Creativity and innovation are the major forces that shape our world today and will continue to do so in the future. Both work hand-in-hand and are essential not only in achieving high economic growth but also for the survival of the human race on this planet, as they are the key to some of the biggest challenges facing the world, such as global warming, food shortages, energy crises and sustainable development.
Apparently, creativity leads to innovation. The shift of the economic landscape from industrial-based to knowledge-based economy has increased tremendously the need for people to be creative and innovative. Literally speaking, what is meant by being creative is simply to imagine something that had not existed or happened before and to look for viable and novel solutions, whilst to be innovative, on the other hand, means to introduce change in how society does things.
In recent times, the importance of creativity and innovation has been much discussed in relation to Malaysia’s pursuit towards developed country status and high-income economy. The question before us now is can every one of us become creative and innovative?
Allah says in the Holy Qur’an: “Glory to Allah, who created in pairs all things that the earth produces, as well as their own (human) kind and other things of which they have no knowledge.” (Yassin: 36)
There must be a reason why Allah creates practically all things in pairs. The truth of this verse is evident if we look at various creations in the heavens and the earth. There are male and female species in all life forms on this planet. The land is paired with the ocean, the night with the day and so are miniscule atom particles that cannot be captured with the naked eye, consist of components in pairs. Even conditions of the soil have a pair of high and low.
Naturally, without this “pairing system” created by Allah, the world cannot create and produce itself, and life will subsequently cease to exist. In order to grow, produce, expand and continue to exist, we need the pairing system. In his commentary on the aforementioned verse, Abdullah Yusuf Ali wrote: “The mystery of sex runs through all creation – in man, in animal life, in vegetable life, and possible in other things of which we have no knowledge. Then there are pairs of opposite forces in nature, for example, positive and negative electricity, etc. The atom itself consists of a positively charged nucleus of proton, surrounded by negatively charged electrons. The constitution of matter itself is thus referred to pairs of opposite energies.”
Interestingly, the significance of the Quranic verse “… as well as their own (human) kind and other things of which they have no knowledge” contains, perhaps, the key to unlock the human potential of creativity and innovation. For, Allah has indeed created everything in pairs, including the functioning of our brain.
In the late 1960s, the Nobel-winning American psychobiologist, Dr. Roger W. Sperry, made an all-important discovery about how our brain functions. Sperry found that the human brain has a pair of hemispheres which influences how we think and act. The right brain hemisphere, is visual and processes information in an intuitive and simultaneous way by looking first at the whole picture and then the details. This side of the brain is responsible in recognising faces, colours, patterns and spatial perceptions, expressing emotions, appreciating music and rhythm, random and unordered thinking as well as creativity. The other left brain hemisphere is verbal and processes information in an analytical and sequential way, looking first at the pieces and then putting them together to get the whole. This side of the brain handles tasks involving logic, language, sequence, analytical and critical thinking, reasoning, linear thinking and empirical thoughts.
This discovery gave rise to the theory of brain dominance. According to this theory, our thinking and learning patterns can be described in terms of which side dominates. Each side of the brain controls different types of thinking. People are said to prefer one type of thinking over the other. A person who is “left-brained” is often said to be more logical, analytical and objective, while a person who is “right-brained” is said to be more intuitive, thoughtful and subjective. Nevertheless, subsequent research showed the brain is more powerful when both hemispheres work together-in pair.
Over the years, the way we typically manage our society is by giving emphasis on empirical values and logical thinking ability of the left brain. In this process, we have created a system which is widely exam-oriented, such that our schools are streamed according to the science and the arts fields with the thought that the logical thinker cannot be simultaneously creative and innovative, while the creative thinker cannot be expected to develop linear and logical skills. As such, we may have undermined the gift from Allah of our right brain, as well as the power of our mental faculty. Worse still, we may also have underestimated our own intelligence in the process. As a result, imbalances exist in our society that divide the society into two extremes based on the side that dominates their thinking. This has somewhat retarded the process of creativity and innovation in our society. Should the situation prevail, we may run into the risk of hampering the national aspiration of creating a developed nation status and high-income economy.
At present, the economic, environmental and social crises pose a challenge to us in shifting our mindset and transforming the way we think and act. Undoubtedly, creativity and innovation can spur society forward towards greater prosperity. Both creativity and innovation go hand-in-hand and move in a pair, which is important in creating new things, new ideas, and eventually thrusting us forward and simultaneously making changes, and becoming competitive.
Allah has created everyone to be creative and innovative, regardless of our profession and field of study, so long as we use the two sides of our brain. What has driven people to be creative and innovative are the pair that we unleash in our brain. Thus, taking heed of the aforementioned verse of the holy Quran is a start. Like all other creations of Allah, we can neither develop nor produce by relying on a single unit alone-unless we use both sides of our brain. Most importantly, the system in which we live in must be transformed to provide an enabling environment for our brain pairs to work, so that everyone in our society can contribute to the nation’s future by being creative and innovative, and propel the country into a developed nation status and a high income economy.