From the Inspirational Thought Unit
A man reached out to me who's working on an interesting problem. He's looking for a universal theory of creativity. You can see his work here: LINK
I thought about it and realized I do have an equation that I think works:
C=a+c+s
C - Creativity
a - Accountability
c - Constraints
s - Skill
All creativity boils down to the cosmic interaction between constraints, accountability and skill. Take away one of those ingredients and you either get nothing or you get derivative, uninspired work.
An artist who has skill and accountability, but has no constraints will ultimately fail to deliver something meaningful.
An artist with accountability and constraints, but no skill will fail to deliver something beautiful.
An artist with skill and constraints, but no accountability will fail to deliver anything at all.
Take stock of your own creative work. What's best thing you've ever made? Did it come about because you had the skill to do it? Did you also have a deadline or limited resources to finish it? And lastly, was there something or someone you owed this work to?
Chances are you can check all those boxes. Something to think about as you start your next creative endeavor.
-Jake