In a recent article for Scientific American, “Creativity Is Much More Than 10,000 Hours of Deliberate Practice,” Scott Barry Kaufman summarizes 50 years of studies of career trajectories, life experiences of creative people, and the traits that predict creativity, in 12 bullet points:

1. Creativity is often blind
2. Creative people often have messy processes
3. Creators rarely receive helpful feedback
4. The “10-Year Rule” is not a rule
5. Talent is relevant to creative accomplishment
6. Personality is relevant
7. Genes are relevant
8. Environmental experiences also matter
9. Creative people have broad interests
10. Too much expertise can be detrimental to creative greatness
11. Outsiders often have a creative advantage
12. Sometimes the creator needs to create a new path for others to deliberately practice

As he stresses:

This wealth of research on creativity contradicts the notion that deliberate practice is the sole — or even the most important — aspect of creativity.

What I know for sure is that this wealth of research contradicts common strategy and HR consultant’s recommendations to corporations willing to increase their “innovativeness.”

Creativity is very messy, and messiness is so unmanageable!

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Featured Image: Toothpaste for dinner, “The Creative Process”