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How Creativity Rules the World
Read in 17 min.
Listen in 21 min.
Learn the key ideas of the book by Maria Brito

How Creativity Rules the World

Opening ourselves up to the world, in order to enhance our creativity

In How Creativity Rules the World, Maria Brito provides tools and tips that we can all use, in order to give value to our ideas and make them come alive. The author explains how creativity is an important aspect in everyone’s life, regardless of our job or personality. We can all develop our own creativity, which has the power to make any project or profession stimulating and exciting.

How Creativity Rules the World
Read in 17 min.
Listen in 21 min.
IDEA CHIAVE 1/12

Times of crisis often give rise to new and original ideas

The author says that her grandfather, Enrique, was a source of great inspiration to her throughout her life. He was born in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, to Lebanese migrants, and he went on to study as a doctor, get married, become a Red Cross director, and have four children. When he was around the age of 40, he had an accident that forced him to give up his career as a doctor, so he started working for the family bank. He took the sudden change in his professional life in his stride, and took up art and painting at around the same time. He eventually became a manager in the family bank, but in 1970, he was kidnapped by extreme left-wing guerrillas, who saw him as a symbol of the financial system they despised. He was released twenty-three days later. It was a terrible experience, and his mental health suffered significantly as a result, but he didn’t give up; once he had recovered, he decided to make a change, and bought a company that sold prints, lithographs, posters, and books. He built a strong and enthusiastic team at work, and kept his family closer than ever.

The author says that her grandfather’s extraordinary story is proof that crises can lead to rebirth and creativity. The Italian Renaissance, after all, began after the tragic black plague epidemic in the mid-thirteenth century, while the Bauhaus movement, modernism, and surrealism all arose after the traumatic events of the First World War.

There is a clear link between creativity and crisis, almost as if the human mind becomes more fertile and open to new ideas in times of great difficulty. During the recent Covid-19 lockdowns, many people, including the author, began to draw on unexpected resources and to plan new projects. According to Brito, we need to try to prevent hardship from getting us down, and use it to our advantage, letting our sense of urgency and our need for well-being drive our creativity to new heights.

  

The key ideas of "How Creativity Rules the World"

01.
Times of crisis often give rise to new and original ideas
02.
In order to be creative, we need use existing concepts to come up with new ideas
03.
It is a common misconception that creativity does not need to be cultivated, and that only certain people are blessed with this quality
04.
Being creative also means defending our independence and choices, even if external conditions make this very difficult
05.
Creativity requires us to be honest with ourselves, and to be able to put ourselves in other people’s shoes
06.
In order to be more creative, we must learn to follow our intuition
07.
Contrary to popular belief, repetition often encourages the creative process
08.
Technology has separated us from a very useful and creatively stimulating process: writing with a pen and paper
09.
We create something interesting and engaging when we combine opposing elements
10.
Change is a crucial part of the creative process
11.
Quotes
12.
Take-home message
 
 
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