I’ve been giving a session called “Where Ideas Come From: Developing and Maintaining a Creative Culture”. During one of my sessions last week I realized that I was missing something very important.

I’ve been asking people about “the creatives” in their organization…what are they like…where to find them…how to get their ideas. I was projecting an image that creatives are a special kind of person. I know better. I was WRONG in my approach.

We are ALL creative. People are born creative. As Picasso stated, “We are all born artists. The challenge is to remain an artist as we grow up.” When you are looking for “creatives” in your organization, you should start by looking in the mirror.

When I ask crowds to give me words that describe “creative people”, I get “innovative”, “risk taking”, “colorful”, and at my last session I got “messy”. Creative people can be all those things. They are observant, they are connected, they are not afraid to fail so they experiment freely. They try new things and don’t settle for the “norm”. Now…does that describe you?

If not, why not. Let me ask you to think back to when you were a child. Were you more “innovative, risk taking, colorful and yes…messy”? So you have the ability to be creative. Revert back to the kid in you. Get yourself a box of Crayola crayons (You’re an adult now and can probably afford the big box of 64 with the built in sharpener). Color yourself back to your childhood…and your creative self.