The overlap in conditions does not make flow a prerequisite. We cannot always be in a state of optimal experience. But we can deliberately build the skills and structures that make both creativity and flow more likely.
Flow — as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi — emerges when high challenge meets high skill. Creativity is similar: we aim for something original (high demand) and must bring the skills to make it real.
The concept of flow has captured our imagination so fully that it is often assumed that flow is required for #creativity.
It isn’t.
In my latest newsletter, I explore what flow really is, what it's not, and how to increase the chances of entering it.
I would be happy with Rosie
We use technology on auto-pilot. But it doesn't have to be like that. What if we were purposeful? What if we learned the lessons of what happened with social media to inform how we use #AI for #creativity? My latest newsletter: open.substack.com/pub/creativi...
Diving more into the writing process. Which is a great example of The Creativity Choice process, from decisions to get started to doing to redoing (part 2)
#creativity #writing #writingcommunity #booksky
When I started writing The Creativity Choice, I couldn't resist checking advice to writers. But none of the top tips were helpful for me. The truth is that there is no right way to write. Just. Write. Edit. Write. And write.
#WritingCommunity #BookSky #creativity
As #AI takes over many generative tasks, what is left is complex #creativity of finding problems, drawing on expertise that builds capacity for effective judgment + decision making, and building by incorporating signals from emotions and thinking alike (what matters? what is important?)
Despite all the talk about #AI and #creativity, I think that all the evidence points to human creativity continuing to be a way of future proofing ourselves.
Very intriguing
Oooh, want to check it out
Curious what you thought of it...
📷 Creativity and community intersect; collaboration or social connections can support the creative process
📷 Creative blocks are a normal part of the process, and approaching them with self-compassion can help overcome them and restore creative flow
📷 Both positive and negative emotions serve as valuable information that can inspire creativity and can be harnessed toward creativity goals
📷 Creativity is less about sudden inspiration and more about exploring problems deeply, asking questions, experimenting, and allowing solutions to emerge
📷 Overcoming fear, uncertainty, and the ‘gap trap’ by embracing (or merely tolerating) discomfort, practicing creative self-efficacy
📷 Creativity isn’t limited to the arts; it exists in everyday life, work, and problem-solving, showing that everyone can have the potential to be creative
Big themes from my chat on Psychologists Off The Clock ... thread
#creativity #podcast #flow #growth #emotionalintelligence #Confidence
offtheclockpsych.com/the-creativi...
We discussed:
The creativity myths (the genius innovator?)
How constraints can enable creativity
Why problem framing beats idea generation
Why "leave feelings at the door" is counterproductive
What can you do with your emotions
Using your network to help creativity
What AI can and can'tt do
Mark Blackwell AI-summarized my podcast appearances to extract lessons and take the conversation about The Creativity Choice in new directions.
#creativity #InnovationInMotion #emotions #AI #work
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rOr...
What started as an idea for a newsletter post became a full day of reflection. I became aware how much I engage with art, which is crucial for my well-being. 38 events!
open.substack.com/pub/creativi...
We often make a mistake in thinking of creative #confidence as an either/or proposition. This confidence is a fuel for #creativity, but having one’s tank or charge full is not the only way to reach a destination. Quarter tank can get us started and we can refuel along the way
We set out to achieve goals that are often ill-defined. To achieve them, we need creative confidence.
In my first piece for @psychologytoday.com for this year, I dive into what it takes to build creative confidence.
#creativity #creativeconfidence
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/crea...
Creativity is not just art. But art can teach about creativity. And it teaches what we value, where inspiration comes from (and how to get more of it), how experimentation builds creativity of products and performances, and the crucial importance of environments in which creativity can thrive.
It is a time for years in review and I could not resist one. But I also didn't want to do the traditional best of list post.
So here is something different. My year in art I had the fortune to see in 2025
#creativity #art #learning #yearinreview #inspiration
open.substack.com/pub/creativi...
In this conversation with Keith Sawyer, we talk about creativity as problem solving, but that will not happen if we ignore the emotional side of it, from learning about the links between thinking and feeling to optimize what to do when to overcoming those times when we inevitably get stuck
My 2025 was a year of translating the science of creativity for those interested in developing capacity for developing ideas and bringing them to life - educators, coaches, consultants, and leaders.
#creativity #innovation #learning #emotions
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-...
Best of luck. Meta-speculative fiction sounds something I would love to check out
Have you ever looked up from your phone and felt your world broaden? What did looking and seeing do to you and for you?
Interview about this and more w/Keith Sawyer in my latest @psychtoday.bsky.social:
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/crea...
#creativity #design #Education
