Creativity and Competition

[The Creative Call – X]

It seems that our hunger for professional sports has only grown in this time off. People are taking to social media to celebrate their favorite sports return or lament the continued “starvation” they must endure while their sport waits for clearance.

I think one of the things we are craving is a clear winner and loser. Sure, the sports networks do a marvelous job hyping every sporting event, analyzing every statistic, and rehearsing every possible scenario . . . it’s incredible marketing. But beneath the hype machine is a draw to the simplicity of sporting events. Two teams, a preset timer, a scoreboard, and clear boundaries: the whole thing is predicable and simple. And when the clock runs out, there is only one winner.

One of the gifts of competition is that the only way to avenge loss is to rematch. A loser must face his loss head-on. Competition breeds more competition. There's no way around it, if you want to be the winner.

One of the gifts of creativity is that there is no loser because there is not competition. There isn’t a timer. No scoreboard. No podium. No boundaries. The success of another creative does not reduce or diminish our creative potential. Creativity is not a zero-sum game. There are not opponents. There is only and always open possibility.

We need both. Competition and creativity. The problem is when we indulge in the former as part of the latter.

Competition will never satisfy the creative call. Competition is a perversion of it. Someone’s creative production, advancement, or “success” is not a reflection on your creative potential. They are not your competition. They are not your obstacle to winning.

If there is an “obstacle to winning” when it comes to creativity, it’s believing we must compete.

Leave competition on the court.