Week of november 5 - 11

2). Name five cultural barriers to creativity. Why do you think these would keep a group from being creative? Have you experienced any of these personally? Explain.

The five cultural barriers to creativity are requirement for conformity, an expectation of practicality and efficiency, particular arenas for competition or cooperation, an expectation of politeness and of following rules for social order, and a reliance on expert knowledge.I think these would keep a group from being creative because of fear. We all have fear in us and sometimes we are do not have enough self confidence in us to overcome that fear and feel that we need the best option for us would be to conform to the rules and stick to business as usual.
I have experienced most of these personally and sometimes when I do decide to go against the grain so to speak it has made me stand in front of the man and explain why I did. For example I mentioned that earlier that I am baseball coach and on my team I have a kid that is not as fast as the other kids but he is a smart base runner. He knows when to steal bases on what counts. Now statistical data shows that kids weighing a certain number of pounds are not that fast and if I elect to authorize him to steal a base he would be thrown out. However I decided numerous times to send him and I am proud to say that he was successful 9 out 9 times stealing. Little did those numbers knew that we both knew what pitches were being thrown and we strategically chose what counts to steal on.
I also have used my creativity to see things slightly different than others. The book gave the example of the Styrofoam cup and its many uses, I also have used the bucket for many uses. I have used it for a piggie bank of coins,to help me wash cars, for laundry detergent, for rice, for weights (fill it up with water and lift it), for keeping a water hose or extension cords winded up properly. Just because the bucket was designed for carrying something has not limited me to just accepting that its sole use is to carry things.