4 reasons why creativity and not intelligence drive success

The relation between intelligence and creativity has been the topic of empirical research for decades. In the line of research “From madness to genius: The Openness/Intellect trait domain as a paradoxical simplex” (Colin G. DeYoung, Rachael G. Grazioplene, Jordan B. Peterson), it is found that intelligence and creativity are poles apart. Gone are the days when the more grey cells you had, the better paid job you got. Out-of-the-box thinking capabilities will land you a better job than your grey matter would.

1. Innovate- As rightly said by Ratan Tata last week, young managers and their creative solutions will take the country ahead in the future. Companies are facing a dearth of creativity today. In this Digital age, people get bored easily. This has given them the courage to try new products and services. No one wants to be left behind in the race by their age-old services which fail to cater to the needs of the netizens.

2. New solutions to existing problem- Start-ups are the next big thing and the driving force of every start-up is the fresh perspective they provide to the existing solutions. All big companies now thrive on new solutions. So, can’t intelligence give birth to them? Sadly, intelligence can only give birth to solutions, not trendy solutions.

3. Fresh perspective to the company- Being successful doesn’t only mean being rich and famous. Today’s competition is tough. People are experimenting more than before. No matter how successful you were in the past, all will stumble down in no time if you do not bring anything different than the rest to the company.

4. Creativity is often termed by experts as the highest form of intelligence. If you are creative, you are likely to be intelligent too. So next time you stop your children from playing with colours as a waste of time, stop right there. You can even buy him a new canvas! Who knows, this might land him a job in Google.

(Image credits: huffingtonpost)