Diversity, Inclusion and Creativity…Now What?

Rubicon weekly describes creativity beautifully. “Creativity is a mental process whereby two or more bits of information come together and create a new and useful piece of information, an idea.” It’s taking all the ingredients that are put in to produce something entirely different. With boundless imagination, humans are also creatures of habit! When solving problems or needing to put a creative plan into place we tend to revert to the familiar. Inadvertently, this means sometimes, we start off producing versions of what we have before…it’s far easier for the mind to go for something reliable and that worked in the past. Yes, certain creative solutions work excellently for multiple scenarios, but we often realise that there’s something more. This is where diversity comes into play.

Diversity has a couple of angles to it here. Let’s start with diverse minds around the table. Engage with people who you, often inaccurately, think may not be in the creative space. Side note, there’s a pool of creativity in each of us, we just need to dive in. As Maya Angelou noted “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” One of the keys to unlocking creativity is engaging people you wouldn’t normally. Ideas are sparked by conversations with the neighbour you had no idea painted, loved to sing, or had the mind of Einstein. As Forbes highlights, diverse teams “are more creative because a person’s creativity is enhanced by their ability to integrate different points of view. Different points of view come more frequently from people who don’t have all the same life experiences, cultural background, knowledge, experience, and skill as you do.”

While inclusion is a verb, the very act of creating space to engage diverse minds and backgrounds leads to inclusion as the result. With this in mind, we also believe creating diversity within yourself leads to unlocking greater creativity from within. While immersing yourself in a completely different country and cultural experience is not possible for several people, one of the ways you can do this is through diversifying your own set of skills and knowledge.

Study something that’s completely outside your professional field. It may be a short course on literature, NFTs, Tech, Psychology, another language or Mathematics. Try a painting workshop, dance class or cooking course. This is a two-fold outcome: not only are you creating diversity within yourself, but you’re also engaging with minds and cultures you wouldn’t necessarily have done before, leading to enhanced diversity which results in becoming more inclusive.

Ultimately, stepping outside of yourself and what you know within a creative work scenario or personally is critical. Actively engaging with different minds or taking steps to create different perspectives and experiences within yourself, unlocks the door to enhanced diversity, imperative inclusion and without a doubt, amplified creativity.