Hidden Genius

To unleash your full creative potential, you need to understand creativity.

For Renaissance artist and polymath Leonardo da Vinci, creativity meant making connections between seemingly disparate ideas – what he called “connecting the unconnected.” When da Vinci saw a stone fall into a well at the same time that he heard a church bell ring, he joined the dots and developed the idea that sound, like water, travels in waves.

Discover the logic that underlies creativity in your field. For example, if you’re a writer, you need to understand the rules of drama before you can break them. Integrate rote activities into your routines. For instance, take a leaf from screenwriter Shonda Rhimes’s book by taking a long walk or drive to mull over your idea, letting it incubate. Allow your mind to wander while your body engages in a simple task.

Accept failure as a fact of life. Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull boasts a creative and logical mind, as well as advanced education in computer technology. But he credits his success to his willingness to fail, which allows him to learn and discover radically original ideas. Catmull...