What is creativity?

We did a personality test the other day (HBDI), and I was surprised when I found myself strongly in the creative / big picture group. A colleague showed little surprise, "I fully expected you were in that group". The funny thing is that after years of working in innovation groups or with designers, I don't consider myself the "creative one".  I understood the business side and the consumer side, but give me Photoshop or have me sketch something and it would be a disaster. Creativity often feels so tied with a Steve Job's presentation or a beautiful mock-up. 

This made me start to think what creativity really means. The definition is "a phenomenon whereby something new and somehow valuable is formed". That last statement is what stuck with me. Forming something is often tied to something tangible. It's much harder to outline what creativity is when related to consumer insights, or synthesizing different pieces of data, or adding business context to a product. Going back to childhood, my most "creative art" was photography, which I always felt was technical and capturing something that already existed. I wasn't forming anything new. In my professional career, I have spent more time working with design agencies or ad agencies, not doing the creation, but instead guiding it and providing a different perspective. 

It's a different sort of creativity, and it's worth reminding ourselves of the role we play in the creative process. It may vary in each person, but we all need to use the right side of our brain to solve challenges. We won't all be leaders in design teams or innovation agencies. But we do need to remember the role of creativity that we each bring to our jobs. And that we each may have a creative spark that we can foster and build upon.