I recently flipped through a bunch of books in the self-help section of the bookstore. Most of the books talked about how you can become "great" or "ingenious." Many of them talked a lot about the importance of being imaginative, creative, and innovative. I applaud the efforts of the various authors, and the words they used certainly made them sound smart (which probably helped them get their books in the self-help section), but I honestly think that they don't really know what they're talking about.

Imagination is the ability to have new ideas. It's completely mental. Daydreaming is imaginative. Suddenly having an idea for a machine that will take off your shoes and socks and douse your stinky feet with perfume is imaginative. Trying to picture what would happen if you turned on your garden hose and stuck it in the window of your neighbor's car all day is imaginative. If you have a working human brain, there's a very good chance that you are an imaginative individual.

Creativity requires actually creating something. I just made a cheese sandwich. That was creative (and delicious). Previously, I imagined making a cheese sandwich, and then I created it. (I'm quite the creator, if I do say so myself.) If you're a living creature, you're creative, even if all you create is poop.

Innovation requires creating something new, something different, something not quite seen before. The cheese sandwich I created was quite innovative because nobody has ever made a cheese sandwich quite like it before. The mosaic of cheese that I placed on the bread was an artistic innovation.

So feel free to start bragging about how you're so imaginative, creative, and innovative that other people should bask in your glory. (I'm basking in my own cheese-sandwich-making glory right now.) Then write a book about it. Eventually it will end up in a self-help section and earn you a few bucks.

Of course, if you want to be regarded as ingenious, you'll need to actually imagine and create some innovations that will somehow affect lots of people in helpful ways (because nobody's going to compare you to Gandhi unless that cheese sandwich leads to world peace), then find somebody willing to invest in your ideas, and convince the media to talk about how great you are. But that's an entirely different discussion.

Labels: Fancy Words that Make You Seem Smart