Following Instructions And Still Maintaining Your Creativity
At each point in life, we are placed in situations where we have to follow instructions - it may be at work, in school, at home, at the mall, etc. Following Instructions is a very important factor that should not be neglected if you want to grow and achieve things in life. More so, it ensures order, enhances growth, makes for efficiency and accuracy. However, some people have reservations with following Instruction because they think it will affect or limit their creativity. What they do not know is that Instruction can actually be a foundation upon which creativity can be built. There is actually a relationship between obeying instructions and innovation.
It is worthy to note that creativity and innovation do not mean breaking or ignoring the rules, but about working within or around the rules in order to produce something unique and valuable. There are things that you may never achieve until you have followed certain principles and instructions. For example, in architecture and civil engineering, there are principles you have to obey, certain safe precautions you have to observe, client requirements you have to respect. But within these boundaries and requirements, the engineer can build to captivate and inspire. This same thing also comes to play in our daily lives; you can respect instructions and directions, while adding your own personal unique touch.
To be able to follow instructions, one needs to be humble and teachable. Of course, you have to understand that you do not know as much as you need to know. If you are omniscient, you will not be needing the direction and instructions, so be humble. I remember when I was in secondary school, our Chemistry teacher gave us a direct instruction when diluting acid with water. He said "pour the acid inside the water, not the water inside the acid." The Instruction looked simple but it is lifesaving. This is because if water meets acid, there is a tendency that it might splash violently. So for the sake of safety, we had to obey the instructions.
One of the reasons behind the challenges and struggles that are experienced by a lot of people is because of negligence of instructions and principles. When you are keen to obey instruction, it will help to enhance your creativity. In a game of football for example, there are rules that should not be broken; like offside, handball, throwing, corner kick rules, etc. If you break any of these rules in a build-up that leads to a goal, no matter how wonderful the goal is, it will be disallowed. So your skills, your tackles, your creativity, your dribbles, must fall within the boundaries of the rules. In life, if you break a principle or a rule, you might be broken by it. If you disregard the procedures and the processes, you may not arrive at the product.
Instructions may not be convenient, they may even be rigid, and unpalatable, but they are necessary. A pilot, no matter how talented or skilled he is, cannot successfully navigate effectively without taking instructions from the control tower. In fact, it is by taking instructions that he will exhibit his skill and creativity. Instructions and directions are not to limit you, rather they are to bring out the best in you, and to make you more creative. Following Instructions does not make you a weakling nor does it show weakness, rather it is an exhibition of mental, psychological, and physical strength.
Another very important thing to note is that following or observing directions is not about choosing obedience and sacrificing creativity or vice versa, rather it is about having a balance between both of them. That is, you respect the laid-down principles, but add your unique perspective to it, so as to produce an outstanding result. Always remember that you are to be creative and innovative but they have to flow within the boundaries of principles and instructions. I leave you with this popular quote as I conclude with it; "freedom is good, but if it is given absolutely without boundaries, it may become a bondage."
Thanks for reading
