Improve Your Creative Ability: Embrace the Golden Rule

Late one fall evening, I was in Alaska delivering a speech to about 500 people. My challenge was to motivate them to embrace creative thinking and to be open to new possibilities. The event theme, “Flying Outside the Box” (the subtitle of my book “Paper Airplane”), seemed especially fitting, considering the audience consisted mostly of pilots and aviation experts.

Having spoken for 45 minutes, I was nearly finished when I said, “Before I close, does anyone have any comments or questions?” A woman toward the back of the auditorium stood and raised her hand. “Thank you for coming to Alaska and sharing your inspiring insights on creativity with us… I have thoroughly enjoyed your presentation. But I do have a question for you.” With everyone’s undivided attention, she continued, “What can we do right now to improve our creative ability?”

Before I share my response, there are a few things I need to tell you:

1) I had just arrived in Alaska that morning.  2) Chicago is 3 hours ahead of Alaska… and while the clock read 9:30 pm… to me it was 12:30 am.  3) This was not a religious event.  4) I am a truth seeker and don’t like being misled.  5) Sometimes when I’m tired, my brain filters stop working properly and I become brutally honest.

My response: “That’s an interesting question… and I would say to improve your creative ability, you should embrace the Golden Rule.”

This answer seemed to silence the crowd as they awaited my follow-up. I believe, like me, they were somewhat taken aback by my answer. I took a drink of water and continued:

“Yes, the Golden Rule… the ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ Golden Rule. I realize this answer may sound strange at first… but let me explain. The Golden Rule, also known as the ‘ethic of reciprocity’ has been around for a long time. In fact, long before today’s religions adopted it, it was being practiced and discussed. Confucius believed no other guiding concept was more important for a society to follow. And I agree… Socrates and other great thinkers did as well. But you’re wondering what does all this have to do with your question—right? Everything. You see… practicing the Golden Rule requires us to put ourselves in another person’s position… to walk in their shoes, so to speak.

“This is no easy task. It takes focus and imagination. Getting outside of our own mental boxes and experiencing the world through others’ is an incredibly creative act. This practice expands our EQs (emotional quotients), too. It connects us and provides us with countless perspectives and new understandings of the world. In fact, I believe children who aren’t taught the Golden Rule and encouraged to practice it are at a major deficit. Those void in this area are often creatively bankrupt. Imagining how someone else feels… and treating them how you would like to be treated if you were in their position… is an excellent way to expand your creative capacity. And you can start right now… tonight.”

By the time I finished speaking, signing books and shaking hands, it was past 11:30 pm (Alaska time). I was exhausted but exhilarated. I can’t tell you the number of people who wanted to discuss the Golden Rule with me. My spontaneous answer seemed to have trumped my prepared keynote. Until that night, I had never really thought about the Golden Rule being a creative act. Maybe my impromptu answer was a result of being tired… but I really don’t think so. As that woman was asking her question, I used my imagination and put myself in her shoes. By the time I had transported myself back on stage, I knew the answer she needed… it was the one I would have wanted someone to share with me if I were in her position.

If everyone embraced the Golden Rule, or whatever one wants to call it, the world would be a better place… and yes, people would be more creative.

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