ThinkOTB Agency

The Five Types of Creative You Probably Didn’t Know Existed

December 4, 2020

Have you ever wondered what type of creative you are? We imagine you didn’t know, but you could actually be any one of five types of creatives, and so could your colleagues!

Shocked?

Well, it makes sense when you think about it. As humans, we are all unique, and that means so are our thoughts. We all think differently and that is because we are influenced by our own perspectives, beliefs and the environment.

Here at ThinkOTB, we believe that everyone is intrinsically creative, but the way we create, and problem solve differs from person to person. This is known as Cognitive Diversity, and it should be valued in every workplace.

Why? Understanding how the people you work withs creative preferences can reap great benefits – it helps generate better ideas, improved ways of working, and it results in more decisiveness meaning you get to those winning ideas much faster.

Let’s explore each type of creative and then at the end, see if you can identify which type you are.

1. The Imaginator

Imaginators’ minds are awash with thoughts and ideas, as their title suggests. Their innovative thoughts are often based on abstract concepts and are conveyed through metaphorical or visual means. Their work may not be organised, and they will need a lot of space for their thoughts to truly flourish. Routine and constraints will stifle their creative process, and they need to ensure they don’t let expectancies placed on them dull their shine.

Imaginators bring sunshine into any workplace! They are well liked, positive, and have an almost childlike need for play and fun. However, they are disorganised and have difficulty with deadlines and details. And, their follow-up skills are non-existent. Their office looks like a hurricane hit it; papers are strewn all over the floor, and they abhor paperwork, rules, and regulations. Imaginators are a knowledge worker, not administrators.

Imaginators have difficulty in a traditional management position and are best suited to high-level project team leadership. They are more leaders, than managers. types of creative like to make a mess and have someone else clean it up. They would thrive in an academic setting with bright colleagues and little administrative responsibility.

Imaginators need loving friends around them. They have strong social needs and enjoy being the “life of the party.” This type of creative are the first ones up on the stage at the karaoke bar as they are born entertainers.

How to spot if you are an imaginator

You are a rare person who is equally comfortable working alone or participating in teamwork projects.

Your role on a team is twofold: you are the catalyst who encourages others to participate, and you are the idea person who loves to brainstorm. If a team is lucky enough to include you, they will both enjoy the experience and develop creative solutions to their problems.

Since you are primarily a right-brained thinker, you see the “big picture” and are more interested in “Why” than “How”. While not detail-oriented, you are conceptual, creative, and intuitive. You are a change agent, not a maintainer. It has to be said, you get bored doing repetitive work. You need variety in your work that allows you to “switch gears” often.

Your natural tendency is to be friendly and caring toward others, and you will always give others a second chance. However, when someone lets you down enough times, you finally will “write them off.” You have particular difficulty with slow thinkers and those who will not make decisions without thorough analysis. This is because you are bright, a quick-thinker and a very spontaneous person. When you see a solution, you want to run with it. Others seem to slow you down.

Imaginators are often disappointed in colleagues, but try to disguise these feelings. You are an excellent communicator, and you have the ability to motivate others to do their best. You are a natural born teacher and mentor. Under your tutelage, students will flourish.

Your sense of humour is excellent but tends to be on the “weird” side. You sometimes embarrass your friends. In an ideal world, you would not have to work at all…you would just play all day.

Your hobbies are numerous, diverse, and constantly changing. Far from athletic, somewhat clumsy, in fact, you prefer group activities and mind games. You enjoy science fiction and your musical tastes run to the unusual, offbeat counter-culture groups. You love the theatre. Your personal style is eccentric; you often wear clothing that doesn’t match. Large patterns and t-shirts with political commentary on the front are your style choice. You like to make a statement.

2. The Performer

Performers are the strongest personality within the Psycho-Geometrics System! People are constantly intimidated by them as they seem to “have it all.” They are both smart and bright (left and right brained), and they are able to process the minute details AND to transfer them to the “big picture”. They are quickly decisive, determined, intuitive and confident.

Colleagues hold them in great respect, but do not often like them because they have a tendency to be highly critical of less-talented others. They are a tough taskmaster who requires more if themselves than any reasonable human being would ever require of them. Performers are very ambitious and achievement-oriented and will do whatever it takes to be successful. They have always known that they were “special” and feel it is their destiny to reach the top.

A performer needs to be in a leadership position, and they will always have problems working for someone else! They are extremely honest and outspoken and pride themselves on “telling it like it is!” . As natural entrepreneurs, they establish very high goals and need constant challenge. They are likely to fail many times in life, but they have the tenacity to start over.

Performers have the potential to be highly successful but may win and lose a fortune overnight. They are a hard driver with incredible stamina – very few others can keep up with them. However, they become bored very quickly and need constant stimulation in both their personal and professional life. They are highly competitive and a sore loser. This type of creative likes the adage: “I don’t get mad, I get even.”

Performers like status symbols which demonstrate their success in life. They always have the “latest”, cutting-edge wardrobe, office decor, and executive “toys”. Secretly their tastes lean to the weird.

How to spot if you are a performer

Your hobbies outside of work tend to be found in the arts i.e. music and drama, and this energy can often be found to be reflected in your work. You demand variety in delivery, thinking and providing solutions to problems. No two tasks command the same approach from you, and those who work with you must understand that for The Performer, variety is the spice of life.

You are NOT a team player, you are a “star.” You will always have difficulty finding your “equals.” In your view, colleagues will never quite measure up. In the early stages of your career, you will be highly frustrated. Decisions take too long; superiors are under-qualified; the progress of your own career appears to be in slow motion. You can resort to temper tantrums. Your necessary lessons: tolerance and patience.

Interpersonal relationships are your “Achilles heel.” You have a tendency to “use people” for what they can do for you. This may come back to haunt you because when you have gained some degree of success in life, you may find that you are surrounded by “false friends”. Although you will be highly attractive to potential mates, you have a tendency to choose a “trophy mate”. You can also become easily bored and be very fickle, so you may have several failed relationships in life.

Performers have a great appetite for all aspects of life, so your leisure activities will be diverse. You love the theatre, jazz, travel, and anything that is exciting and challenging, i.e. bungee jumping, climbing Mt. Everest. Whatever you do, you will do it well and you always insist upon going “first class” (even when you can’t afford it).

You will need a creative accountant throughout life–one who makes sure you don’t break the law! It’s also very important you make yourself aware of health problems. You have a tendency to over-extend yourself when focused on achieving a goal. It’s possible you are also prone to addictions, which intensify when you are under stress.

3. The Visualist

Visualists are the archetypal ‘creative’ who loathes nothing more than simply reading and regurgitating information from a screen or book. They can visualise their vision from conception to finish before anyone else has even caught up. The Visualist has the vision for the future and once their colleagues eventually catch up with their whirlwind thoughts, they will wonder why it took them so long.

Visualists have the components of a True Leader. They are determined, ambitious, and smart, but they possess the necessary balance to see the “big picture” and to work effectively as a team player. They will excel in the skill of persuasive communication.

When you combine these two traits, the result is often a person who is both respected and trusted by others…the critical elements of leadership. Visualists like to dress in high fashion clothing and they believe in investing in their future via a fine wardrobe. They will wear whatever is in style at the moment but prefer navy blue and blood red, or a combination of the two – the rich purple of monarchs.

How to spot if you are a visualist

Your motto is: “Work hard, play hard”. And this you do! It is often difficult for those of less stamina to keep up with you. You love team sports of all sorts. You are a born cheerleader and can bring the team to victory. Your competitive nature and strong athletic ability combine to make you a formidable opponent. You will win every contest.

Although you love outdoor activity, you are equally at home sipping mulled wine in front of a fireplace with friends. You don’t like to read books; you prefer magazines and newspapers that give you information quickly. You like to travel to learn about different cultures, but you rarely take the time.

At early to mid-career point you will need an excellent mentor. You must learn to curb your natural tendency to avoid conflict and learn to be more assertive and to take risks. You can be a very skilled diplomat and will excel in team leadership. Your drive and determination will lead you to accept higher levels of responsibility. It’s important that you quell your natural resistance to leaving friends behind. If they are truly friends, they have known all along that you would pass them by, and they are cheering for you! As you gain increasing authority, you will become a superb mentor yourself.

4. The Inquisitor

Inquisitors are curious cats, and little can be done to dampen their enthusiasm for finding a new solution to an old problem. Rather than suggesting an all-encompassing solution to any one problem, they will endeavour to provide multiple solutions.  Those around them may get frustrated at their ‘scatter-brain’ approach, but The Inquisitor persists regardless and is relentless in their approach to finding the right set of solutions.

Inquisitors are not candidates for management and are best positioned in a highly technical job that requires good organization skills, extensive training and attention to detail. They have no desire to “climb the corporate ladder” but do appreciate being recognised for their work. They are sarcastic, but that biting sarcasm can get them in trouble.

Inquisitors are very project-oriented, both at work and at home. They work full-throttle, day and night, until they become bored. They may have many half-completed projects lying around. Somewhere in the mess is a brilliant innovation that could make them a millionaire, but they can’t seem to get organised enough to find it.

Inquisitors are likely to live alone unless they find that perfect “Circle” person who will put up with their erratic behaviour. Although they long for a meaningful relationship with someone, they have an approach/avoidance tendency in romance. They have experienced numerous rejections and lack confidence in their ability to be truly intimate.

How to spot if you are an Inquisitor

Are you a creature of extremes? On the one hand, you like excitement and challenge, but you also need quiet and downtime. You have strong emotions and tend to be either very happy and positive, or negative and depressed. You are a difficult person for others to figure out. Sometimes you are witty, energetic, and a delightful companion. The next day you may withdraw and become anti-social. The most predictable thing about you is that you are unpredictable.

When everything in your life is going well, you maintain a level and balanced demeanour. When you are your “best self” you are organized and efficient. Your office is neat and tidy, and your work is completed with accuracy and timeliness. You take time to joke and chat with colleagues in a very congenial manner. Your excellent sense of humour (somewhat offbeat) emerges, and you find yourself able to solve difficult problems with ease and originality.

However, you become very stressed when there is too much to do in too little time. When this occurs, you become a Jekyll/Hyde personality! You miss deadlines, you submit sloppy work, and your neat office begins to look like a war zone. You withdraw from others and lose your sense of humour. Others start tiptoeing around you. Once the crisis is over, you return to your old, congenial self. But others become wary of you once they have seen your dark side.

You have no predictable “style” and may appear in suit and tie one day, and denim jeans and a t-shirt the next. You can be very artistic and enjoy singing at the karaoke bars.

Those colleagues who know you well are painfully aware of your frenzied moments. Your passive/aggressive shifts are the main reason why you are rarely invited to work on high visibility projects.

Although co-workers may come to you for the wealth of information and ideas that you possess, they rarely include you on their project teams. In fact, you are primarily a loner at work, and you prefer it that way. You like the back office and the freedom to pursue your own “pet projects.”

5. The Adventurer

The Adventurer is determined in their approach and open-minded to all things new – they will grab those more reluctant and guide them through the unfamiliar. Adventurers thirst for life is apparent for all to see and they demonstrate this in your approach to work. Flexible and never afraid to leap into the unknown, they will need to be challenged as becoming a creature of habit is their biggest fear.

Adventurers are as straightforward as they come. They pull no punches in giving their opinion or accepting criticism from colleagues – and although others may not always identify with their approach, they will respect the Adventurer’s honesty. Their flexibility and easy-going nature ensure that any mishaps at work are not the end of the world and are easily rectified.

How to spot if you are an Adventurer

You feel most at ease when you’re outdoors and exploring new terrain. However, this appetite for the unknown also translates to your work life. You are the first to champion new and innovative ideas, even if they are rejected by upper management.

Colleagues will flock to you in their droves when they have a slightly left of field concept as they are fully aware of your open-mindedness and determination to make the impossible happen.

Your flexibility and ‘can do’ attitude are the two qualities that endear you to the rest of your work team. You aren’t easily flustered and you’re pragmatic when facing an issue that needs resolving. Although you may not have everything completely under control, the confidence you exude soothes those around you. A viable solution is only around the corner with your help.

Style over substance is the antithesis to your outlook in both life and work. Practicality, experience and value for money are far more important to you. Street food trumps a fancy sit down meal, city breaks are swapped for ‘exploration holidays’ and designer clothes are far from a priority for you.

You are competitive, ambitious and athletic. Weekends aren’t meant for never-ending duvet days and takeaways; your ideal weekend consists of fleeing the city lights for a country retreat. Hiking and endurance training are your favourite ways of releasing tension and forgetting a particularly tough week at the office. If a weekend is spent at home, then that’s a weekend wasted in your eyes.

Although you love outdoor activity, you are equally at home attending a high-octane concert, from rap to metal your eclectic musical tastes knows no bounds but demands intense beats. Everything you do outside of work is firmly centred around trying something new, pushing yourself physically and putting yourself outside your comfort zone.

Why not see if you guessed correctly?

 We know it can often be difficult to fully evaluate our own personalities, that’s why we set up a specialist questionnaire based on the above.

If you’d like us to determine what type of creative you are, just head over to http://whattypeofcreativeareyou.co.uk/#/ and take part.