Orthodoxy, translated literally, is “right praise.” In time, it came to mean “sound doctrine” and regularly conveys, more simply, “conforming to the norm.” When something is orthodox it is approved, conventional, standard practice, acceptable. The opposite of orthodox is, not surprisingly, unorthodox or, more technically speaking, heterodox. Heterodoxy literally means “different praise” or, more typically, “unsound or controversial doctrine” and “contrary to popular practice.” If “heterodoxy” is a mouthful or sounds a little unfamiliar, you might be better acquainted with its most extreme form, “heresy,” which...

And while we’re on the subject of creativity…. David Kelley begins his TEDTalk on developing confidence in your own creative ability with a story most of us can relate to: of having our creative efforts criticized. That simple, ubiquitous experience has created for many of us the sense that we are not creative. Indeed, similar experiences have all but welded to our imaginations the notion that in this life there are two kinds of people: the “creatives” and the rest of us. But Kelley, considered one of America’s leading design innovators, believes not only that each of us is inherently creative but also that, with...

Creativity is all the rage these days: what it is, how you develop it, the various ways in which you express it. A slew of bestselling books, including my favorite Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer, offers insight into the nature, origin and application of our fundamental, foundational, and phenomenal ability to engage in creative acts. While the approaches and analyses differ somewhat at various points, one of the major points of convergence revolves around destroying the myth of the “solitary genius.” Creativity doesn’t, in other words, happen in a vacuum – creative ideas are always inspired, nurtured, cajoled, and...

In another of my favorite TEDTalks, Sir Ken Robinson – an expert on education, creativity, and vocation (he calls it discovering your element) – identifies creativity as perhaps the most important quality for us to develop if we are to solve the problems of our generation. Yet he is concerned that most of our schools are not set up to nurture creativity at all and, in fact, often hamper its development. While he talks about education, however, don’t be deceived, this Talk is for all of us, as we think about how to cultivate creativity in all of our roles and tasks. This particular TEDTalk has been seen by more than...