Creativity is Limited by Resource Availability

As a scientist, entrepreneur and creator, I get frustrated many, many times when I fail to execute on an idea and create something. Guilt usually comes after.

But how much was really my fault? Or my teams fault?

Like many things that become obvious after you realize it, it was only after I read this snippet from Domenico de Masi’s ‘Fantasy and Concretude’, the best book ever on creativity, that I realized I didnt have all the resources to execute on the idea in the first place.

Therefore, a first factor that can contribute from the outside to increase the creativity of an individual or a group, is the availability of cultural and material means. It would be impossible to think of Michelangelo’s sculptures and even more of his architectures if he had not trained in Medici’s Florence and if he had not had funding from the Vatican, the culture of the Renaissance, Carrara marble, the artisans of Tuscany and the Lazio. It is obvious that, without the necessary resources, no creative product can be realized.

Domenico De Masi

We would start the execution by going after the resources. This way, even if you succeed, which is not often the case, by the time you get to execution, either you are exhausted or you lost timing. One way or another your chances of success were drastically reduced.

You have to think of the resources at your disposal before you start building something .