2.4 Cultivating a creative identity

How can you cultivate your creative identity through a creative mindset and radically creative actions in your professional life?

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In this sub-chapter, we’ll explore what a creative identity is and how you can develop one.

What is a creative action? Creative actions are rooted in the interaction between an individual and their environment (Glăveanu et al., 2013). This interaction can sometimes lead to an inclination to do something unpremeditated and different.

A person with a creative identity is someone who sees themself as creative and likes to feel creative and perform creatively. Your creative identity is one of many identities that you might have, such as being a citizen, a community member, part of a family, a friend, etc.

Velcu-Laitinen (2022) investigated to what extent professionals from artistic and non-artistic fields see themselves as creative individuals. She interviewed professionals who use creativity in their work—music composition, surreal photography, engineering, entrepreneurship, and science. She identified four ways that people see themselves as a creative person:

• “I am an artist”

These are people who perform an artistic activity, like composing music, dancing, drawing, illustration, photography, singing, etc.

• “I am a creative thinker”

These are people who recognize that they’re good at generating many ideas that are useful in their work.

• “I am passionate, and that passion unlocks my creativity”

These are people who get fascinated by an interest in a non-artistic domain and have the desire to make an impact in their workplace, community or field.

• “I am resourceful”

These are the people who feel creative in the way they solve their life problems—unexpected and novel situations which require a smart and immediate solution.

Let’s take the hypothetical scenario of a professor who received a funding grant for their team. As they’re about to embark on the research project, they receive news that their grant funding has been drastically reduced. To keep the project alive and the team members together, the professor needs to find creative ways to modify the project scope, collaborate with other departments to share resources or seek alternative funding sources. This is the resourceful type of creative identity.

Why is it important to be aware of the nature of your creative identity? Jaussi et al. (2007) found that individuals who see creativity as an important part of their identity are more likely to engage in creative problem-solving in work contexts. Being aware of what kind of a creative person you are can shape what you achieve in your professional role.

Creative mindset

What lies behind the extent to which you see yourself as a creative individual and the way you define your creativity?

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Karwowski and Brzeski (2017) define a creative mindset as the set of implicit beliefs about the origins and nature of creativity. Implicit beliefs are the attitudes and stereotypes that each of us unconsciously holds, which influence our perceptions and behaviours. By contrast, explicit beliefs are consciously accessible and can be directly reported by individuals.

For example, some people might believe that creativity is a special talent that only certain people possess. In other words, they think that creativity is a fixed quality that someone is born with. But others  believe that creativity, like traits such as extroversion and openness, can be trained.

Karwowski (2014) also showed that individuals who valued their creativity highly had more of a growth mindset. In other words, people who see themselves as very creative tend to believe in their ability to grow and improve and that creativity could be developed, even if they thought that specific aspects of creativity might be fixed and not able to develop.

Here are some beliefs about creativity and their consequences:

1. The extent to which you believe that creative potential and creative thinking can be developed influences your choice of lifestyle, what hobbies you have, what you learn and what professional roles you aspire to (O’Conner et al., 2013).
2. Beliefs about failure and your relationship with it also influence creativity. People who see failure as a threat get discouraged from engaging in new activities that develop their creative potential and thinking.
3. People with a growth mindset seem to have a deeper insight into their creative thinking, potential and skills.

An individual can have both a fixed and growth mindset about creativity. Creativity is a complex phenomenon.

You might believe you are a creative thinker and therefore choose to train your creative thinking, but you might simultaneously believe that you lack talent in drawing and therefore refrain from drawing. A single person can have both a fixed and growth mindset about different aspects of creativity, which can affect how they try to create novelty and usefulness in different domain of knowledge or experience.

Creative self-efficacy

Have faith in your creativity

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A core part of creative identity is to trust your own creativity. According to research, our beliefs about our capacity significantly affect how we perform. Psychologist Albert Bandura (1997) identified four main sources of self-efficacy:

1. Mastery experiences: Successfully completing tasks builds a strong sense of self-efficacy. Each success reinforces confidence, whereas failures (especially early on) may weaken it.
2. Vicarious experiences: Observing others successfully complete tasks can boost belief in your own abilities, especially if you see yourself as similar to the person you’re watching.
3. Verbal persuasion Encouragement from others can enhance self-efficacy. When someone convinces you that you’re capable of achieving something, it can strengthen your belief in your own abilities.
4. Emotional and physiological states Mood, stress levels, and physical condition can influence how you perceive your capabilities. A positive emotional state can improve self-efficacy, while anxiety and stress can undermine it.

Researchers have identified creative self-efficacy as crucial to creativity. It has been shown to be especially important for radical creativity, and it’s important to be persistent even in the face of obstacles and take creative risks. (Eloranta et. al. 2024.)

The good news is that creative self-efficacy can be developed with time and experience.

Creative impulses and creative action

How important is it for you to take radically creative action in your professional life?

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It’s important to have awareness of the creative skills and interests you possess and can develop, as well as the level of mastery you’re aiming for. Ways to understand your creativity include:

• As an artistic ability
• As a creative thinking ability
• As a passion for what you do
• As resourcefulness

Moreover, at any time, you might get a new impulse to create. This creative impulse is triggered by perceived obstacles or constraints. Faced with these hurdles, you become aware of yourself, take new actions and set new goals. Velcu-Laitinen (2022) explains that creative individuals may tap into new impulses to create depending on whether they are in tune with emotional experiences—their own or others’—or with external events.

These impulses can take the form of four types of creative actions:

• Personal expression through artistic skills
• The desire to understand and experiment with a new abstract idea
• The drive to act for the benefit of others’ emotional well-being
• The initiative of new activities that bring social change to your work community

Creative action can be proactive — actions you initiate in the environment — or reactive to your environment. The dance between proactivity and reactivity results in a new project being realized in the environment.

References

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.

Eloranta, V., Hakanen, E., Shaw, C. (2024). Teaching for paradigm shifts: Supporting the drivers of radical creativity in management education. Educational Research Review 45,  100641. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2024.100641

Glăveanu, V., Lubart, T., Bonnardel, N., Botella, M., De Biaisi, P. M., Desainte-Catherine, M., … & Zenasni, F. (2013). Creativity as action: Findings from five creative domains. Frontiers in psychology, 4, 40417.

Jaussi, K. S., Randel, A. E., & Dionne, S. D. (2007). I am, I think I can, and I do: The role of personal identity, self-efficacy, and cross-application of experiences in creativity at work. Creativity Research Journal, 19(2-3), 247-258.

Karwowski, M. (2014). Creative mindsets: Measurement, correlates, consequences. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 8(1), 62.

Karwowski, M., & Brzeski, A., (2017). Chapter 21 Creative Mindsets: Prospects and Challenges. In Karwowski, M., & Kaufman, J. C. (Eds.). The creative self: Effect of beliefs, self-efficacy, mindset, and identity. Academic Press.

O’Connor, Alexander J., Charlan J. Nemeth, and Satoshi Akutsu. “Consequences of beliefs about the malleability of creativity.” Creativity Research Journal 25.2 (2013): 155-162.

Velcu-Laitinen, O., (2022), How to Develop Your Creative Identity at Work, Apress.