Please Use Template Below For The 2 Responses Colleagueseach Response
Please use Template below for the 2 responses Colleagues Each Response to the 2 colleagues is 1-2 paragraphs Responses to Classmates Template Lessons How Your Organization Has Worked to Challenged Myths Insights Gained from Colleagues Post Alternate Analysis to Colleague’s Post APA References *Instructions Read a selection of your colleagues' postings. Respond to two of your colleagues in one or more of the following ways: Share ways you or your organization has worked to challenge myths of creativity. Share an insight you gained from reading your colleagues' postings regarding how you might challenge the myths regarding creativity at your workplace. Offer an alternative perspective on your colleague's analysis by using a specific example from your own experience.
General Guidance: Your Shared Practice Discussion responses will each typically be 1–2 paragraphs in length as a general expectation/estimate. 1st Colleague to Respond to: Analysis of Myths and Misconceptions as They Relate to Practices Creativity is not a word that I would use to describe myself. Much like the myths presented in Myths of creativity (2012f), I have associated creativity with artists and musicians because they were inspired to create something original and new to the world. I’ve never seen myself as original. However, I understand that creativity is directly linked to change and is essential to success in personal and professional life.
As Puccio, Mance, Switalski and Reali (2012) state, in order for an individual to be successful in the 21st century, they must have creative thinking and adaptability to both grow with and drive change. Examples I clearly remember being embarrassed at my lack of creativity when I was working as editor-in-chief for my university’s newspaper. The editor was often an individual who was outspoken, fearless, and creative. They had to be. In fact, once a new editor took over, that editor had a meeting with their staff to redesign the newspaper.
When I was asked what I planned on changing, I said nothing because I liked the way the newspaper looked. This was mostly true, but at that time, I also had a fear of rejection and criticism. All I remember is blank stares from my staff, until a faculty member snapped back, “Are you serious?» It took me awhile to realize that when redesigning the newspaper, it was not meant to be drastic. Nobody expected me to have some fantastic, out-of-the box design. Unfortunately for me, I had believed in the myth that if I was going to be creative and bring my ideas to the table, it had to be original and new. This severely impacted my ability to be creative in anyway. Thankfully, things have improved. I no longer
fear rejection and criticism; I’ve learned to embrace it and learn to grow. I also understand now that creativity is not always something original. It can be any idea that is useful and brings results.
APA References Laureate Education (Producer). (2012f). Myths of creativity. [Interactive media]. Retrieved from Puccio, G. J., Mance, M., Switalski, L. B., & Reali, P. D. (2012). Welcome to the world of change: Life in the 21st century. In Creativity rising: Creative thinking and creative problem solving in the 21st century (pp. 13–20). Buffalo, NY: ICSC Press. 2nd Colleague to respond to: Analysis of Myths and Misconceptions as They Relate to Practices As I watched the “Myth of Creativity» video, the myths that children are more creative than adults and only artists and musicians are creative resonated with me the most on a personal level. I was struck by how many times I have told myself that I am not very creative and how it has impacted my contributions to the workplace and in my personal life (Laureate Education, 2012). I have passed on opportunities to contribute to new policies, programs, and initiatives because I falsely believed that I was not creative enough to participate. On a personal note, I always wanted to learn to play guitar but did not because I believed I was not talented enough. As adults, we marvel at children because we are amazed at their creativity, yet as we get older, we talk ourselves out of the same creativity we see in children. This is a learned behavior that we can unlearn, which would allow us to embrace the creativity within us and adapt to change (Puccio, Mance, Switalski & Reali, 2012). Examples To extrapolate on a broader scale, I reflected on my federal agency’s views around creativity and innovation. The organization has always valued conformity and consistency, which has been part of the foundation of the agency’s identity. When asked why we do certain things in certain ways, the answer has been “because we have always done things that way.» Over time, this approach has stifled creativity and innovation, while leading to a susceptibility to group think.
The video highlighted the myth that creativity is about inspiration, not hard work, which I believe is one of the reasons it has taken so long to develop and appreciate a culture of creativity in my organization (Laureate Education, 2012). Hard work was always valued in the organization and anything that did not on the surface appear to be hard work, was readily dismissed. Because the culture of the organization was to value sameness and familiarity over creativity and originality, the agency’s effectiveness suffered (Puccio & Cabra, 2010). Unfortunately, it took a major event like 9/11 to shake all federal agencies into a different mindset. In the years since and learning from the failures, the organizational culture has shifted, and creativity is valued now more than ever.