Creativity, something that has been regarded throughout history as instantaneous discovery or divine inspiration can now be measured, and research has found that most people have the ability to sharpen their own creative abilities. For example, University of Sydney researchers created what they call a “thinking cap” that applies electric stimulation to the brain in order to synthetically cultivate creativity.
Charles Limb of Johns Hopkins University studied the brains of jazz musicians and compared scans of players who played from memory against those who improvised. His research found that during improvisation by a musician, the part of the brain that controls self-monitoring and inhibition turns off, allowing for an amplified creative process to occur. “In a sense, you can’t force creativity but you can maximize your ability to get in a creative sense of mind by really knowing your media or instrument very well”, said Mr. Limb. He also noted that regularly creative people are very good at turning the part of the brain that inhibits or allows creativity on and off.
Researchers also found that innovative thinking is almost as important as motivation and talent in creative work. Teresa Amabile of Harvard Business School suggests that passion for your work is also a really significant factor, and that it’s important to be willing to experiment with your work to further your creative ability