Adaptability v Versatility: How Creativity Expands Capacity - Part 3

Finally we come to the second concept in this comparison series: versatility. In the context of our creativity versatility speaks to using our skill or medium beyond the typical or expected activities. Creativity by definition requires us to go beyond the box. Versatility is a skill much like those practical ones we hone that is enhanced and practiced through creative pursuits. Creativity doesn’t end on the page or the canvas or the stage, it extends into our daily lives, and when it does, it expands our capacity for curiosity, joy, and growth. 

Being versatile has always been applauded in society - though today it’s a forgotten art. As the old saying goes ‘A jack of all trades is master of none…. Better than being a master of one.’ In modern day we often leave off that last bit, as though being able to wear many hats and juggle many balls is something to be looked down upon instead of celebrated. Being a jack of all trades is a reference to being versatile, not just with one skill for one situation or even one skill used for many circumstances, rather it’s having many skills that suit varying purposes at different times. That is valuable, that is expanded capacity. 

Versatility in a sense may be viewed as adapting skill of form to a new function. Rather than changing and adapting ourselves to encompass more, we are now looking inward to find what already exists that may suit a new or emerging circumstance in an unexpected way. Creativity at work in our lives. 

First some myths that I believe keep creatives from embracing this idea of versatility in our creative practices:

Niching Down Myth - There exists this idea that to be successful, masterful, or serious in your creative practice you must find your niche and satisfy a specific need in a specific way. Presumably this is an untapped space and you the conduit of magic that will find and solve it in the same breath. This myth keeps creatives small. It prescribes to the idea that in order to be successful we must each stay in one lane, however, a desire for creative work in one capacity only proves that there is appetite for such creation, not a limitation for consumption, but rather a ravenous desire for it. Niching down stifles inspiration, shrinks our capacity, and isolates community. Creating breadth deepens our creative well and allows us to discover our versatility. 

Mastery of a single skill myth - This is a myth sold to every creative; that one must become a master before they can even create, that mastery is the desired result of creativity. Although we all want to be good at what we do and in our creativity excel and realize what we imagine, mastery in a single discipline or mastery of a skill for a single purpose is the result of tunnel vision. Creativity requires us to have expansive view and perspective, not to narrow our gaze, observations or discipline in pursuit of a perfect mastery that, frankly, is tried and tired. However, this is not to say we can’t achieve mastery at anything, but if we are to achieve it, then would that not mean we have the capacity to wield it in a variety of circumstances and for a variety of purpose. The caution here is that pursuit of mastery is focused narrowly on skill and purpose and rigid in that definition. Versatility requires a broadening of capacity and understanding. It needs us to open ourselves up to possibility, how else can I tell this story, what other ways can I use my skill set to create outside of the lines of this discipline? Those are the types of questions versatility needs us to ask. Mastery is not a prerequisite. 

Now that we’ve covered two of the big myths that stifle versatility in our creative practice, lets explore what we can put into practice to become more versatile creatives and expand our capacity to create and take up our rightful space.

Big picture thinking - This is essentially practicing the reverse of niching down. Rather than focusing in on one discipline, the idea is to look beyond the discipline that you find yourself in; to think about why you’re creating in the discipline you’ve chosen and to then take that why and execute it in a different way. For example storytelling may be why you’ve written a book; now ask yourself how else you can tell your story - maybe through a podcast, a blog, a youtube video series, or even further afield in sculpture work. Conversely perhaps your creative practice involves physical movement - how can you express yourself through dance, yoga, or a workout routine, can you integrate movement into a physical art installation or a painting piece? The answer is possibly, maybe, yes. But it takes looking at the core of why you create the way you do and how you can take those skills farther afield into different disciplines or execution techniques. 

Same skill, new tricks - In dance movement tells a story from a grand ballet or production to simple warm up exercises and pedagogy at the barre, the same movement can have a different quality, evoke different emotions, and feel entirely new each and every time. This is versatility literally in action. Take the humble and all important plie for example. It can be soft and sorrowful, light and floating, a bounce of energy, a landing or coming home, and it can be a launch pad into height and excitement. The quality of the same movement makes each and every moment of dance versatile. The artist brings meaning to the movement. In the same way a visual artist's understanding of light and proportion might enable them to draw portraits and paint canvas still life. Whether driven by your own desire to diversify your creative practice or presented with opportunities like collaboration, innovating pushes us to become versatile and think of ourselves in new ways, to believe in our capacity and in believing we can, to execute things we may never have imagined being in our wheel house. 

Versatility is a gift we can give ourselves by widening our perspective and asking ourselves how we can do more with what we already have. In doing more with what we have, we not only diversify our creative practice, we develop a deeper understanding of our skills and mastery over them not in a focused tunnel vision way, but in a broadening of our minds and skills to increase our capacity and therefore our confidence in who we are becoming as artists, as creatives, and as humans capable of existing and serving our world.