Staying Creative in Difficult Times
In challenging times like these, stress and uncertainty are on the rise. The result: creativity threatens to dry up. Yet it is needed now more than ever – as a driving force for urgently required innovation.
Wars, supply bottlenecks, rising living costs. Rapid technological change in everyday life and the workplace. A harsher tone in public discourse – the world is shaped by conflict and upheaval as rarely before. This also affects many people. Stress and mental overload are increasing. We become irritable, insecure and discouraged.
And one of our most important resources becomes paralyzed: creativity. Without it, innovation and progress wither, our ability to resolve conflicts deteriorates, and ultimately value creation and prosperity fall by the wayside. This is a connection worth highlighting on the occasion of World Creativity and Innovation Day.
Worry and stress narrow our perspective. The brain switches from wide-angle to tunnel vision. Overload leaves little room for reflection and unconventional thinking. Fear encourages conformity – in uncertain times, no one wants to say or do the wrong thing.
The world needs creative solutions
But when we instinctively fall back on familiar patterns in complex situations, we risk overlooking opportunities. Especially now, it is crucial to consciously create spaces for new ideas – even when everyday pressures work against it. In this difficult world full of challenges, we need new solutions, not old answers.
This applies particularly to industry and sectors such as chemicals, on whose innovative strength so much depends: ensuring that modern life functions, and enabling major areas to become fit for the future – from energy and mobility to food and healthcare. At the same time, the chemical industry must continually reinvent itself: to regain its traditional strengths and keep pace with a changing world and the customer needs of tomorrow.
The thousands of employees in companies therefore urgently need an environment that unleashes creativity rather than restricting it. This includes fostering psychological safety: strengthening a culture in which mistakes are accepted and ideas can be voiced openly – even when they are still unfinished or later turn out not to be viable. A corporate health management system with a wide range of offerings can also support positive mental well-being.
And – equally important: inventiveness and creative energy draw heavily on collaboration, inclusion and a sense of belonging. In many companies, awareness is growing of how essential cross-functional cooperation has become. Covestro is one such example – embracing this approach through interdisciplinary teams and external partnerships with universities and start-ups.
Creativity – an investment in the future
Companies that invest in creative cultures today secure their future viability. Creativity emerges where curiosity meets knowledge and where people are willing to think in new directions. Innovation arises where these ideas become tangible through collaboration and consistent research.
New technologies such as artificial intelligence can support and accelerate creative processes – but they cannot replace the human ability to think against the grain, ask uncomfortable questions and make unusual connections.
Creativity is deeply rooted in us as human beings. It shows itself in the courage to voice an unfinished idea, and it begins with the willingness to build on a colleague’s thought. For in times of upheaval, it is creative strength that determines who merely copes with change – and who actively shapes it.