CREATIVE STARTUP PEOPLE (Number 10 last of a series) : Do you have what they have?

Today I'll move on to the final 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 10: Openness and sensitivity of creative individuals often exposes them to suffering and pain yet also a great deal of enjoyment.

Application: Startups are both brutal and beautiful. Come prepared to experience both emotions, daily.

“Electrical engineer and prolific inventor Jacob Rabinow put it this way: 'Inventors have a low threshold of pain. Things bother them.' A badly designed machine causes pain to an inventive engineer, just as the creative writer is hurt when reading bad prose. Being alone at the forefront of a dicipline also makes you exposed and vulnerable. Eminence invites criticism and often vicious attacks. When an artist has invested years in making a sculpture, or a scientist in developing a theory, it is devastating if nobody cares."

"Divergent thinking is often perceived as deviant by the majority, and so the creative person may feel isolated and misunderstood."

"Perhaps the most difficult thing for a creative individual to bear is the sense of loss and emptiness experienced when, for some reason or another, he or she cannot work. This is especially painful when a person feels one's creativity drying out."

"Yet when a person is working in the area of his or her expertise, worries and cares fall away, replaced by a sense of bliss. Perhaps the most important quality, the one that is most consistently present in all creative individuals, is the ability to enjoy the process of creation for its own sake."

BOTTOM LINE: "These ten pairs of contrasting personality traits [in this series] might be the most telling characteristic of creative [startup] people. These conflicting traits are usually difficult to find in the same person. Yet without the second pole, new ideas will not be recognized. And without the first, they will not be developed to the point of acceptance. Therefore, the novelty that survives to change a domain is usually the work of someone who can operate at both ends of these polarities -- and that is the kind of person we call 'creative'." CEOs of startups find themselves pulling out their hair daily as they attempt to manage creative people. Calm will return when you learn the ten conflicting traits of creative people. Then you can turn your frustrations into constructive guidance that adds power to your startup's unfair competitive advantage.

=========================================================================================
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.

Today I'll move on to the final 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.

======================================================

TRAIT NUMBER 10: Openness and sensitivity of creative individuals often exposes them to suffering and pain yet also a great deal of enjoyment.

Application: Startups are both brutal and beautiful. Come prepared to experience both emotions, daily.

“Electrical engineer and prolific inventor Jacob Rabinow put it this way: 'Inventors have a low threshold of pain. Things bother them.' A badly designed machine causes pain to an inventive engineer, just as the creative writer is hurt when reading bad prose. Being alone at the forefront of a dicipline also makes you exposed and vulnerable. Eminence invites criticism and often vicious attacks. When an artist has invested years in making a sculpture, or a scientist in developing a theory, it is devastating if nobody cares."

"Divergent thinking is often perceived as deviant by the majority, and so the creative person may feel isolated and misunderstood."

"Perhaps the most difficult thing for a creative individual to bear is the sense of loss and emptiness experienced when, for some reason or another, he or she cannot work. This is especially painful when a person feels one's creativity drying out."

"Yet when a person is working in the area of his or her expertise, worries and cares fall away, replaced by a sense of bliss. Perhaps the most important quality, the one that is most consistently present in all creative individuals, is the ability to enjoy the process of creation for its own sake."

BOTTOM LINE: "These ten pairs of contrasting personality traits [in this series] might be the most telling characteristic of creative [startup] people. These conflicting traits are usually difficult to find in the same person. Yet without the second pole, new ideas will not be recognized. And without the first, they will not be developed to the point of acceptance. Therefore, the novelty that survives to change a domain is usually the work of someone who can operate at both ends of these polarities -- and that is the kind of person we call 'creative'." CEOs of startups find themselves pulling out their hair daily as they attempt to manage creative people. Calm will return when you learn the ten conflicting traits of creative people. Then you can turn your frustrations into constructive guidance that adds power to your startup's unfair competitive advantage.

=========================================================================================
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.

Today I'll move on to the final 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.

======================================================

TRAIT NUMBER 10: Openness and sensitivity of creative individuals often exposes them to suffering and pain yet also a great deal of enjoyment.

Application: Startups are both brutal and beautiful. Come prepared to experience both emotions, daily.

“Electrical engineer and prolific inventor Jacob Rabinow put it this way: 'Inventors have a low threshold of pain. Things bother them.' A badly designed machine causes pain to an inventive engineer, just as the creative writer is hurt when reading bad prose. Being alone at the forefront of a dicipline also makes you exposed and vulnerable. Eminence invites criticism and often vicious attacks. When an artist has invested years in making a sculpture, or a scientist in developing a theory, it is devastating if nobody cares."

"Divergent thinking is often perceived as deviant by the majority, and so the creative person may feel isolated and misunderstood."

"Perhaps the most difficult thing for a creative individual to bear is the sense of loss and emptiness experienced when, for some reason or another, he or she cannot work. This is especially painful when a person feels one's creativity drying out."

"Yet when a person is working in the area of his or her expertise, worries and cares fall away, replaced by a sense of bliss. Perhaps the most important quality, the one that is most consistently present in all creative individuals, is the ability to enjoy the process of creation for its own sake."

BOTTOM LINE: "These ten pairs of contrasting personality traits [in this series] might be the most telling characteristic of creative [startup] people. These conflicting traits are usually difficult to find in the same person. Yet without the second pole, new ideas will not be recognized. And without the first, they will not be developed to the point of acceptance. Therefore, the novelty that survives to change a domain is usually the work of someone who can operate at both ends of these polarities -- and that is the kind of person we call 'creative'." CEOs of startups find themselves pulling out their hair daily as they attempt to manage creative people. Calm will return when you learn the ten conflicting traits of creative people. Then you can turn your frustrations into constructive guidance that adds power to your startup's unfair competitive advantage.

=========================================================================================
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.

Today I'll move on to the final 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.

======================================================

TRAIT NUMBER 10: Openness and sensitivity of creative individuals often exposes them to suffering and pain yet also a great deal of enjoyment.

Application: Startups are both brutal and beautiful. Come prepared to experience both emotions, daily.

“Electrical engineer and prolific inventor Jacob Rabinow put it this way: 'Inventors have a low threshold of pain. Things bother them.' A badly designed machine causes pain to an inventive engineer, just as the creative writer is hurt when reading bad prose. Being alone at the forefront of a dicipline also makes you exposed and vulnerable. Eminence invites criticism and often vicious attacks. When an artist has invested years in making a sculpture, or a scientist in developing a theory, it is devastating if nobody cares."

"Divergent thinking is often perceived as deviant by the majority, and so the creative person may feel isolated and misunderstood."

"Perhaps the most difficult thing for a creative individual to bear is the sense of loss and emptiness experienced when, for some reason or another, he or she cannot work. This is especially painful when a person feels one's creativity drying out."

"Yet when a person is working in the area of his or her expertise, worries and cares fall away, replaced by a sense of bliss. Perhaps the most important quality, the one that is most consistently present in all creative individuals, is the ability to enjoy the process of creation for its own sake."

BOTTOM LINE: "These ten pairs of contrasting personality traits [in this series] might be the most telling characteristic of creative [startup] people. These conflicting traits are usually difficult to find in the same person. Yet without the second pole, new ideas will not be recognized. And without the first, they will not be developed to the point of acceptance. Therefore, the novelty that survives to change a domain is usually the work of someone who can operate at both ends of these polarities -- and that is the kind of person we call 'creative'." CEOs of startups find themselves pulling out their hair daily as they attempt to manage creative people. Calm will return when you learn the ten conflicting traits of creative people. Then you can turn your frustrations into constructive guidance that adds power to your startup's unfair competitive advantage.

=========================================================================================
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.

Today I'll move on to the final 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.

======================================================

TRAIT NUMBER 10: Openness and sensitivity of creative individuals often exposes them to suffering and pain yet also a great deal of enjoyment.

Application: Startups are both brutal and beautiful. Come prepared to experience both emotions, daily.

“Electrical engineer and prolific inventor Jacob Rabinow put it this way: 'Inventors have a low threshold of pain. Things bother them.' A badly designed machine causes pain to an inventive engineer, just as the creative writer is hurt when reading bad prose. Being alone at the forefront of a dicipline also makes you exposed and vulnerable. Eminence invites criticism and often vicious attacks. When an artist has invested years in making a sculpture, or a scientist in developing a theory, it is devastating if nobody cares."

"Divergent thinking is often perceived as deviant by the majority, and so the creative person may feel isolated and misunderstood."

"Perhaps the most difficult thing for a creative individual to bear is the sense of loss and emptiness experienced when, for some reason or another, he or she cannot work. This is especially painful when a person feels one's creativity drying out."

"Yet when a person is working in the area of his or her expertise, worries and cares fall away, replaced by a sense of bliss. Perhaps the most important quality, the one that is most consistently present in all creative individuals, is the ability to enjoy the process of creation for its own sake."

BOTTOM LINE: "These ten pairs of contrasting personality traits [in this series] might be the most telling characteristic of creative [startup] people. These conflicting traits are usually difficult to find in the same person. Yet without the second pole, new ideas will not be recognized. And without the first, they will not be developed to the point of acceptance. Therefore, the novelty that survives to change a domain is usually the work of someone who can operate at both ends of these polarities -- and that is the kind of person we call 'creative'." CEOs of startups find themselves pulling out their hair daily as they attempt to manage creative people. Calm will return when you learn the ten conflicting traits of creative people. Then you can turn your frustrations into constructive guidance that adds power to your startup's unfair competitive advantage.

=========================================================================================
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.