Justin Bieber and the American Creativity Quotient

Justin Bieber embodies a tried and true American success pattern. He's taken what the public has proven to have an appetite for - a well-executed Michael Jackson-style song-dance routine -and mixed it skillfully, with the help of folks like Usher and dazzling promotion.. The result of this recipe is measured in money: and lots of it.

Very smart. Technically competent. A terrific product. But how creative? How original?

Americans' IQ (Intelligence Quotient) scores are on an upward trend. What isn't going up, and what some in the educational, the psychological and even in the business community are showing concern about is Americans' CQ, (Creativity Quotient) as measured by the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking-the premiere instrument for measurement of creative ability and potential.

Our schools emphasize rote learning. Teachers get pressed by administrators and politicians to "teach to the tests." We do not spurn students who think outside the box. We simply do not support their approach. As an educational establishment, we teach our students to think inside the box.

The tendency is to reward those who have followed all the rules. Those who discover and develop unique and interesting perspectives are on their own. American scholarship features connecting the dots rather than envisioning a new design.

In a recent poll conducted by IBM, 1,500 CEO's identified creativity, defined as the ability to make innovative decisions, as the single most important area of "leader competency." Cookie cutter approaches can succeed but creativity goes further and cuts deeper.

Over 50 million people worldwide have taken the Torrance Test-- an hour and a half battery administered by psychologists. Longitudinal studies show a significant correlation between superior test results in childhood and creative achievement in adulthood. Those who score well on the Torrance tend to become entrepreneurs, inventors, college presidents, authors, doctors, diplomats, software developers and the like. Far more reliable than the standard IQ test, the Torrance can identify these trends in inventiveness and ingenuity.

In May 2010, Kyung Hee Kim, researcher at the College of William and Mary, analyzed close to 300,000 scores of children and adults. She concluded that since 1990 Americans' CQ has decreased. Paraphrasing from an article in Newsweek issued in July 2010, Kim said, " . . . the decrease [in creativity] is significant . . ." The decline in scores obtained by children, from kindergarten through sixth grade, was tagged as "most serious."

You may be wondering what ingenuity has to do with solving difficulties between partners? What does creativity have to do with relational satisfaction? And how does a cultural slump in creative thinking impact those couples who struggle with breakdowns in communication and connection? What helps most to disentangle communication knots? A sharp eye for identifying possibilities for not repeating failed strategies and improvising new ones. A relationship-vision, focused on finding openings and possibilities.

Variety itself sometimes is the element that the relationship-if the best interests of the relationship had a voice and could speak directly on its own behalf-craves.

When people feel they have "lost themselves" in a relationship, many times it is a sign that they have lost opportunities to take initiative and participate in decision making.

Food for thought: Remember when trying something new --be it racy lingerie or a trip to a museum you have yet to visit together - you are bucking the CQ malaise.

Canned strategies and techniques are paramount in media marketing of products designed to distract. Justin B may be fun but do you know anyone who thinks that he's breaking new ground?

For renewing couples' connection, for keeping love vital, a creativity that is head-smart and heartfelt must be called into play.

Discovering what it takes to keep love alive takes a discoverer.

Comments, questions, responses are welcome! Remember, love and good feelings are plentiful yet elusive; I'll be around to help you locate and develop them in the Middle Ground.