This weekend, my 7 year old announced her plan to make a photo frame for her Papa.
As enthusiastic as she was, she didn’t know how to get started.
I made her sit and the coach in me asked her ‘Do you remember the 4Ps to great work’.
She exclaimed ‘Yes, I do. Plan, Process, Persistence and Passion’ .
That is, by the way, our ‘Code to Work’
I said ‘Excellent. Let us begin with planning, get some ideas from Google images, list down what we need and create a beautiful photo frame’.
She did very well. I could tell she was happy, but not satisfied. I sensed that but didn’t know what was bothering her. I knew she would come back to discuss it later as she generally does.
The following day she approached me once again. I want to make another photo frame.
I was game for it and as I reached out for my phone to get some ideas. She stopped me saying ‘Mamma, why do we need inspiration from others? Can I not create a photo frame with my idea, the way I want it? I said ‘yes’ immediately. I was delighted to see her confidence.
She took some time but figured it out one her own. She needed a little help every now and then but was too involved to let that stop her photo frame.
It was nice to see that the work was neat, although not so great from a design perspective but what was noticeable was her satisfaction. It came from the fact that she made something from her own idea. She knew it was not the best piece of art, but she was satisfied.
In fact she already identified what she could do better but there was not an iota of embarrassment. She proudly held her work and went to Papa and declared her achievement.
I kept wondering – what made the difference and after a while I was able to map it. I was taking away her power to be creative. I was pushing her to think in a certain way which gave quick, good and consistent result.
So, here are the 7 lessons of creativity from my 7 year old
- You don’t need a template to get started
- Your imagination can be your inspiration – creativity is inside out and not outside in
- Excellence is overrated at times – it is okay to be okay
- There is pride in failing too – you become more committed to do better
- Not all attempts can be successful but can be blissful – that’s your food for motivation
- Evaluation and validation is important but doesn’t have to come from external sources always
- Celebrate what you could do rather than what you couldn’t
Author : Sumitra Paul Chatterjee
Associate Director
I Train Consultants India Pvt. Ltd.
