Challenge of Creativity

Indian Context

A lot has changed in the curriculum of Indian schools in the past two decades which
now yearns to distance itself from the rote and regurgitate era of the past. There is
more thrust on encouraging originality and creativity in the school curriculums and
more brain space being given to the students. However, in most of the Indian
schools which use these catchy terms with pride during promotions, the basic idea
is mistreated and just a lip service is paid to it. In a fiercely competitive
environment in a highly-populated country like India where performance in exams
are a ticket to a better profession and lifestyle, creativity is sacrificed for the
quantitative performance. Timelines, machine like lifestyle, fear of failure,
uncertainty of future all act in unison to stifle that piece of originality that is unique
to your DNA. Even in creative field like architecture, economic consideration, space
constraints and time, innovative ideas are hard to come by. We must take a cue
from the western countries whose economies have now matured from
manufacturing to generating intellectual capital. Some say that original ideas are
flukes which just receive more publicity than failures. But how does that account for
some individuals who recreate these flukes repeatedly. Neither do I subscribe to the
view that creativity is gift that you are born with.

So how am I to switch over to being creative?

Continual innovation and generating fresh ideas is not an option but survival for an
Architect. You need to train your mind to think laterally and break every stereotype
and pattern. Just like pumping weights in the gym exercise your muscles to tone,
your brain needs similar stimulation to get those neurons firing. Our brain processes
information sequentially and compares it with known established pattern to device a
response. Creativity emerges from a conscious effort to break this stubborn rigid
patterns and generate new ones while you chew on the information in a more
random manner. Try and be more perverse in your solutions without fearing
disapproval or being labeled as the laughing stock. Interestingly humor is also a
deviation from an established pattern of behavior and acts as a catalyst to ideation.
Glass Topo and CCP perhaps gets you through rigor of your graduation but leave
you with just a certificate in hand and skills of a draftsman. An hour a week spent on
creative thinking exercises and a conscious effort to shun plagiarism by trying to do
things differently will build the idea generating potential.

Creativity has to be consciously cultivated. Informal social interaction and collision

of ideas in the cafeteria are more likely to kick up solution than laboring at the desk
desperately watching the clock tick. The aha moment every individual hopes for
in face of a mind block is not a freak chance but a long incubation of random ideas
and inputs that the brain subconsciously processes. Developing a keen eye to
observe your surroundings for interesting features and absorbing these inputs
provide the brain the required fodder for creation. The digital note taking mobile
app is an excellent tool to collect your ideas and document your environmental
inputs compared to the self-gratification provided by the frontal camera. Creativity
is about connecting things Steve Jobs.

Creativity is a skill that needs to be cultivated and honed especially in our field.
Schooled from an environment that merits established solutions over a sub-optimal
original approach, we need to train our mind for a lateral thought process.
Incessant and relentless innovation is the only way our profession will be kept alive,
where automation is now taking care of the more rudimentary technical issues.
Think smart and be original.

Ideation Techniques and Advice

Lateral thinking Exercises once a week (Refer Art of Lateral Thinking by

Edward De Bono)

Break pattern of daily activity and be spontaneous.

Peer group interaction and discussion

Keen observation of environment. Log notes.

Assail your fears for failure.

Find a stimulating activity that best churn your creative juices.

Expose your brain to various stimulus by travelling reading, TV and

interacting with professionals

Give yourself challenging deadlines