September 24, 2015
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Global Creativity Gap and The State of Creativity

The Global Creativity Gap

Adobe released another study, called “the State Of Create”, that reveals a global creativity gap in the world’s top five global economies (US, Japan, UK, Germany, and France). We here at Un_Standard love these types of surveys because they provide a fascinating glimpse into how we perceive creativity and how we as individuals are living up to our creative potential. This research found that 80% of people feel that unlocking creativity is critical to the economic growth of their city/region/country, and 2/3 feel creativity is valuable to society. In contrast, only 25% feel that they are living up to their own creative potential. A true global creativity gap indeed.

Interviews conducted across the five countries revealed surprising attitudes and beliefs about creativity, providing new insight into the role of creativity in business, education, and society.

The study found a major global creativity gap in the workplace; 75% feel that they are under increased pressure to be productive rather than creative. “Don’t think, do”. This is in stark contrast to the fact that respondents are increasingly expected to think creatively on the job.

And ways to deal with the global creativity gap

Over half of the respondents felt that the educational system is stifling creativity, and many feel that creativity is being taken for granted. This is most notable in the US, where 70% felt that creativity is being taken for granted. “One of the myths of creativity is that very few people are really creative,” said Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D., an internationally recognized leader in developing education, creativity, and innovation. “The truth is that everyone has great capacities, but not everyone develops them. One of the problems is that too often, and our educational systems don’t enable students to develop their natural creative powers. Instead, they promote uniformity and standardization. The result is that we’re draining people of their creative possibilities and, as this study reveals, producing a workforce that’s conditioned to prioritize conformity over creativity.”

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So who ranked as the most creative in this global creativity gap survey? Japan tops the list, with the US in second place. Ironically, the Japanese largely don’t see themselves as being creative. Tokyo ranked as the most creative city, with New York coming in at second.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the global creativity gap can find the study in its entirety on the Adobe website.

Conclusion

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About the author

David Garrard

David Garrard

Agent Provocateur and Chief Creative Officer at Hone Ventures and Un_Standard. We create strategies for businesses of all sizes that improve customer relationships and help businesses grow. In his spare time, he loves experimenting in the kitchen and chasing after his three cats, Hallie Tosis, Lester Een, and Jim G. Vitis.

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Agent Provocateur and Chief Creative Officer at Hone Ventures and Un_Standard. We create strategies for businesses of all sizes that improve customer relationships and help businesses grow. In his spare time, he loves experimenting in the kitchen and chasing after his three cats, Hallie Tosis, Lester Een, and Jim G. Vitis.

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