Creativity - Your Split Second Advantage
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| Erican Chong sharing a stage with Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing |
Recently, a man who I consider my mentor and one that I greatly respect, Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dato Sri Dr Lim Kok Wing, won an award of significant meaning and impact, the Father of Innovation in Creative Education, given by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Malaysia.
As a friend and admirer of this great man, I am very pleased at his many achievements in the field of higher education. Very few men in Malaysia, indeed, have won more prestigious awards and accolades than Tan Sri Lim himself.
Coming back to creativity. I must be honest with you - this is something that not everyone has the gift to do. Some people try all their lives to be creative but they remain the most boring and predictable entities on Earth.
And yet, while some do not appear to try very hard, their creative and artistic flair just seem to explode out naturally.
Now, I know some of you may be offended by my statement. Don't be too upset yet - allow me to explain.
Our brain is divided into the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere. We call these two sides our Left Brain and our Right Brain.
These two brains specialize in vastly different things and are, unfortunately, quite independent of one another.
The Left Brain is said to be one which controls our logical thinking, calculation, memorisation of facts, administrative ability, etc. If you want to be a top student in Asia, it is this side of your brain which must be highly developed, since the Asian concept of education is mainly rote learning and examination oriented.
The Right Brain, however, does something which the Asian education system does not test on and cares little about. It is about art, music, emotions, humour, aesthetics, wild ideas, etc.
Students who have a well-developed left brain are usually rewarded handsomely during their school days. They are the ones branded as "excellent", "top" or "straight-A's" students. Due to their excellent academic results, they usually enter the best universities and become professionals such as lawyers, doctors, engineers and accountants.
Their right-brain counterparts, on the other hand, are not so lucky. Though they excel in some areas, they sadly find that most of these areas have nothing to do with the exams. Some of them may be able to liven up classes tremendously by making their classmates laugh (and their teachers cry), but this ability is not an exam focus area and therefore it is not recognised as an asset. Some do fantastic graffiti and their reward is public caning rather than praises.
While the highly achieved "left-brainers" are of tremendous value to society and should therefore be rewarded with a "mainstream" social status, the "right-brainers" should not be ignored for their contributions either.
Imagine a world which consisted of only the left-brain people and totally without the right-brain ones. Yes, our lives would still go on but it will be extremely boring.
Don't worry - without the right-brain fashion designers, we would still have clothes to wear. The left-brain garment factories would still manufacture outfits to fit our exact shapes and sizes, providing protection for our body and keeping us sufficiently warm. However, all of us would likely look the same, in fact, boringly the same. Some of us might even look ridiculous as we carelessly dress ourselves in bizarre colours - bright green pants, a red shirt and a yellow tie.
Our world would be without music and entertainment. Nobody would know how to sing and dance or how to put a smile on other's faces.
We would not have movies to watch and abstract arts to appreciate. Our advertising would all be plain announcements and there would not be any funny commercials that would stick in our minds for years to come.
All buildings in the towns and cities would look the same; as they would have all been built to achieve one and only one objective - to provide shelter.
There would not be different brands of cars and several different models. In the world of the left-brainers, cars are cars are cars - as long they run, who cares how they look like. So every car would be the same; they would only be built to run smoothly and efficiently.
So you see, creativity is important, although it is a right brain function. Our world is a better place because not only do we have products that function well, they are also interesting to use and appeal to our senses.
To be creative you need to 'come out of the box' as some like to put it. Yes, while it is true that not everybody is born 'creative' and that without such gifts one will never be a top-notch creativity genius like Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing, everybody can pick up some creative skills through observation and also training.
If you can apply a bit more creativity to what you do, you will be amazed with the extraordinary results produced.
Remember, the champion of a 100 metre race is not the one who can run a few seconds faster than his peers, but the one who is able to, at a crucial moment, become a split second faster for just one short moment. Because of this split second difference, nobody remembers the runner-up, not to mention the one who comes in third.
Creativity will give you that split second advantage. So start engaging your right brain - use it, train it and never allow it to idle.
“Life is about constantly going beyond limits!”
- Erican Chong
As a friend and admirer of this great man, I am very pleased at his many achievements in the field of higher education. Very few men in Malaysia, indeed, have won more prestigious awards and accolades than Tan Sri Lim himself.
Coming back to creativity. I must be honest with you - this is something that not everyone has the gift to do. Some people try all their lives to be creative but they remain the most boring and predictable entities on Earth.
And yet, while some do not appear to try very hard, their creative and artistic flair just seem to explode out naturally.
Now, I know some of you may be offended by my statement. Don't be too upset yet - allow me to explain.
Our brain is divided into the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere. We call these two sides our Left Brain and our Right Brain.
These two brains specialize in vastly different things and are, unfortunately, quite independent of one another.
The Left Brain is said to be one which controls our logical thinking, calculation, memorisation of facts, administrative ability, etc. If you want to be a top student in Asia, it is this side of your brain which must be highly developed, since the Asian concept of education is mainly rote learning and examination oriented.
The Right Brain, however, does something which the Asian education system does not test on and cares little about. It is about art, music, emotions, humour, aesthetics, wild ideas, etc.
Students who have a well-developed left brain are usually rewarded handsomely during their school days. They are the ones branded as "excellent", "top" or "straight-A's" students. Due to their excellent academic results, they usually enter the best universities and become professionals such as lawyers, doctors, engineers and accountants.
Their right-brain counterparts, on the other hand, are not so lucky. Though they excel in some areas, they sadly find that most of these areas have nothing to do with the exams. Some of them may be able to liven up classes tremendously by making their classmates laugh (and their teachers cry), but this ability is not an exam focus area and therefore it is not recognised as an asset. Some do fantastic graffiti and their reward is public caning rather than praises.
While the highly achieved "left-brainers" are of tremendous value to society and should therefore be rewarded with a "mainstream" social status, the "right-brainers" should not be ignored for their contributions either.
Imagine a world which consisted of only the left-brain people and totally without the right-brain ones. Yes, our lives would still go on but it will be extremely boring.
Don't worry - without the right-brain fashion designers, we would still have clothes to wear. The left-brain garment factories would still manufacture outfits to fit our exact shapes and sizes, providing protection for our body and keeping us sufficiently warm. However, all of us would likely look the same, in fact, boringly the same. Some of us might even look ridiculous as we carelessly dress ourselves in bizarre colours - bright green pants, a red shirt and a yellow tie.
Our world would be without music and entertainment. Nobody would know how to sing and dance or how to put a smile on other's faces.
We would not have movies to watch and abstract arts to appreciate. Our advertising would all be plain announcements and there would not be any funny commercials that would stick in our minds for years to come.
All buildings in the towns and cities would look the same; as they would have all been built to achieve one and only one objective - to provide shelter.
There would not be different brands of cars and several different models. In the world of the left-brainers, cars are cars are cars - as long they run, who cares how they look like. So every car would be the same; they would only be built to run smoothly and efficiently.
So you see, creativity is important, although it is a right brain function. Our world is a better place because not only do we have products that function well, they are also interesting to use and appeal to our senses.
To be creative you need to 'come out of the box' as some like to put it. Yes, while it is true that not everybody is born 'creative' and that without such gifts one will never be a top-notch creativity genius like Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing, everybody can pick up some creative skills through observation and also training.
If you can apply a bit more creativity to what you do, you will be amazed with the extraordinary results produced.
Remember, the champion of a 100 metre race is not the one who can run a few seconds faster than his peers, but the one who is able to, at a crucial moment, become a split second faster for just one short moment. Because of this split second difference, nobody remembers the runner-up, not to mention the one who comes in third.
Creativity will give you that split second advantage. So start engaging your right brain - use it, train it and never allow it to idle.
“Life is about constantly going beyond limits!”
- Erican Chong
I'll have to level with you..I've been right brain my entire life...I think I sold my left brain for a box of snicker bars at some point in my past. Regardless, I've always counted on one thing, and that is my creativity...and if that's what got me into the game, it's probably gonna be what gets me thrown out too....but it'll be a heck of a time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the article my friend... Long live the Right brainers!
Not sure which one I am!!Love your insight, makes you think. Wait a minute!! I live in a pink house and in travel,,must be a right brain??
ReplyDeletei agree, having the chance to go to an international school made me realize the differences between other teaching methods. We should all have good imagination for a better future!
ReplyDeleteYou have definitely used your 'right brain' to come out with such a creative article. I was reading it without blinking my eyes which resulted in tears (Amazing what creativity can do to you).
ReplyDeleteThe title of your article 'Creativity....Your Split Second Advantage' is very well explained and clicked my right brain too...
Love this one. What you said is very true. Will try to be more ceative. Learning English here is a joy. John Lim (Erican student)
ReplyDeleteMost individuals have a distinct preference for one of these styles of thinking. Some, however, are more whole-brained and equally adept at both modes. In general, schools tend to favor left-brain modes of thinking, while downplaying the right-brain ones.
ReplyDeleteIn order to be more “whole-brained” in their orientation, schools or language centres need to give equal weight to the arts, creativity, and the sciences and technical subjects.
In fact to foster a more whole-brained scholastic experience, teachers should use instruction techniques that connect with both sides of the brain. They can increase their classroom’s right-brain learning activities by incorporating more patterning, metaphors, analogies, role playing, visuals, music and movement into their reading, calculation, and analytical activities.
I have always encourage my teachers to use music in the teaching of the English Language. There is a lot of grammar to be learn in good karaoke songs. Poems rendered with the right movements, lighting and music come alive.