What a Vehicle Breakdown Taught Me About Creativity

I didn’t want the experience. Nobody looks forward to problems. But learning from them is so valuable. Among other things, that is what a vehicle breakdown taught me about creativity.

My family moved from Indiana to Arizona. For the first half of the trip, everything seemed to go according to plan. But as we were about to enter the Texas Panhandle, one of our two vans just lost it. Of all things, the power steering pulley broke.

We stayed two days in Shamrock, Texas while we waited for repairs. and we thought everything was fine. Then the same van overheated from Amarillo to Tucumcari, New Mexico. Once again, we found a garage to repair the ailing van. Alas, we limped through Albuquerque until the van gave up the ghost in Grants, New Mexico. It all sounds so simple now. But it was quite an ordeal. And guess what? I know next to nothing about cars!

Besides a great story for Spear family lore, this episode taught me a few things about creativity.

During Crises, Nobody Wants to Brainstorm

Brainstorming sessions are fun when you can blurt out any idea, no matter how implausible or unrealistic. Flights of fancy are fun when you are relaxed.

But in a crisis, creativity takes on a whole different feel. A crazy idea may give some humor to the situation… unless that’s all you have to offer. Then the one-liners can get quite annoying.

Knowledge Enhances Creativity

If your car breaks down, and you know little about vehicles, you have no idea what works and what doesn’t. You have a tendency to go with what you know. It’s like the old adage, “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

That is why the more knowledge you have, the more creative you become. It gives you new tools for your mental arsenal. I wish I knew more about vehicle repair than only how to give them a good wash!

Limitation is the Basis of all Creativity

I wasn’t thinking at all about how to keep a van going until it was quite stationary. Suddenly, this limit gave me quite a creative problem to solve. The first time the van broke down, it was getting dark, it was a Saturday night, and the first five towing companies I called weren’t available. I got real creative pleading with one to go ahead and tow us that night.

Mechanics in small towns have to get creative. In each of the three shops I visited, I saw each do some amazing things with limited resources. Did any of them ever find the real problem? It’s hard to say. The van didn’t make it to Arizona until four months later. But we did.

That was quite another story. I’ll have to tell you how it ended sometime. Stay tuned!

If you need to jump-start your creativity, here is what I recommend:

1. Acknowledge you have a problem to solve before you start brainstorming. Make sure no one feels threatened or in danger. It’s hard to take flights of fancy when you feel pressured.
2. Get all the knowledge you can. (and not just on the Internet!)
   1. Go to libraries
   2. Visit art museums
   3. Find out what makes an engine tick, for crying out loud!
3. Realizing limits can enhance your creativity. In fact, all creativity begins from some kind of limit.

Nobody wants a crisis. But dealing with one in a calm manner is what a vehicle breakdown taught me about creativity.

Editor’s Note: I originally published this blog on October 6, 2015. I revamped and updated it for timeliness and comprehensiveness.