"A truly creative mind in any field is a human being born with abnormal, inhuman sensitivity"
- Pearl Buck
Recalling the process of recording songs with a young Michael Jackson, producer Quincy Jones said that "Michael was so shy that he sang behind the sofa with his back to me, and I sat with my hands over my eyes and turned off the lights."
Watching his incendiary performances on stage, most did not even guess that Michael Jackson was a deeply shy and sensitive person. The king of pop radiated energy, strength, charm on stage, but in his personal life he was extremely sensitive and lonely.
Jackson embodied the contradiction of many performers: they are incredibly open, and at the same time extremely sensitive. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi considered openness and sensitivity to be opposite personality traits that not only coexist in the character of creative performers, but form the core of their personality. This paradox helps explain how performers can be bold and charismatic on the one hand, and emotionally fragile on the other.
“The openness and sensitivity of creative people is often not only the cause of suffering and pain, but also of great joy,” writes Csikszentmihalyi. “Loneliness and popularity makes a person very vulnerable.”
The fact that many seemingly extroverted performers are also very sensitive people is proven by many musicians belonging to the metal and rock genre. On stage, the musicians seem to be the prototype of extraversion: bold, loud and unbridled. But behind the scenes, they show a different side of their personality. They need solitude to recharge their batteries, and they prefer solitary activities - reading, playing instruments. Many musicians have spoken of heightened sensitivity to surroundings, sound, lighting, and smells. They are often prone to daydreaming and fantasies.
Having heightened sensitivity can be both a blessing and a curse, and often requires creative people to spend more time alone. As psychologist Jennifer Grimes writes, sometimes people tend to block "overwhelming stimuli." All the subjects of her research said that music is a way to express oneself, to find a connection with others, to fulfill oneself.
Grimes' findings suggest that a highly creative person hides behind a façade the depth, complexity, and contradictions of their personality. Creative people of all types tend to be acutely sensitive, and conversely, sensitive people are often quite creative.
A very creative and highly sensitive person observes more, notices more, needs to process more information. Very sensitive people, as Pulitzer Prize winner Pearl Buck said, see the world more colorful, tragic and beautiful. Sensitive people often notice small things that others miss, see patterns where others see randomness, and find meaning and metaphor in the little things of everyday life. Not surprisingly, this personality type often comes to creative expression.
A study led by psychologist Elaine Aron identified sensitivity as a fundamental dimension of the human personality. It turned out that highly sensitive people tend to process more sensory information in both internal and external environments.
It is estimated that jn 15% to 20% of people are considered highly sensitive, but this percentage is much higher among artists and creative thinkers. High levels of sensitivity yt correlate only with creativity, but also with such character traits as spirituality, intuition, mystical experiences, connection with art and nature.
There are many wonderful people whose creativity, for some strange reason, is constantly underestimated. In my opinion, this is primarily due to communication difficulties. For example, if at a presentation you vaguely, in an uncertain voice, formulated your wonderful idea, it is likely to be ignored, considered unworthy of attention. If in the negotiations you failed to explain why your services cost as much as you wanted to sell them for, they will be bought at the residual value.
This post will focus on the communication challenges that are typical of the self-marketing independent creative professional. It can be a freelancer (from a designer to a programmer) or a business owner who has come out of creative circles. After some thought, there were 13 such problems - a good number, right?
1. Introversion
A creative person always has his own rich inner world (from which he often does not want to leave). However, from the outside it often looks like a state of "not of this world", closeness, detachment, indistinctness, lethargy. Of course, no one requires you to get rid of spiritual baggage. However, by learning to surface more often, you will avoid negative assessments - in this case, your otherworldliness will pass for an interesting experience of communicating with an unusual person.
2. Impressibility
Creative people have a developed imagination and therefore are very impressionable. Because of this, they often succumb to forceful pressure - for example, they easily give way in price if there is a threat of losing an order. In such situations, it is never superfluous to ask yourself: is this threat so terrible?
3. Inadequate self-esteem
It can be both overestimated and underestimated, in general, does not correspond to the situation. Because of this, moments from the “Ostap suffered” series sometimes arise in communication - a person begins to puff out his cheeks when he needs to show modesty, or vice versa - you need to declare yourself, but he thinks that this is not his business. It's not easy to deal with this. It is better to try to think less about yourself and the impression you make and show more attention to the interlocutor.
4. Language problem
The language of a well-read person is his enemy. When communicating with a person who is not burdened with cultural baggage (this may just be a normal manager), there is an implicit feeling that you are in different worlds, and as a result, a barrier arises. Do not try to imitate the language of the interlocutor in such a situation. Better be as brief as possible and speak only to the point.
5. False conscience ("uncomfortable")
It is inconvenient to refuse, it is inconvenient to ask, it is inconvenient to insist on one's own, it is inconvenient to name a price, it is terribly inconvenient to take more money than "it costs" and so on.
Absolutely killer quality. Such a person would rather die than ask for too much. Having run into an experienced manipulator, he will leave the negotiations in a deep red, and, moreover, with the feeling that he was favored.
Learn to say no. Practice - simulate upcoming negotiations and ask a friend or wife to be a simulator: raise objections, make demands, set conditions, try to drop you in price, etc. As Ekaterina Mikhailova writes in her wonderful article Say “no” scientifically, “There is a significant difference between those who endure for a long time, then say one big “no” to the whole world, and those who know how to defend their interests on time. The sooner and clearer your “no” sounds, the less danger that the energy of all the unspoken “no” will accumulate and get out of control.”
6. False modesty (again "uncomfortable")
It’s uncomfortable to speak in front of people, it’s uncomfortable to talk about yourself, it’s uncomfortable to promote your services, etc. Moreover, this inconvenience is deeply tied to the Russian mentality: it is enough to recall the famous “Never ask anyone for anything.” True, there are other maxims, for example, “Water does not flow under a lying stone” :)
7. Narcissism
Creative people can easily get carried away with themselves or their favorite business, losing sight of the essence of the negotiations. The interlocutor is rarely interested in the subtle features of your profession, your achievements and brilliant insights. He has his own quite earthly goal - for example, to get a quality service at an affordable price. If you are hooked on your favorite skate, pinch yourself and immediately return to reality before it's too late :)
8. Side effects of self-motivation
In creative people, internal motivation often prevails over financial. From the point of view of a negotiating partner, this may look like excessive compliance or, on the contrary, inflexibility.
The motive “money is not the main thing for me”, arising as a side effect of intrinsic motivation, is dangerous in negotiations for both parties. From the outside, such people seem uncontrollable and unreliable - they will take up work and quit. In addition, by convincing yourself that money is not the main thing for you, you inevitably take away the livelihood of yourself and your loved ones. If you are willing to do this work for a small amount, no one will try to pay you more, but the demand from you will be exactly the same as with a higher pay.
9. Frequent change of point of view
Creative people are, by definition, capable of changing perspectives - that's what makes them creative. This big plus has its downside: from the outside it looks like unreliability, frivolity, uncertainty. While you impress the interlocutor with the breadth and flexibility of your thinking, he quietly thinks that you are showing indecision or rushing from side to side.
10. Untrained
Business people, especially those on which the company's profit depends, now, as a rule, regularly receive training in negotiations, sales, presentations, NLP, etc. They have a lot of tools for pressure and manipulation. But creative professionals rarely participate in such trainings, believing that this is the lot of boring managers. However, in reality they are very vulnerable because of this. I strongly advise anyone who sells their services to think about it and get a good negotiation training.
11. Being overly demanding
It can manifest itself in relation to oneself as perfectionism or in relation to others as a lack of indulgence for other people's mistakes. The 80x20 rule will help here: 80% of the work is done in 20% of the time and vice versa. Conclusion: if possible, do not make these remaining 20%, perhaps no one needs it. (It is no coincidence that all google services are permanently in "beta" :))
12. Inadequate appearance
It is clear that a creative person will not walk in a jacket (although depending on which one, of course). However, the opposite extreme will not please anyone either - when a hairy programmer, all chewed up, with shiny jeans on his ass, in which he has been sitting at a computer for two months, comes to negotiations, everything immediately becomes clear to everyone. Do not confuse originality and banal untidiness.
In fact, clothes are just one of many signs by which you are subconsciously judged, placed in different sectors of memory (or filtered if you don’t fit into one). Equally important is, for example, the price of your services.
13. Unpunctuality
Creative people of all ranks are often late for negotiations. It is clear that the client does not even know about your wonderful stormy creative life, because of which you are slightly, just an hour, late. However, look at the situation through his eyes, and much will fall into place. You don't like waiting either, do you?
Finally, I will add that poor communication can also be seen as one of the key barriers to creativity. After all, what is called creative is something new that society or some circle of people recognizes as valuable. However, society is almost never ready to recognize the value of a new idea based solely on the quality of the idea itself. Most often, he needs some positive incentive for this. People (those whom Heidegger called das Man) do not like and do not want to understand the essence of the issue - they do not have time for this. Therefore, along with the idea itself, its author must also convey to the circle of interested parties some additional impetus for its positive assessment. In business parlance, this is precisely what is called a presentation.
And in conclusion, a small sketch on the evolution of negotiation art.
In my opinion, this is the ideal way to master the art of negotiation. At first you think that you are just talking, and at that time you are being lied to. Then you start thinking: in fact, I want this, the opponent achieves this, there is no point in leaving without it, there is no point in staying with this, and so on. And then you just say again, but in the right way, and what you need. This does not mean at all that you are suppressing the interlocutor and imposing your will on him - no one needs a crushed opponent. However, the path to truly fruitful cooperation is often not as simple as it seems, and one must be prepared for this.
Comment (already 15)
A very fruitful topic. Is there any experience of using the involved people for negotiating? This has always been a problem for me: on the one hand, Prof. the negotiator will negotiate much more successfully)) On the other hand, he is not in the subject of my case, he can pile firewood.
Although, for “creative” people, negotiations, I think, are very useful. Develops and grounds. Thinking becomes more efficient, problems are felt much more clearly.
By the way, negotiations with managers are terribly boring and predictable. Probably because of the training. The most wonderful thing is directly with the owner of the business. If the business is successful, then the owner, as a rule, is a very interesting and non-standard person (although not in the same sense as creative comrades). They have a lot to learn.
Ilya, thank you for your comment, I think it is worth considering the possibility of involving negotiators only when the desired outcome of the negotiations is known for sure, which happens infrequently in the service sector. For the most part, the client does not know what he wants, and you, on the contrary, have a very wide field of opportunities, the prospects of which are difficult for an outsider to assess.
Negotiations with the owner are really much more interesting and efficient. I think it's not about training, but about the simple fact that this is his own business and he is really interested in its development. The difference between an employee and an owner is generally difficult to overestimate. For the most part, these are people from different worlds.
There seems to be another communication breakdown. This is a violation of communication with oneself today and tomorrow. These problems are reflected outside.
sushestvuet rjad professii v sfere kommunikacii, kotorie, sobstvenno i byli sozdany, chtoby oblegchit zhizn tem, u kogo problema v obshenii….na zapade oni cenjatsja i oplachivjutsja….oplachivajutsja ne ploho…pr professii v zajavisimosti pomas — investment relations….gde nuzhno ubaltyvat bogatogo klienta, malo predstavljajushego, chto delat s dengami…..or somnevajushegosja….itd…
hochetsja dobavit k vashim 13 faktoram bezuspeshnyh kommunikacii disleksiju, kotoruju v UK naprimer, v creativnoi industrii rassmatrivajut kak ochen znachitelnuju problemu i udeljajut ei ogromnoe vnimaje….studenty universitetov, stradajushie dislekciei poluchajut skidki po opredelennom predmetam, u nih raznye sroki sdachi rabot itd…
Navernoe, hotelos, chtoby v Estonii nachali provodit Enterprise seminary, na kotoryh, sobstvenno, i govoritsja o tom, kak svoei kreativnosju nachat zarabatyvat dengi….))
I don’t know how it is in other institutions, in our college, among the compulsory subjects, there is psychology of communication and work with a client. Most likely, only at the initial level, but it's not bad.
PS: If you conducted such seminars in Estonia, it would be nice))
Interesting .... Creative people are talented individuals who love to be useful and do good to others. They like freedom, so any restrictions will be perceived by them as an infringement of rights. Many people assume that creative people are lonely, unhappy and do not live long. Fortunately, this is not always the case. Talent is given to a person by God, you just need not to miss the moment and start developing your abilities in time.
It is worth noting that among geeks there are really a lot of unfortunate people, since their work is not always clear to others. As a rule, in an average person, brain activity occurs within certain limits, and everything that goes beyond these limits is perceived as something unnatural and abnormal. For this reason, it is very difficult for creative people to survive in this cruel world in which there are so many stable stereotypes and unwillingness to evolve. Neuroscience confirms that talented individuals think and act differently.The thinking of creative people is literally designed to think uniquely, not like the majority. However, such a gift of nature can significantly complicate life and strain relationships with others. If you are familiar with a creative person, you have probably had the idea more than once that he lives in some completely different world. In most cases, trying to understand such a person is just as futile as trying to change it. In order to be able to adapt to such a person, you need to learn to look at the world through his eyes.
Liar talent
It should be noted that creative people are excellent liars. Conducting a series of experiments has shown that such individuals are disposed to more intricate and complex lies. In addition, they themselves can easily figure out the deceiver. One of the manifestations of creativity is the unacceptability of existing patterns and the breaking of established stereotypes. Talented people easily perceive the unethical behavior of their own behavior, and also calmly relate to similar actions of others.
High degree of distrust
A gifted person tends to distrust even close people. Despite the fact that he quickly recognizes a lie, a suspicious attitude towards others is also a hallmark of talent. And this is not surprising, because in order to make a new discovery, you need to learn how to look at elementary things from a different angle. That is why a talented person questions everything, because it is much easier to create something new from scratch.
impudence
In the course of various experiments, it was found that modesty is not the lot of talented people. Many of them, as a rule, are proud of their abilities and skillfully use them, which allows them to fill themselves with an exorbitant price. In addition, a gifted person is very eager to show how impressionable he is and how much he can experience.
depression
Often talented people fall into depression. Many of these geniuses have various phobias: some are afraid of falling ill with an incurable disease, others are afraid to die young, and others even faint at the sight of a spider or cockroach. Psychologists in many countries have tried to find out whether depression is really associated with talent. After studying the data obtained from psychiatric clinics, they found that creative individuals are more likely to develop severe forms of mental illness. In addition, it has been proven that not only talent, but also similar disorders can be inherited.
It's hard to believe in yourself
Even if a person is confident in his abilities, over time he begins to ask questions: “Am I good enough? Am I doing everything right? Creative people constantly compare their work with the creations of other masters and do not notice their own brilliance, which may be obvious to everyone else. In this regard, creative stagnation is often observed when a person simply gives up, thinking that all his previous ideas were in vain and meaningless. At such a moment, it is very important that there is a faithful friend nearby who would help the master to survive this difficult period.
Time to dream
Creative people are dreamers, this helps them in their work. Many of us have noticed that the best ideas come to us when we mentally transport ourselves far from reality. Neuroscientists have proven that imagination turns on brain processes that are closely related to creativity and fantasy.
Time dependency
Most of the great masters admit that they created their best work either at night or at dawn. For example, V. Nabokov took up the pen at 6 in the morning as soon as he woke up, and Frank Lloyd Wright had a habit of getting to work at 3 in the morning and going back to bed a few hours later. As a rule, people with a lot of creativity rarely stick to a standard daily routine.
Privacy
To be as open to creativity as possible, you need to learn how to constructively use solitude. To do this, many talents overcome their fear of loneliness. Often, creatives and artists are perceived by others as loners, although in reality they are not. This desire for privacy can be an important factor in creating the best work.
Overcoming life barriers
Many cult works saw the light as a result of their creator's experience of heartbreaking pain and strong emotions. Often, various problems become a catalyst that helps create unique and outstanding masterpieces. Psychology has given this phenomenon a scientific name - post-traumatic growth. Researchers have found that often a strong shock helps a person succeed in a particular business, as well as discover new opportunities in himself.
Search for new experiences
Many creative people are constantly in search of new emotions and experiences. Unfortunately, some of them resort to alcohol and drugs to achieve this effect. It should be noted that a talented person is always open to new knowledge, she is quite intelligent and inquisitive. The transition from one emotional state to another is a kind of engine for the study and knowledge of two worlds, internal and external.
Beauty will save the world!
Creative people, as a rule, have excellent taste, so they constantly try to surround themselves with beautiful things. It can be not only clothing details, but also interior elements, paintings, books, jewelry. According to the results of some studies, it was revealed that singers and musicians demonstrate an increased susceptibility and sensitivity to artistic beauty.
Connecting dots
Creative individuals are able to find opportunity where others simply do not notice it. Many famous writers and artists believe that creativity is the ability to connect dots that an ordinary person would not have guessed to connect in such a sequence. If you ask a genius how he combined these things, he will feel embarrassed, because he will not have an answer to this question. What is difficult for others is easy for a creative person.
According to Michael Gelb, everyone can be creative and, without reinventing the wheel, create something new and interesting.
Today we will talk about the nature of creative people. This question is being studied by psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. This is one of the most authoritative experts in the field of business psychology, known primarily for the theory of flow. Csikszentmihalyi is the author of several bestsellers, including the book Creativity: The Work and Lives of 91 Eminent People (1996). In it, he describes 10 paradoxical traits inherent in creative personalities, which he managed to identify over 30 years of his work.
Do you want to know what distinguishes the creator from the layman? Then welcome under cat.
1. Strong but not trained
A creative person has quite a lot of physical energy, but, unfortunately, it is little spent. After all, the work of the creator is, first of all, the work of his brain. Focusing exclusively on intellectual labor makes a healthy body look weak. That is why it is important to maintain a balance of mind and body.
2. Smart but naive
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi admits that creative people are smart, they are distinguished by flexibility and originality of thinking, the ability to hear different points of view. But almost everyone naively believes that creativity can be measured with creative tests, and developed at specialized seminars.
3. Playful but selfless
Creative people love to relax. As they say, nothing hedonistic is alien to them. But when it comes to the "birth" of a new project, they are able to work like crazy. For example, the Italian artist Paolo Uccello, when he was developing his famous "perspective theory", did not sleep all night and walked from corner to corner.
Csikszentmihalyi notes that most creators work late into the night and nothing can stop them.
4. Dreamers, but realists
This is the mystery of creative people. They are great inventors, they can come up with anything, but most of them look at life quite realistically. Apparently, William Ward was right when he said that a pessimist complains about the wind, an optimist hopes for a change in the weather, and a realist sets sail.
5. Extroverts but introverted
We tend to divide people into extroverts and introverts. It is believed that the former are sociable, easily converge with people, have charisma, etc. And the latter, on the contrary, live in their inner world, where only the “chosen ones” are allowed.
But, according to Csikszentmihalyi's observations, truly creative people combine both of these traits. In public, they are the soul of the company, and in the circle of loved ones they are quiet and laconic.
6. Modest but proud
Creative people tend to be very humble. They do not expect praise - the very process of creating a new one is important to them. However, at the same time, they will not give anyone a descent and will not allow to humiliate their own dignity.
7. Masculine but feminine
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi argues that creative people often do not fit their gender roles. So, female creators are often distinguished by a tough disposition, while men, on the contrary, are sensual and sentimental.
8. Rebel but conservative
What is creativity? That’s right – creating something new. In this regard, creative people are very often reputed to be rebels, as their ideas go beyond the usual. But at the same time, it is difficult for many of them to part with their ossified habits, change roles, and so on.
9. Passionate but objective
All creative people are passionate about their work. It would seem that passion should blind, but truly creative people always look objectively at what they do.
Csikszentmihalyi emphasizes that a creative person must adequately perceive criticism, as well as separate his "I" from his work.
10. Open but happy
One of the creative secrets of Leonardo da Vinci was "sharpness of feelings". Creators are always open to new events, even if they hurt them. At the same time, these are internally harmonious happy people, as they know how to enjoy the creative process itself.
As you can see, creative people are indeed full of contradictions. But as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says, it is these paradoxes that help them adapt to almost any situation, adapting everything around them to achieve their goals.
And what paradoxical features of creative people do you know?
Everything but the first paragraph is complete nonsense. Reasoning about what you don’t understand anything! Monday, February 01, 2016 5:19 pm ()Original message PERSONAL_RELATIONSHIPS
Without a doubt, creative people are very different from most. They seem to live in another world, in another universe. And their ingenuity and originality are amazing and cause others to ask: “How? How did they come up with this?”Creative personalities are constantly in the clouds.
If you watch them in a noisy company, where everyone communicates and has fun, they will sit in the corner of the room, write something, draw, think about something. At school, such children may daydream in a geometry lesson while Maria Ivanovna explains the Pythagorean theorem. They often go into themselves, forgetting about everything in the world, and it is at such moments that brilliant thoughts are born in their head.
They are good observers, and they are good at analyzing what is happening around them.
Anything can serve as a source of new ideas for them: landscapes, buildings, elements of clothing or decor. Clinging to some trifle, such people will create a masterpiece, turn a word into a whole story.
There is no daily routine.
Waking up at 7, having lunch at noon, having an afternoon snack at 16, having dinner at 19 and going to bed at 22 is definitely not the lot of creative people. They will work when they want, eat when the opportunity arises (or forget about it altogether), and will sleep on anything and in any way they like, even at a desk.
They love privacy.
Many are afraid of loneliness, but not creative creatures. For them, this is a way to hide from the aggression of the outside world, from the formalities that prevail in society. Left alone with themselves, knowing that no one will disturb or drive away their muse, creative individuals can safely enjoy the present.
They always want to try something new.
Routine - what is it? Creative people have never heard of this. The monotonous rhythm of life - "work - home - sleep" - the worst thing that can happen to them. They need adrenaline, they need movement, new emotions.
They are not afraid to take risks.
To come up with something new, sometimes you need to do unexpected things, put everything on the line. Whatever it is: work, personal life. It is impossible to create something unusual without taking risks.
For them, failures and misses are a huge motivation.
Life, as we know, is black and white. Incredible success can be followed by massive failure. All ingenious inventors and artists someday have doubts, they are mistaken. But, if others would abandon the case halfway, without seeing intelligible results, creative people will not leave everything so easily. Of course, perseverance is characteristic not only of non-standard-minded individuals, but for the latter this quality is very important.
They do what inspires them.
The most important thing for creative people is to do what they really like. They don't need any recognition. And they will not come up with something from under the stick either. The freedom to create everything new and new, to work better and better - this is happiness.
Creative individuals often put themselves in the place of others.
After all, it's so interesting - to know someone else's philosophy, to look at the world from a different point of view. For a moment, starting to think like another person is a great way to develop yourself, as well as learn to understand others.
They notice everything.
These people have the ability to connect parts into a single whole. They see what others do not see, and use their observations to better understand the essence of this or that phenomenon.
Without such people, the world would be more boring and dreary. Creative personalities encourage us to develop, change us for the better. To say that they are 100% different from "uncreative" is wrong - they just have a desire to create something new. And everyone can and should be original and try to invent the uninvented.
