You can’t outsource creativity. You are creative whether you think so or not. There is no opposite of “creative.” There is no single special type of creative person. There are many types of creative people and we all have our own creative styles.
In the new book, Creative You, two of the top practitioners , David B. Goldstein (who specializes in creativity, and Otto Kroeger, who specializes in personality type and organizational development, offer new ideas about how to recognize what type of person you are and how to dramatically improve your ability to use those special inborn creative capabilities.
“First you need to learn your personality type, David Goldstein said. “Then you need to put it to use.”
“Our strengths come from our individual differences. Just as it’s important to know whether or not you are right or left handed before you throw a ball, there are several other important things you need to know about yourself and other people in order to be maximally creative.”
They’ve identified four key questions that are critical to determining what type of a person you are. Here they are:
How do you recharge your energy? This is an important key to knowing where you generate ideas. If you prefer time alone to reflect and contemplate new ideas, you are an Introvert. If you generate ideas by engaging with objects and people you are an Extrvert.
How do you prefer to gather information? Do you sense things or use your intuition more? If you prefer to use your five senses to gather details you prefer to use what’s immediately available to solve problems today. If you prefer gathering information by making abstract generalization, then you tend to solve anticipated problems, problems of the future.
Do you like to make decisions objectively or subjectively? Do you think or feel your way through to decisions? Do you focus on expressing universal truths and applying them to the provide ? Or do you expressing your personal values of what’s true to you and apply them to solve problems by promoting harmony? Do you ask What? Or do you ask Who?
How do you see the world around you? Are you a Judger or a Perceiver? Are the leaves of the trees beautiful? Or are the leaves of the tree green, orange, and red? If you are the type of person who prefers to make final decisions and reach closure then you can get unblocked by opening up to new ideas and experiences. On the other hand, if you are the type of person who prefers to keep things open, you get unblocked by limiting the flow of new information and making some “temporary” decisions.
When you put these four types of preferences together that we all have, the various combinations results in 16 different types of personalities:
1. Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I)
2. Sensing (S) or Intuition (N)
3. Thinking (T) or Feeling (F)
4. Judging (J) or Perceiving (P)
Understanding yourself is like finding the rock that balances your weight so you can stand on it and dance. This first step allows you to understand yourself and your strengths and your unique creative style.
Too much of your strengths can become a liability. For example, a maximized extravert may not listen and a maximized introvert may not share. Know your strengths and use them to achieve a balance. Here are some examples:
For the Organizer, creativity involves solving today’s problems using practical solutions from the memory of what has worked before. Often, creativity takes the courage to be first. George Washington, as the military leader of the American Revolutionary War, was known for his bravery, unwavering character, and administration skills. As the first president of the United States, Washington’s brilliance came through in his implementation of the ideals held by the founding fathers, setting precedents and creating a culture of service in government that still exists today.
If you are the Visionary, when you have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail; similarly, it’s much like something Thomas Jefferson said: “The moment a person forms a theory, his imagination sees in every object only the traits that favor that theory.” If you’re a Visionary experiencing stumbling blocks in your creative process, make sure that you’re considering all the tools and options available to you. Thomas Jefferson was one who, by using all the means of his creative personality, was able to apply his diverse knowledge and interests to invent everyday items, and to help lay the foundation for an innovative form of government.
The Inspirer’s strength and inspiration for creativity comes from their rich imagination of fantasy and theory through their dominant Intuition, while they persistently and outwardly express their own personal values using their second strength, Feeling. “There is an indefinable, mysterious power that pervades everything. I feel it, though I do not see it,” described Mohandas Gandhi, who continued, “It transcends the senses.” Gandhi used nonviolent civil disobedience to lead the independence movement in India. In true INFJ form, Gandhi internalized his message by using his own body to endure hunger strikes and imprisonment—a bold, creative act of passionate defiance that sent ripples throughout the globe and history.
No matter what type of personality you are, you can gain more power and capability by learning how to recognize and find other types of people. This will help you to collaborate more effectively so they can cover your blind spots and supplement your team or your project by enlisting the aid of others who have skills and capabilities that you lack.
Being creative takes courage and we can gain our courage by knowing the strengths of our natural creative style. We do this by learning about our personality type and that of other people including those we work with and those we love. There are tremendous opportunities for us all to be creative and work together so we all can thrive.
Creative You
David B. Goldstein and Otto Kroeger
List $18.00
256 pages soft cover 7 3/8 X 9 1/8
ISBN 978-1-58270-365-7
Beyond Words Publishing, Portland, Oregon
Where ever your passion lies, or whether you are starting from scratch, or enhancing an already developed skill, Creative You offers ways you can maximize your creative potential by understanding your personality type. Creative You makes use of the 16 personality types identified by The Myers-Briggs Personality Type system. Once you learn and embrace this knowledge, you can find new and amazing ways to be more creative.
About the Authors
David B. Goldstein is an internationally recognized artist and a researcher into the connections between creativity and psychological type.
Otto Kroeger is a bestselling author and pioneer in the field of practical applications of Psychological Type and is one of the foremost practitioners in the world today.
What People Are Saying
“Whether you’ve lost faith in your own creativity or are trying to help others regain theirs, Goldstein and Kroeger provide a wealth of rich examples and practical advice on embracing— and making the most of—one’s own creative style.”
JANE A. G. KISE, EDD, author of Intentional Leadership and founder of Differentiated Coaching Associates
“Today, your creativity is more valuable than oil or gold. It’s one necessity that can’t be outsourced! This timeless, fascinating book shows you how to be more creative, boost your earning power and job security, and make the world a far better place.”
PATRICIA ABURDENE, author of Conscious Money, and Megatrends 2010
“Finally a book that explains the two types of creativity in a well-researched and logical manner. Some of us excel in “adaptive” creativity, changing a few features to make something work better. Others exhibit “innovative” creativity, generating the ideas that come out of nowhere. As an artist, writer and seminar leader I have found that both are needed and understanding one’s own strength is crucial to career success and satisfaction.”
SHOYA ZICHY, author of Career Match, Personality Power
“This well thought out and articulate book cries out for us to re-examine the traditional notion of what it means to be creative. Using the frameworks of type and temperament, the authors challenge us to know ourselves, so that we can recognize and nurture our own kind of creativity. More than a theoretical work, the book is bursting with practical information on not only how to understand our creative nature, but how to implement what excites us the most.”
CYNTHIA STENGEL PARIS, MBTI® Master Practitioner and president of The People Skills Group
“Over thirty years after his field-defining Type Talk, Otto Kroeger—with his new and wonderful coauthor, David Goldstein—has created an accessible and much needed volume on creativity through the lens of psychological type. In this age of grinding demands for creativity and change, Creative You, empowers each of us to understand and fully realize the creativity that each of us is hard wired to have.”
HILE RUTLEDGE, president of OKA
“David Goldstein and Otto Kroeger have performed a valuable service by helping people of all sixteen personality types to understand and enhance their creative gifts. Creativity isn’t just for one type of personality. Each of us has creative potential, and each personality type has a creative contribution to make. Creative You will help you find your own unique pathway to a more creative life, even if you previously thought of yourself as uncreative.”
SHELLEY CARSON, PHD, lecturer in psychology at Harvard University and author of Your Creative Brain