“The problems you are involved in solving stagger the mind. You are pondering some of the most difficult questions, and the problems you are endeavoring to solve could change the world,” said Dr. David Paredes as he opened his workshop on “Motivational Techniques for Sustaining Creativity” during KAUST’s 2015 Winter Enrichment Program (#WEP2015).

Dr. Paredes teaches creativity and motivation at Drexel University in Philadelphia and Purdue University. He has over 15 years experience in corporate learning and development and has worked as a consultant in the People and Change Division of KPMG, but his goal for the students attending his workshop at KAUST wasn’t about what would happen in the corporate world. His goal was very specific, and something they could use now and in the future. His goal was to keep them motivated and focused on their dreams.

“I’m not here to ‘teach’ you how to be creative, but to ‘inspire’ you to be creative and remember why you got into your field,” he said.

THE RISK FACTOR OF CREATIVITY

Before his session, Dr. Paredes spent a few days meeting the University's scientists, researchers and students. He noted that one of the key aspects characterizing many of the people who worked or studied at KAUST was that they were risk takers. “This is a highly-regarded trait in creativity,” he said.

In addition to talking about the driving questions in creativity research and the approaches researchers have taken to understand how creativity works, Dr. Paredes delve into the student’s own creativity. Using the Reisman Diagnostic Creativity Assessment tool, the students took a 40-question quiz (either by going to an online website or downloading the app) to help evaluate their creative strengths. The quiz looked into four areas that could influence a person’s creativity: ideation, risk tolerance, solution focus and motivation.

The students then worked with Dr. Paredes to understand each area such as the difference between coming up with a lot of different ideas versus coming up with a lot of ideas that are variants of one idea, and how convergent and divergent thinkers analyze problems and develop solutions.

And then there was the risk factor that goes into all creativity.

“When it comes to risk tolerance, all of you take chances when you make decisions,” explained Dr. Paredes. He went on to say that all creative acts involve some level of vulnerability because "the ideas we generate reveal some hidden part of ourselves." To be creative, we need to embrace this vulnerability.

“You must challenge yourself. You must be willing to take a risk. You must put yourself out there – and risk rejection. You MUST be willing to fail to be creative,” he said.

BEWARE OF THE GOLDEN HANDCUFFS

There is no denying that our students are driven, creative and motivated to reach their goals. Many of our alumni have already gone on to do great things and some of their research has already made international news such as KAUST graduate Justine Mink’s idea to use spit to run a fuel cell. Mink was a Ph.D. student working with Professor Muhammad Mustafa Hussain when she came up concept. It has since been published and made Scientific American’s Top 10 World Changing Ideas of 2014 list.

While the students attending the WEP creativity workshop are at the beginning of their scientific careers, the future for them can lead down some exciting roads. But Dr. Paredes warned that some of these roads could hinder creativity. He told the group to watch out for what he called the “golden handcuffs.” They need to be aware of what motivates them intrinsically and extrinsically.

Research shows that intrinsic motivation is a driver for boosting creativity and motivation. This is when a person is motivated to complete a task because it’s interesting, challenging and something that stimulates the creator. Extrinsic motivation are external rewards such as money, power and recognition – which can hinder creativity and pull the creator away from what truly motivates them.

“You are going to come up with great ideas and innovative research, and companies are going to want to offer you jobs, money and perks that sound really wonderful. But the last thing you want, is to be afraid of leaving a place just because it pays well. It’s then that you'll have to ask yourself, ‘Does making lots of money make me anymore creative?'” he said.

FOCUS ON WHAT YOU SHOULD BE

However, it’s not all gloom and doom, and students shouldn't turn down great opportunities when they arise. Instead, Dr. Paredes says there are times when extrinsic motivators work well with intrinsic motivators – especially if the extrinsic rewards are desirable, attainable and based on specific criteria. The extrinsic rewards also have to meet the creator's intrinsic needs of being interesting, challenging and providing them personal responsibility for the outcome. In other words, the goals have to be the right goals in order to be satisfying, and if they are, then he says accept the challenge and go for it.

With a world of opportunity before them, Dr. Paredes left the students with these inspiring words: “Don’t waste time being someone you are not. Focus on what you should be. Remember...an authentic life is a creative life.”

- By Michelle Ponto, KAUST News