How To Reach Your Creative Summit

by Randy Elrod

A recent Colorado ad campaign pictures a mountain climber swinging precariously on a very thin strand of rope while thousands of feet up in the thin cobalt blue air. You can barely see the sheer cliff top from which he is hanging. The caption reads: "If your Mom were here you would be so grounded!"

The word passionate (my Mom would use the word lunacy) describes my love for mountain climbing, and specifically, climbing fourteeners, which are mountains over 14,000 feet in elevation. Scaling a fourteener is not just a climb-it is a calling.

Preparation is essential in climbing these behemoths and a vital aspect of planning lies in choosing the best path to the summit. Much like life, usually only one path fits the criteria for a successful summit.

The first path can be called "In Spite Of You" and the key word for the In Spite Of You path is conflict.

We all know people whose every decision results in conflict with others. Some of these well-intentioned people somehow experience a measure of success, but it seems everything good that happens to them occurs in spite of them.

Conflict saps our emotional energy and corresponds to a lack of creativity.

The second path is the "Because Of You" path.

You would not take the time to read these words unless you are a leader, a learner and a top achiever-one who knows how to get the job completed in an excellent and timely manner. You are probably self-willed, determined and highly motivated. You can do it! You can reach your goals. You are a self-made man or woman.

The Because Of You path is characterized by the key word control. Control defined means "to exercise restraint or direction over, to dominate, to hold in check." If you were asked what comes to mind when you think of a restraining device, chances are you would answer with words such as seat belt, strait jacket, and leash.

Who or what are you restraining? Co-workers, creativity, goals, yourself? Control restrains, dominates, holds in check and causes a lack of creativity in ourselves as well as our teammates.

The third path is "Alongside Of You".

The key word for the Alongside Of You path is collaborate. In order to attain the lofty summit of creativity while avoiding burnout and disappointment, we must learn this all important principle.

Who is climbing to the summit of creativity alongside of you?

Being creative means taking something that perhaps you believed would never exist, declaring it doable, and rendering it a reality. Being collaborative is engaging together. Creative collaboration not only involves bringing people together but also enabling them to work together around a purpose larger than themselves. Fulfillment comes in the completion of the task, not just individual accomplishment.

"Can a small group of people who see and respond differently to the world make a difference? Indeed, history shows it is the only thing that ever has."

-Margaret Mead