In January 2014, I had just graduated from college and, like most people who have just finished college, I wasn’t sure what to do next.
The idea of pursuing a career as a graphic designer wasn’t something that I was eager to do. However, throughout college, I had become interested in Photography and Illustration -which could be potential paths to follow next.
Besides the artistic field, I saw another possible path in the field of education. The idea of being a teacher and teaching people made sense to me. So, I decided to design courses with the idea of offering this content in the form of free courses, something that was quite common in higher education institutions in Brazil at the time. It seemed like a good starting point.
In June of that same year, knowing that I had these courses reasonably ready, a friend who worked at an education startup approached me. They had just opened their doors to anyone who wanted to offer workshops. I presented three proposals: Photography, Illustration, and Creativity. All of them were approved, but they only had room for one -and that’s how I started working with Creativity.
Then time went by.
In this last decade, a lot happened, and I had some incredible opportunities and experiences that heavily impacted my work:
- In October 2015, I was invited to speak at TEDx, organized by the University of São Paulo.
- In October 2016, I moved to Oporto, Portugal, for my master’s degree in Creativity and Innovation, where I explored students’ perceptions of creativity in the classroom.
- In June 2022, to celebrate my grandfather’s centenary, I published my first book.
- In October 2022, I started my PhD at the Université Paris Cité (Paris V – Sorbonne) and discussed ideas with many of the best minds in the field.
- In December 2023, my book was nominated for the Jabuti Award, the Brazilian Oscar for literature.
Also, I learned a lot.
So, here are some of the most important lessons on creativity that I learned so far:
- Creativity is the act, not the person. So, the only way to “be a creative person” is to do creative things, repeatedly.
- Creativity is the consequence of the individual’s continuous evaluation of the creative act.
- Creativity is only as good as the time and effort you put into meaningful work.
- Creativity without action is just an idea.
- The basis of curiosity is recognizing what you don’t know. Therefore, creativity develops in those who are passionate about asking questions.
- Creativity is the spark that comes from the clash of distinct pieces of knowledge. So, persisting without understanding will lead to the same result.
- All human inventions are echoes of past creations. Creativity is the same thing that can be done differently.
- Creativity always happens from the micro to the macro, from the present to the future.
- The future is a mystery, the present is uncertain, and the past is obvious. Then, with creativity, any curse in your life can become a blessing.
What are the next steps?
In my recent research, I’ve been pursuing these two major questions:
- How do people share ideas and build knowledge?
- What is the link between Creativity and Meaningful work?
To answer these questions, besides the studies I’m conducting with knowledge workers and entrepreneurs, I’m developing a tool to help professionals navigate their knowledge and do their best meaningful work.
What the future holds we can’t say for sure. So, I can only hope that sharing my discoveries helps you to improve the quality of your ideas and allows you to continue doing meaningful work.