“It is the beginning of wisdom to call things by their proper name.” This saying, made famous by Confucius stands true when it comes to many aspects of the world. Knowing and understanding what you’re dealing with would often give one the ability to call it by its proper name. When working and dealing with children, you understand everything that makes up a child from appearance, to behavior, to its core development. So what can we then say about the creative mind? If we were to encounter creative people, what characteristics, what behavior, what core ingredients make up the creative mind? What patterns of creativity are prevalent throughout history? And how did we get to these days where creativity is something often desired but seldom understood?

There was a great man born in 427 BC in Athens, Greece by the name of Plato. This great Philosopher developed and believed a theory that Ideas are floating in a subconscious world above our heads, and that these very Ideas are so perfect that we can’t experience them in our natural world. To prove his point, Plato said, “No one has ever seen a perfect circle, nor a perfectly straight line, yet everyone knows what a circle and straight line are.” Creativity is perceived almost in the very same fashion. Everyone knows what creativity looks like. Everyone knows what creativity feels like, but no one can tell you what creativity is. If creativity is the ability to pull these subconscious Forms and Ideas from the air and to create them ourselves, then why does it seem like some people have more access to it than others?

Creativity isn’t just pulling a completely random and brilliant idea out of thin air and implementing it. There are various levels of creativity. There is Innovative creativity, or the ability to step out of the box and define issues, idealize and come up with new solutions for any conflict presented. There is also Adaptive creativity which is the ability to take something that’s already in existence, and find a better way of doing it. Often the mind of the adaptive creative person is searching for a way to make a product or process sustainable.

Just like any other skill that one develops, creativity requires practice and training. A musician does not sit at a piano for the first time and play a perfect orchestral selection without practice. If someone has been fortunate enough to be considered a creative person, then there are chances that they developed these skills in a creative environment. Creativity is not magic. It is not the ability to produce the solution to the world’s problems from a pile of ashes. Creativity is simply taking and accepting ideas as what they are. They are ideas, some are wild, some are conservative, but they all carry the worlds weight in potential.

Ultimately, if there was one big thing I would want you to take out of this experience, it’s that there is a lot more to being a change leader than being in charge of a group of people. In the Art of War by Sun Tzu, he speaks on being prepared for all circumstances as a way to ensure victory. Leadership requires an understanding of the strengths and blind spots of the people you’re leading so that you can get the most out of the skills they have to offer. Understanding the preferences when it comes to creativity, while leading everyone to potential that they may not even be aware of.

Leroy Eims was quoted with saying, “A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see, and who sees before others do.” That is true because with the training I’m offering you through this program, you’ll be able to see more than others will be able to see. You’ll be able to see the strengths and preferences of those you’re working with. You’ll be able to see farther, because you’ll be able to predict potential roadblocks and create new thinking to get around them. You’ll be able to see thing before others do because you’ll also be able to predict potential stylistic clashes between workers with different preferred working styles. You will have the research and data to back up your claim while considering potential new measures and theories in the work place.

If you’re going to be a good change leader then you will have to empower others with your leadership skills, and that empowerment comes with hearing the voices and ideas of those following you. Paul Feyerabend said, “There is no idea, however ancient and absurd, that is not capable of improving our knowledge.” He was a philosopher who spoke on leadership values when it came to idea application. His stance was that if you heard an idea, it will either grant you a new perspective to whatever your issue may have been, or it will help you reinforce your understanding of the idea. Let’s build a community where you’re able to embrace new and seemingly wild innovative ideas, and see what new horizons it will bring us to.