creative process. That is why it is so important to know our human values with which we most identify and to know how creative particles respond in the CM in order to search in our environment for those values different from others that allow us to find the balance to create.
For all those who find it difficult to accept that they are capable of being creative and for those who already are, the CM scheme can help them to see it clearly and to order ideas and projects in a simple.
To be able to understand the Theory of Creative Winds, is to take out the Winds that we all have, finding the right environment to generate the necessary Creative Energy and make any idea come true.
The authors report no conflict of interest.
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