On Creativity In Information Technology

There is a common belief that work in IT is 100% of technical work and zero creativity. However, every experienced specialist who works in IT for at least three years can immediately object and tell that every specialty requires a certain degree of creativity. So here are my thoughts on this topic.

Art and Creativity

Many people consider art the most creative activity that people can do. Many arguments support this point of view — an artist has to have a good imagination, express his thoughts, and explain to other people what he means.

However, the same people rarely can distinguish between art and creativity. They usually can’t imagine some other activities equally as creative as the work of an artist.

There are many activities and work that require a lot of creativity, like managing people, organizing a project, engineering a new solution, and so on. And at the same time, there are tons of art objects that hardly can be considered creative — like playing classical music or drawing sketches at art school.

In my opinion, two significant factors define creativity. The first one is thinking outside the box, so people have to find unusual ways to use usual materials or find non-trivial solutions for common problems. The second one is inventing something new, so people have to create a new concept or an object to express themselves or achieve the required goal.

Artist vs. Technical Specialist

Everybody knows who an artist is and why he has to be creative. Let us introduce one more profession — technical specialist, and see why he has to be creative too. A technical specialist is a person who performs some activities that influence everyday life, solves issues and problems, and ensures that things work. These are managers, engineers, administrators, and so on.

Artists and technical specialists have quite a lot in common. First, both have to know a lot and have a lot of experience. Second, both require an open and flexible mind. Finally, both are seen as somebody who can change the world.

They have one significant difference, though. An artist’s primary goal is to express his emotions and perspective using the tools he has (paint, music, body, etc). On the other hand, a technical specialist’s primary goal is to solve the problem and serve other people.

However, despite this difference, both an artist and a technical specialist have one thing in common — creativity. No matter what they do, they have to be inventive, think outside the box, and show people the best they can do.