Creativity Manifesto, or A Note to My Young Cousin Regarding Creativity

By Michael Sciarra
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Waterbury, Connecticut

• Listen to others' ideas; even, and especially if, you don't like them (the ideas and/or the persons). You may learn something.
• Take the time to read/view often-referenced source materials that interest you. It's quite astonishing when you learn that you have a different interpretation than others before you.
• Creativity involves risk. The alternative is extinction. Learn how to manage the risks, and you will be rewarded.
• Write down and discuss your ideas. This will stimulate other parts of your brain, and lead to additional ideas that were not accessible before.
• If someone is critical of your best ideas, don't let this stop you. See if you can find something of use in the criticism, and move on. Remember, there are many more judges than doers in the world (just like in spectator sports), and a positive thought is said to be five times more powerful than a negative one.
• Be persistent, and don't make excuses that prevent you from trying. Harland Sanders presented his franchise idea involving his chicken recipe to more than a thousand restaurant owners before he closed his first deal. That's how Kentucky Fried Chicken came about, and Colonel Sanders was in retirement when he started this particular venture.
• Find a mentor. Maybe someone who's doing something that you would like to do, or whose style you'd like to emulate. This will be a great way to learn and develop important contacts.
• Remember that it's people that make new products, new political movements, and new projects of all kinds work. Put these people first, because without them, the rest won't happen.
• Alter any of the above, and add to the list, as you see fit. ...
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