The Secret Superpower of Creative Minds: Resilience

Given this seemingly wobbly emotional infrastructure, you wouldn't expect resilience to be a trademark character trait of creative folks, right? But WTF, the quirky wiring that defines creative types actually makes them more resilient. (As a creative professional myself, even I was surprised by this.) A significant body of research bears this out, stating that creative subjects are better equipped to bounce back from adversity, and more mentally flexible in the face of stress and uncertainty. And the relationship between creativity and resilience has a profound impact in real-world entrepreneurial settings. Let's take a look.

Who are "Creative People," Anyway?

As the comedic tour de force of TV and Film, John Cleese, puts it, "Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating." We all possess creative abilities, but for this discussion we'll focus on professionals whose livelihoods depend on creative thinking and expression: Musicians, graphic designers, videographers, illustrators, actors, writers, animators, directors, photographers–those whose work product IS creativity.

It’s this cohort that possesses a secret stash of resilience, according to studies such as a 2020 paper published in Psychology Today.  Researchers at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence (supported by the National Endowment for the Arts) found that “artists and other creative individuals have higher-than-average psychological strengths, such as hope and ego resiliency, than their less-creative counterparts.” Further, a study published in The Journal of Positive Psychology, indicates that “creativity encourages positive emotions that can unlock our inner resources for dealing with stress and uncertainty.”

Similarly, the Association for Talent Development, a professional membership organization supporting those who develop talent in the workplace, describes a surprising link between creativity and resilience: "Both creativity and resilience require a certain level of mental flexibility. To be creative is to consider multiple perspectives, challenge assumptions, and generate ideas that may not be immediately obvious."

As counterintuitive as it may seem, creative professionals have a leg up in the resilience department. But why? And what advantages does it provide in their work? Let's watch a few creative folks do their thing.

Creativity at Work

"As a musician, you recover from fear of failure every time you practice your instrument. Fail, diagnose, try a new approach–that's the process day to day," says Ames Asbell–a sought-after violist who has performed live, recorded, and toured with with pop music headliners including David Byrne, The (Dixie) Chicks, Roseanne Cash, and Rufus Wainwright, to name a few. (Full Disclosure: She's also my wife of 20 years, which is ample testament to her resilience.) Asbell is quick to add that the resilience creativity fosters is the result of more than just mountains of repetition. "It's about knowing your own brain and creating the ideal script for your brain to follow," she says. "You learn to observe your brain's thought patterns and tendencies and adjust them as needed, over and over again."

The self awareness Asbell describes is another resource with which creative people seem uniquely equipped. According to Asteroid Health, an outpatient mental health organization based in Newton, Massachusetts, "From promoting self-awareness to encouraging innovative solutions, creativity enhances our ability to cope with adversity."

When Failure is Part of the Job

Joe Stanfa, Executive Creative Director at Hahn, an Austin-based PR and advertising agency, shares Asbell's struggles with fear of failure–but puts a positive spin on it. "Before starting on any project, I am still terrified every goddamn time," admits Stanfa. "It's like I need that fear as a motivating force in my work." Stanfa employs this mental jiu jitsu for overcoming performance anxiety despite his 20-year tenure at goliath Chicago ad agencies, as well as leading his own creative services firm, and garnering a trove of industry awards and accolades.

Ad agency work–especially at the highest level–provides a rigorous training ground for creative professionals to build resilience. THE job requirement from day one is looking at everyday items as mundane as homeowner's insurance in an entirely different way. Then there's the day-to-day grind of endlessly pitching ideas, watching as they are killed, pitching new ideas, lather, rinse, repeat. But Stanfa believes there's far more to the creatives' resilience than just repetition.

"You can't look at something in a different way without the willingness to be scared. You have to be scared. The more you can take these emotions that feel negative and condition your mind into almost enjoying them…it'll get you through damn near anything."

The Art of the Pivot

Art gallery owner Karen Light, a Georgia native with a deep love of folk art, had just relocated to Seattle in 1998. But the city was engulfed by the dot-com boom, which meant affordable commercial space was as hard to get in Seattle as a sunburn. Then a real estate developer whose firm was converting a spectacular 1930s-era art deco office building into condos, was offering temporary spaces on the ground floor to tenants like Light. The rent? $200. "It was the universe saying, 'Do it!'" she recalls. "I didn't know if it was going to be six days or six months, but I was all in."

Light hosted the gallery's launch party to much fanfare, and the success of the event elevated the gallery to a legend among the local art community, which adopted it as "The Little Gallery That Could." As is de rigueur in the gallery world, Light would soon have to relocate to another space. And then another. The search for a physical location grew even more difficult when Light and her family moved to Austin in 2009, when the economy was still reeling from the financial crisis of 2008. So when the search for space got insane, Light got creative–again.

"Galleries were folding left and right. It was a really hard time to be in a small business," she remembers. "So I decided to open up a mobile art gallery in a food truck. I named it 'The Show on the Road,' and set up events here, there and everywhere." So what's the secret sauce that has sustained Light (and her business) through all the twists and turns? "I think flexibility and adaptability are huge," she suggests to other entrepreneurs. "And another reason I feel like my gallery did so well was that my passion for what I was doing was so strong," she smiles. "I just think you've got to try things that light you up, even if that means you're uncomfortable."

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Creative

The evidence suggesting that creative individuals possess greater powers of resilience may seem astonishing. (Particularly to the loved ones of aspiring lead guitarists.) But the larger truth is that anyone can tap into the creative thought processes that fuel resilience, and the potential benefits for entrepreneurs are enormous: overcoming fear of failure; being willing to pivot and do it creatively; reframing challenges as opportunities for growth; and finding novel solutions to thorny problems.

“Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating.”  Wise words from Mr. Cleese.