Building creativity
And a challenge for repositioning AI's impact
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There are many pervasive misconceptions about creativity: that it’s innate, that it only involves the arts, that it’s spontaneous and chaotic, that it can’t be taught, that it’s reserved for certain types of people, that it’s linked to high intelligence, and that it’s limited by constraints.
Most of these are wrong, and those that aren’t are damaging.
You and I can learn to build creativity and form novel, valuable ideas with our imaginations.
To focus the mind on what happens and what makes it happen. — VII. 30
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. My daily immersion with LLMs has been a catalyst.
Let’s break this down in a more intimate meditation than usual.
Purposefully Creating Idea-Rich Environments
I’ve written before about “collecting environments” as a forcing function for change. But when your daily work environment shifts, as mine has, it requires a reset. Luckily, idea-rich environments come from many places.
I curate a diverse podcast playlist, rotating through it on long bike rides. Some of my favorites include founders, invest like the best, idea cast, and pivot. There are many more.
I read a different book on a different subject—often something I’m unfamiliar with—at least once a month. It could be Art of Learning, Broken Money, or the The Fifth Risk.
I explore new and interesting subreddits, many of which I don’t personally identify with but help me understand what others are thinking about (though I must warn, this can be a dangerous rabbit hole).
And then I create a subconscious stew. I let these diverse inputs marinate and set a mental timer to check back on them later.
When the Timer Dings: Practicing Divergent Thinking
I mentioned journaling in my first essay in this series, Personal Intellectual Leverage. I’m constantly in my notes, and my app of choice is Bear. I’ve been using it for years. It’s where I keep a repository of free-flow thinking.
With the stew of ideas as a base, I write down my thoughts furiously, without abandon. I’m often surprised by how much I generate after giving the subconscious time to work. Sometimes the dish is fully refined; other times, it needs a little more time to cook.
Breaking Routine to Stimulate Creativity
I’ve developed a knack for maintaining solid routines—and for knowing when to break them. Variety is absolutely critical for the imagination. Whether it’s how you exercise, how you sleep, what you eat, how and where you work, or how you wind down, routine can become a constraint. Once something becomes routine, it no longer stimulates.
Switching it up, based not just on time but on a feeling honed through experience, is my key.
Capitalizing on Momentum
This is the hardest part to cultivate, but it’s also the most potent. When inspiration strikes—through the refinement of inputs (some may call this “spontaneity,” but I see it as a purposeful, delayed reaction)—I act on it. This might mean sitting down to write or program for hours, even if I’m tired or had other plans. It could happen late at night, early in the morning, or anywhere in between. The key is to seize the spark of creativity when it ignites.
Killing your darlings
I’ve learned to love killing my ideas—or at least their first, second, and third versions. Creativity thrives on trial and error, iteration, and collaboration. Stress-testing ideas with others helps massively, and combining elements from different disciplines leads to evolutionary, and sometimes revolutionary, thinking. That’s one of the key benefits of divergent thinking.
Final Thoughts
Repeat: My daily immersion with LLMs has been a catalyst for this lately.
Much of the positioning for AI’s benefit has been not surprisingly misplaced. We live in a world driven by efficiency—faster, better, cheaper, more productive—and the view on where AI’s greatest value lies.
But I believe that’s only 5% of the equation. The real 95% lies in AI’s ability to help us build creativity, push boundaries, and rediscover joy in the process. Personally, as a “thinking partner” to open up a blank page or canvas and start. Professionally, by replacing the kinds of work that should no longer require us. But in the latter, the benefit isn’t efficiency—it’s liberation.
When we’re free to think beyond the confines of today, we can say, “Let’s build something new.” It’s not about taking away, but what it inspires us to create.
The future isn’t just about faster.
It’s about freer.