CREATIVE STARTUP PEOPLE (Number 7 of a series) : Do you have what they have?

Today I'll move on to the next trait on the list for creative people, applying it to startups (see the introductory note at the end of this blog). The quotes are from the book cited in the endnote.

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TRAIT NUMBER 7: Creative people are androgynous and do not fit the mold of rigid gender stereotyping.

Application: Successful startup leaders are not stereotypes, but they are have a lot of extra feelings expressed in their special behavior.

“In all cultures, men are brought up to be 'masculine' and to disregard and repress those aspects of their temperament that the culture regards as 'feminine, whereas women are expected to do the opposite."

'Psychological androgyny is a [very wide] concept, referring to a person's ability to be at the same time aggressive and nurturant, sensitive and rigid, dominant and submissive, regardless of gender. It is not expressed in purely sexual terms and is often confused with homosexuality.”

"A psychologically androgynous person in effect doubles his or her repertoire of responses and can interact with the world in terms of a much richer and varied spectrum of opportunities. It is not surprising that creative individuals are more likely to have not only the strengths of their own gender but those of the other one two."

A. is a walking mass of muscles with a tender heart for people. He talks with strength and quickly senses people struggling with even minor issues of daily living.

E. reaches across oceans to care for employees in other countries who have serious health problems. She conducts meetings with an iron fist and a velvet covered club.

A. begins discussions with softness but when he confronts a big problem, the opposing side sees an aggressive behavior of hard steel. T. laughs and jokes easily and then turns deadly serious when problems pop up that demand total focus.

P. is lively in discussions with entrepreneurs and during celebrations of milestones achieved. Yet he is deadly serious and somber when confronting debilitating actions in his startups.

BOTTOM LINE: Super strong and super soft. Tough minded with a real heart. Those are some of the descriptions you may also have heard expressed about creative people. I recall one of my world-class professors who could terrify students in the classroom and be a gentle as a rabbit in his office with the same people. This special mix of the best of the best from both genders may confuse some. But experienced startup people know it is one of the traits of the finest minds you want in your new enterprise. They are part of the structure of a truly unfair advantage.

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NOTE OF INTRODUCTION TO THIS SERIES ON CREATIVE STARTUP PEOPLE

Creativity.

That's a desired skill that stands out in great startup people: Founders, management, leaders, and employees. I also find it outstanding in the venture community: Angels, venture capitalists, bloggers, media reporters, lawyers and finance staff.

On the less positive side, creative people are also a challenge to manage (often "a pain in the neck" and worse).

I am often questioned about creative startup people, so I've decided to discuss them in a series of blogs, who they are, how to spot them and what to do about them.  The series should be about ten blogs in length, spread out over the next three weeks.

I decided begin with this question: "How creative are you?"

To help you answer that question, I'll list the traits of a creative person and let you compare yourself. I expect you to be surprised (I was).

My source for the list is a mind stretching book by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi entitled Creativity. He is professor and former chairman of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago, and author of several books including the bestseller, Flow. The quoted item that I use are from Creativity.

Comments

[John]

Jeroen, sorry for pushing the delete button yesterday (instead of the update). I appreciate your head's up notice. I've posted Number 6, today.

Wishing you well with the the entrepreneur site! Let me know who the startup winners are.

[Jeroen Bakker]

Am I overlooking trait 6?

This is a great series by the way, I enjoy reading it and thinking about it!

(I even posted about it on the leading entrepreneurial forum in the Netherlands, Higherlevel.nl:
http://www.higherlevel.nl/forum/index.php?board=45;action=display;threadid=18475
)