You Don't Have to Be "a Creative" to Think Creatively

It IS a good idea to seek opportunities that excite you (even if you feel unqualified)

By Brittany Gesell, Fordham University; University Innovation Fellow

A few years ago, if someone asked what I wanted to do when I finished school, I would have said, “Well, I think I could do anything really…except be an entrepreneur.”

I have always wanted to impact the world, but I have also been aware of what I thought was one of my most significant flaws – a lack of creativity. Because of this, I spent years struggling in any context where I had to develop original ideas. I am a facts-oriented person, and though the traits are not always aligned, for me, this created a lack of imagination.

When I heard about UIF’s call for innovation on college campuses, my initial reaction was that I would be a bad fit. My associations with words like “innovation” and “changemaking” were confined to tech entrepreneurs and disease-curing scientists. The thought of trying to class myself with such intelligent people terrified me; innovators were people I deeply respected, but they represented a group I thought I could never join.

My perspective changed when I did my first design thinking workshop, presented by a previous group of Fellows to a class I was taking. The method of deferred judgment and the stages of flaring and focusing transformed my conception of what it meant to brainstorm and made innovating seem far more accessible. Where I had previously thought I was not creative enough to brainstorm and develop an idea within an hour, through the process of design thinking I was able to break down these mental barriers and not just come up with an idea, but create something that I was excited about.

Fresh off of my first successful design thinking experience, I decided to apply to UIF. I was drawn in by the idea that I could grow a skillset that I did not have yet and that this could open new doors for me to combat problems I had previously thought were too complicated to solve.

After joining my UIF cohort, pretty much every assignment required me to move out of my comfort zone. Being naturally shy, I was intimidated by connecting with new people at my school for each stage of training. Having very little experience innovating, I was scared to take ownership of my ideas, and I continually asked myself why I was chosen if I was so unqualified.

However, as time went on, I could feel that I was developing a new skill set, and throughout the experience, I became less afraid of problem-solving. Where in the past I had been too overwhelmed to start brainstorming, UIF gave me a framework to methodically confront relevant issues — appealing to my logical, facts-focused nature. The more iterations we went through, the more confident I became in my abilities, and by the time my team had a fleshed-out idea, I was at ease designing solutions and interacting with collaborators.

As I explored the wide variety of contexts where I could apply design thinking strategies, it became clear that while data is essential, focusing only on data is restrictive – it is necessary to interpret the causes and effects shaping a challenge. Often, things are not as they appear, and UIF has helped me open my mind and see new possibilities in my experiences on campus.

A critical part of this was shifting my perspective on what it means to be a university student. Working with UIF has shown me that students are not four-year visitors on their campuses; we are agents of change. Not just exceptionally creative students, but all students. This powerful fact reminds me to pay close attention to my surroundings and seek opportunities for improvement. It also led me to take action by presenting design thinking workshops at my school and starting a podcast that showcases innovative students on our campus – both projects that center around keeping my fellow students from feeling the fear of changemaking I once faced.

The most impactful lesson I have learned is that students are powerful no matter what. We can harness this power by stepping out of our comfort zones, joining programs that may seem scary, learning new things, and refusing to accept the conditions of our learning experience as unchangeable.

Note: Our podcast is called Gabelli School Innovators’ Podcast and it can be found on Spotify at bit.ly/gabelli-podcast! Also available on other platforms through Anchor: anchor.fm/gabellischoolinnovators