W13 - Discussion Question # 1

I am probably one of the least creative people you will ever come across. I am not one to “think outside the box” or “use my imagination.” After reading the text, the one line which I think sums up creativity in a nutshell is “creative individuals generate ideas and make something happen as a result” (pg. 185). Although, I am not good at generating ideas, I can confidently say that I can make things happen as long as I am given a clear goal and a general guideline on what needs to be done. I don’t expect or like to be micro-managed or given step by step instructions on how to accomplish a task as long as I can get feedback during the process. Perhaps in that way, I am somewhat creative because I have to think of ways to get to the end result or goal at hand? Luckily, many of the small groups that I have been put in, the more “creative” members come up with the ideas and I usually end up putting their ideas into action – which is perfectly fine with me. I don’t think it’s important for everyone to be creative as everyone is different and has their own strengths and weaknesses. In a small group, if everyone were to be creative; yet struggle with the logistics and execution, then the group has the potential to fail. On the contrary, if everyone were to be analytical and just focus on the logistics then the group will also fail because they are not able to come up with any good ideas to meet their goals. While creativity is definitely important for a small group, I think that there has to be a good balance between creative and analytical thinking in order for a group to succeed.