Finally: A Quotient for Creatives

Intelligence quotient, moral quotient, emotional quotient, adversity quotient, social quotient, quotient quotient – we live with a measurement system for just about everything but until now there has been no reliable tool for creativity and how it measures up in the grand scheme of things. Not that we need to measure up. But sometimes it's nice to know just where we are so we know where we're not.

Several very smart people have tried to devise a method of measuring levels of creativity in people, called the Creative Quotient, with no real success. It may be they were just trying to be too intelligent about it. Certainly not a problem here...

Maybe we can only measure our creativity in relation to other things. The Creative Value Quotient (CVQ), takes into account how we've made our way to wherever we are and to what extent what you are good at overlaps with what the world thinks is good. This overlap, for lack of a better phrase, is called what you are good for. It speaks to the product of your creativity and how that relates to the real world. Everything is variable. What is of value to you and the world today may not be tomorrow. Add in the fact that everyone is different and pitfalls for some are nirvana to others and you'll see why an intelligent system of measurement is bound to fall short. The genius of CVQ measurement is that the value of your measurement is simply what it means to you. Not to others. And if the results are surprising or you don't like where your pin is stuck on the chart, then that gives you the reference metric to change that. Or not. It's very much a zen-like thing.

The results from this tool are interesting and equanimous. Because there is no bad or good. Some are very happy doing what we are good at with absolutely no consideration given to how much it fits in with societal values. Others feel the need to contribute to the extent we end up not doing what we are really good at but something else that is of value to others. Like a music composer who writes website code for a living. Or an artist who teaches children with difficulties to paint. There's no losers here. Just an awareness of stuff no one else would bother thinking about. Because that's what creative people do.

You'll get a more meaningful feedback score if you measure your CVQ well into your second childhood and while contributing on some level. Because chances are everything that will gel will have gelled by then. Attempting to get an accurate measurement while still in your Development Stage will see your attention diverted by dodging bright shiny objects that may be pitfalls. And waiting until you're a puddle may be a tad late. Because by then, where you are in relation to how your creativity overlaps with what society finds of value is something that doesn't really matter anymore. Except retrospectively. Not to say that retrospectively isn't interesting.

So there you go. Devise your own CVQ. Then, if someone asks you what you're good for you can whip out the printout and show them. Then you can serve tea. And eat cookies. And be friends. And write naughty limericks together... or watch cartoons...