Creative process Quote by Michael Michalko
““Creativity is paradoxical. To create, a person must have knowledge but forget the knowledge, must see unexpected connections in things but not have a mental disorder, must work hard but spend time doing nothing as information incubates, must create many ideas yet most of them are useless, must look at the same thing as everyone else, yet see something different, must desire success but embrace failure, must be persistent but not stubborn, and must listen to experts but know how to disregard them." [ Twelve Things You Were Not Taught in School About Creative Thinking ( The Creativity Post , December 6, 2011)]””
About This Quote
Source Article: Twelve Things You Were Not Taught in School About Creative Thinking, The Creativity Post, 2011
Creativity thrives on paradox: knowledge, forgetfulness, unexpected links, effort, failure, persistence, and selective listening are all needed.
In simple terms: Creativity requires balancing opposite forces.
Key Takeaway
Embrace contradictions to spark ideas.
Themes
creativity
paradox
innovation
learning
failure
persistence
Mood
curious
determined
reflective
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- brainstorming sessions
- design thinking workshops
- artistic projects
- research and development
- personal creative practice
Key Concepts
cognitive flexibility
incubation
idea generation
expertise
risk taking
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you balance knowledge and forgetting?
- When should you ignore expert advice?
A Different Perspective
Too much paradox can cause analysis paralysis if not managed.
![“[A]lways get to the dialogue as soon as possible. I always feel the thing to go for is speed. Nothing puts the reader off more than a big slab of prose at the start." (Interview, The Paris Review , Issue 64, Winter 1975)” quote by P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/989/p-g-wodehouse-723_communication_a-lways-get-to-the-dialogue-as-soon-as-p_13316.jpg)
