Creativity is Messy

Behold. My trusty painting apron!

A physical metaphor for something we often forget...

Creativity is messy!

I seldom need my "painting armour" in the convergent phase.

Controlled. Deliberate. Critical…

But the divergent phase is something else entirely.

Free. Uninhibited. Expressive. Energetic. Exploratory…

Ah, this is that lovely, messy place where ideas are born! And for an idea to live, it must first be born…

Because creativity isn't neat. It doesn't happen in clean, controlled spaces. Not in those awfully clever corporate innovation rooms with indoor astroturf, colourful beanbags, and pristine whiteboard-painted walls everyone is too afraid to touch...

Creativity happens in the chaos of exploration. In trial and error, and in the willingness to embrace uncertainty.

A few practices I always return to

These are the habits I keep coming back to in my visual thinking work.

Diverge before you converge

• Don't try to leapfrog this stage.
• Explore widely. Throw your ideas up in the sky.

Sense before you solve

• Sit with the unknown.
• Suspend judgment before forcing clarity.

Experiment without fear

• Failure is not the opposite of success. It is a vital part of the creative process.
• Solutions are often found in those happy accidents. If failure is not allowed, neither is originality.

Messiness is not a byproduct of creativity...

It is the process!