Summary
For the past 20 years, Dr Karl K. Jeffries has been fascinated by the study of creativity. In this presentation, he shares some of what he has learnt about creativity and how it applies to DesignOps professionals. Whether you consider yourself creative or not, the science of creativity has much to offer professional design practice in all its many forms. As a critical 21st-century skill, having an informed understanding of creativity is crucial to navigating the next five years. In this presentation, Dr Jeffries begins to explore a few insights to ignite your interest in creativity for DesignOps.
Key Insights
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Creativity requires both originality and usefulness, a standard defining feature across multiple scholars.
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Many UX professionals mistakenly believe creativity is an ego-driven or unteachable trait, which undermines its true value.
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Myths like 'only special people are creative' or 'creativity equals drawing skill' persist, limiting creative potential.
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Professional creatives are often treated like 'idea machines' who get used up and discarded, leading to burnout.
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Viewing creative professionals as 'creativity Olympians' parallels the athlete model, requiring coaching and support to maintain peak performance.
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Research shows tech workers in the UK experience depression levels five times higher than the average, largely due to workplace stress, which kills creativity.
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Design ops is uniquely positioned to establish new cultural norms that nurture creativity and resilience instead of perpetuating burnout.
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Optimism, as shown in resilience research, does not mean false hope but a conscious choice to embrace hope for sustainable creative futures.
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Creativity coaching should go beyond techniques to address underlying beliefs and values that influence creative confidence and identity.
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Creating healthy creative cultures requires organizations to actively support creative professionals, not just expect output.
Notable Quotes
"Are you creative? Such a loaded question, isn’t it?"
"Creativity fuels design, design fuels innovation."
"Only 20% of my students understood when I said we need more creativity — that was a shock."
"You get used up and spat out — that is sadly the experience of many creative professionals."
"Think of a creative professional as an ideas athlete, a creativity Olympian."
"An elite athlete doesn’t just turn up; they have coaches, physios, nutritionists — why don’t creative professionals get the same support?"
"If you work in tech in the UK, you are five times more depressed than the average person."
"Design ops can set a new default future instead of following past destructive creative industry paths."
"We don’t have to perpetuate myths that creativity is a fixed gift or isolated talent."
"Creativity is about having that courage to put yourself on the line and dare greatly."
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