Does cool kill creativity?
In a day and age where the internet makes it effortlessly easy to become someone cool, or to see what’s cool at the moment, we have to question whether it’s a step in the right direction for creative thinking.
Consider the words of creative genius Sir Ken Robinson: “If you’re not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with anything original.”
But how can one be prepared for mistakes when the internet makes it so easy for others to discover your mistakes, to belittle you for your failures, or for the world to outcast you for trying something different?
In a recent article titled The secret to creativity, Robert McCrum suggests that the secret to creativity is simply: be yourself, don’t be afraid of looking like a fool (disclosure: McCrum states that the secret to creativity is more than that, but being afraid of looking like a fool was a powerful point he makes in the article).
McCrum quotes the artist Grayson Perry, who makes an argument against cool by saying: “I’d like to make a plea for difficulty over cool. In the end, being difficult is the coolest thing you can be.”
Be difficult with your work. Be strange. Take risks and make mistakes.
Are you worried more about looking cool, or more about being yourself and being creative? If you want to be truly creative, you have to forget about popularity and reputation. Don’t be cool, be yourself.