Do Rules Hinder Creativity?

Do rules hinder creativity?

Can they? Sure….do they have to? No! In fact more often than not the rules help creativity flourish. 

Take the era of Classical music for example. Music needed to have a form or structure in order to allow the composer to communicate with the listener. The form of music gives meaning to the piece and allows the composer to communicate with e audience. Without any form to music it is hard to get the listener to stay on track with the composer’s thoughts. 

If we examine the world around us we realize that it is full of rules. It is rules that make everything function properly and it is rules that help us understand our surroundings. So it would only be logical that rules would help set the mind in the right direction in accordance with how to be creative. 

To emphasize this idea further think about how broad the idea of creativity is. If someone were to tell you to do something creative today there are millions upon millions of different things you could do to fulfill that task. This can be overwhelming to our minds and when we have so many choices it’s hard to even think of one! But if someone were to tell you to do something creative while cooking today it would narrow the spectrum and allow your mind to think of specific ideas. Rules help our minds sort things into categories so that they are easier to pull from as we experience life.

So while at first when someone asks if rules hinder creativity you might think yes! With rules I won’t be able to do certain things that my mind comes up with; but in reality it is rules that help us think of those creative ideas to begin with.  

Have you had any experiences with rules and creativity where they either hindered or helped your creative processes?