We heard someone say the other day that their friends’ children were told to go play outside. They then saw the kids have absolutely no idea what to do when technology wasn’t present. They sat there. Doing nothing. Kicking rocks around. This made us start to think about what it was like for our generation growing up without IT. We had to get creative and think of things to do. We made up games, we hunted for critters, we rode bikes or other fun things with wheels. We then started to think, “what if this digital age is going to negatively affect creativity for that younger generation when they enter the work force.” We think that maybe it hasn’t shown its true colors because those creatives working in industry did grow up without these things and know how to tap into their imaginations. What happens when Gen Z comes into the work force? Will their creativity be less than their older counterparts? Turns out that people are already trying to study these effects on creatives. One study found that when professionals were overloaded with technology the cognitive absorption of creativity suffered. They also reported higher levels of burnout with high levels of tech overload, which also led to negative impacts on creativity. Some argue that technology can facilitate creativity. Here are some negative and positive effects of technology on the creative process.
Positive:
1. It can be a source of information/inspiration
2. It can help come up with new ideas
3. Allows for easier collaboration
Negative:
1. It can be a distraction
2. It can cause digital burnout/overload
3. It can cause dependency
4. Lack of original ideas
We believe that creativity is spawn from the thought processes that it comes from. When we analyze information and need to solve something, it is our critical thinking skills that create innovative ideas. Not Googling it to find the best answers. This diminishes the act of critical thinking. We have a friend who plays a drinking game called, “Not allowed to Google.” They spend the evening hanging out enjoying the evening together with drinks. They’re not allowed to Google any thought or question that they end up talking about for the entire evening. This promotes creative/critical thinking skills. It’s actually very hard to do and really fun to play! This is where we need to be in our professional lives from time to time. Put the phones down and try to solve a creative problem with looking up solutions. We guarantee it will help you increase creativity. We’re not sure where creativity is headed with the younger generation but we sadly think that there will be a decrease in creativity in the near future. Think AI.
