You Have to Learn to Fail to Become Creative

Fear of failure and overly high expectations block creative work. In this interview with forskning.no, Professor Ingeborg Stana shares her insights on why learning to fail is essential to becoming creative. She explains how early perfectionism inhibits creativity, and why forgetting yourself — entering a state of flow — is the key to creative expression. Stana is particularly concerned about younger generations' growing reluctance to take risks, and calls for more room for experimentation and trial and error — both in schools and in the workplace.

The interview is available in Norwegian. Read the full interview at forskning.no

Illustration: Sketching, testing, trying, failing – and trying again. That’s how Michelangelo worked. Study for the Libyan Sibyl, c. 1510–11. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.