Creativity is a product of output not genius

Tags: Creativity

One's creative success is a factor of how much they create. The more work they produce, the more hits they make.

This is because of a few factors:

1) Accumulated skill and expertise. More output means more time has been spent perfecting craft. 2) Skill. An individual with a more prodigious output has given themselves more chances for producing a work that resonates with an audience. 3) Success is more or less random; this favours those who are prolific.

There's a famous anecdote—I'm not sure of the source—about a ceramics teacher who told a class that half of them would be assessed on the quality of their work while the other would be assessed on the quantity. By the end of the class, the group that was graded for quantity produced the highest quality work.

References


Young 2023