Creativity: Must It Have Value?

This thought has been going through my head, because I’ve heard it a few times from Sir Ken Robinson and Edward de Bono:

In the above clip, at around 1:21, Edward de Bono says, “The new idea, the creative idea, must have value“.

But then, in the next segment “… on making mistakes” (around 1:57) he comments how people are scared to be creative because they are afraid of making mistakes.

Maybe people are also scared of their creative works as being judged valueless.

I understand their sentiment however. A lot of ‘Creative Consultants’ are geared towards people who are trying to make money. People in industry, corporations, trying to improve their business and get an edge on the competition. Creative artists themselves would want their creative works to be profitable as well. You can’t live on praise alone.

But why does it need to have value? Who defines this value? Society, or wall street, or expert artists?

If my children create something and are happy with the joy of creating a picture, shall I tell them it has no current value and thus a wasted effort? Of course not. And I don’t think that Edward nor Sir Ken are trying to tell us that.

But values change. And if ‘value’ is defined as a commodity that the masses are willing to pay money for, I don’t think that creative thought needs to have this value.

Or you may argue that creativity needs to have an end goal. That the final creative product has to have value or needs to benefit humanity in some way shape or form.

But I disagree. I think creativity can affect our lives in many different ways. If you find yourself more satisfied because of your creative endeavours or if your work, your job, your thinking processes are enhanced because of creativity, then the act itself is what’s important.

If we want to enhance our thinking, our thought lives, then creativity needs to be practiced, utilized, honed. It is a skill that can be exercised.