The Element - Beyond Imagining

Yesterday, I blogged about intelligence and creativity, and examined Sir Ken's argument that the two are closely linked and not independent of one another.  Today, we'll look at the value of imagination in helping us find our Element.


Rhonda


Have you ever caught yourself telling someone they have an "overactive imagination"?  What about priding yourself on being "down to earth" or "realistic"?  If so, you have been taking your imagination for granted.  Our imagination sets us apart from every other species on earth, and is at the centre of every human achievement.  Sir Ken believes that the relationship between imagination and reality is complicated and profound, and the relationship serves a significant role in the search for The Element.

On a basic level, imagination is, "the power to bring to mind things that are not present to our senses".  You can think about things you have experienced - your kids or your favourite memory - without much effort.  Imagination helps us visit the past, contemplate the present or anticipate the future.  But it also helps us create, or bring to mind things we have never experienced.  We can release our minds from the present and conjecture anticipate, speculate and suppose.  As Sir Ken says, "imagination is the foundation of everything that is uniquely and distinctively human."

Creativity is not the same thing as imagination.  Sir Ken describes creativity as "applied imagination" and the strongest example of the dynamic nature of intelligence.  If you're like me, and don't feel especially creative, take heart - it can be learned.  Sir Ken believes that there are general skills and techniques of creative thinking that everyone can learn and apply in nearly any situation.  The techniques can help generate new ideas, help remove blocks to new thinking, etc.  He calls this general creativity, and promises more on the "how to" later in the book.  First, he focuses on personal creativity.

Personal creativity happens when people are doing what they love to do, and have discovered a special talent for doing it.  They're in their Element, and this drives their personal creativity.  Sir Ken believes that an understanding of how creativity works can help us get there too, so he offers this explanation.

First, creativity is a process.  It usually starts with an inkling of something that requires further development.  This journey has many phases and unexpected turns, and can lead us to places we never would have predicted at the start.  Several processes are taking place at the same time - generating new ideas, imagining different possibilities, considering different options.  You then develop the ideas by judging which will work best or feel right.  Remember, these processes don't come in a predictable order - instead, they interact with each others.

Because you're making something, creativity involves using media to develop ideas.  It could be voices, math, paint, etc.  Most people who work creatively love the media they work with, and don't think of what they're doing as work - they're doing it because they want to.  In other words, they're in their Element.  Sir Ken believes that one of the main reasons that so many people think they're not creative is that they haven't found their medium.  Once we find the medium that works for us, we need to develop the practical skills in the medium we want to use, and do it in the right way.  If you're turned off of math (as Sir Ken was), because you were never taught to see its creative possibilities, you won't choose it as the media you use.

Sir Ken believes that, "being creative is about making fresh connections so that we see things in new ways and from different perspectives."  He says creative insights often come in nonlinear ways - by seeing connections between things we hadn't seen before.  Even the rules of logic allow room for creativity and improvisation.

The bottom line of this chapter is that creativity, imagination and intelligence set us apart from all other species, and are the keys that unlock our Element.  We may think in certain ways, but we can try to think differently.  This idea is summed up in a quote by William James, one of the founding thinkers of modern psychology.  "The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitude of mind...If you change your mind, you can change your life."  This, says Ken, is the real power of creativity and the true promise of being in your Element.

Next week, we'll travel deep into the heart of the Element, which Sir Ken refers to as "The Zone."


Don't forget - Sir Ken will be speaking in Halifax in April.  There is still time to take advantage of the early bird registration rate for Emergent Learning: Turning Tides in 21st Century Education.  Visit the conference website for more information.