Creative Process - Board Game Style



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Go ahead and click on this image to see it full size, because reading all the tiny signs is half the fun.

But if straining to read small print isn't your cup of tea, here are the highlights:

You are the red truck in the image, with your idea strapped into the bed of the truck.

From the START position, you have three choices:

1. the Express Route: a short-cut to success if you have natural talent. If not, then hit a brick wall

2. the Self Doubt route: immediate crash and burn

3. the Scenic Route:

On the Scenic Route, first you have to ask yourself, Has this been done before? ("Who cares" is an option, but it goes into an underground tunnel, from which there is no apparent route back to the surface).

Next you pass obstacles like the Internet, and signs like Lazy.

Then you have to get past the turn off for "Comparing Yourself to Others". If you go that route, you end up in an infinite loop.

You have to go through a long, winding journey of Reconsider, Rework, Rewrite, Revise and Rethink, and remember to stop at the Motivation gas station along the way to Refill.

Then you have to go over the Bridge of Critics.

From here it's easy to get off on the Ramp of Overthinking, which will take  you into a dizzying death spiral.

Or you could drop your work off at Self Storage for a while, because Maybe You'll Just Revisit this later.

But if you get past those, now finally you are in the homestretch. You pass the bleachers where Friend and Family cheer you on, and another bleacher for Peer Support, where there is only one person sitting, not terribly enthusiastic.

You arrive at the end, where your creative project is on DISPLAY for the whole world to see.

Did you notice the "what a piece of crap" guy? (one out of seven).

So the blogger who posted this image had some other good thoughts on creativity, and one of the commenters came up with something very quotable:

Thermodynamics of Creativity: creativity is like gas, it’s random thoughts whizzing around. You put some structure around it and it becomes a fluid. It’s useful. You can do something with it. But don’t get bogged down in rules and formulas, then you cool the whole momma down and you’re left with this big solid institution. Stay fluid. Done.

Here's another quote that made me pause and think. This one is from Twelve Things You Were Never Taught in School About Creative Thinking.

Creativity is paradoxical. To create, a person must have knowledge but forget the knowledge, must see unexpected connections in things but not have a mental disorder, must work hard but spend time doing nothing as information incubates, must create many ideas yet most of them are useless, must look at the same thing as everyone else, yet see something different, must desire success but embrace failure, must be persistent but not stubborn, and must listen to experts but know how to disregard them.

What would you add to the creative process board game?