4 Keys to Greater Creativity for IT Professionals

Tech jobs are growing fast, and by 2024, we’re expecting to see 488,500 new tech jobs, and a 12% growth in tech employment. To put it in perspective, most industries have only a 6.5% growth rate. Tech is the future—and also the present.

With cybercrime on the rise, big data trending and the excitement of AI and VR bubbling up, jobs in analysis, IT security, project management, web development, and database administration are on the rise. As the tech landscape continues to expand, it’s more important than ever to stay ahead of the curve.

How can you stay ahead in a market where knowledge, expertise, and hard skills are the name of the game—and everyone seems to have them? Get creative. Creativity is the key to the future and the workplace because it provides a path forward for companies that are looking at innovation to keep them ahead of the pack. So how can you, as a tech-driven, IT professional, get creative? Here are 4 keys to develop (and stop squashing) your creativity.

1. Expand your knowledge

Knowledge is key for any endeavor. Expanding your mind through reading, learning, conversing, and good old curiosity, will open your mind to not only new ideas, but also to new ways of thinking and parsing out problems and challenges.

2. Experience more

Experience broadens the horizons. It’s why traditionally creative types like artists and writers travel the world in search of excitement and experience. Join a tech networking group or attend the next tech conference in your area. By expanding your horizons, you’ll be more capable of making new connections, seeing new patterns, or considering things in completely new ways that defy the status quo.

3. Redefine problems

Problems are never the end-all. When you take time to think through a problem or challenge and consider it from a different angle, you’ll start to see that it might not be the real problem after all. It’s generally the case that the most obvious problem is only a symptom of a deeper underlying one.

4. Cut the critiques

When you stop an idea in its tracks before it’s had a chance to develop, or perhaps morph into something usable, you’re killing the creative process in its tracks. Instead, try letting your mind roam freely, jotting down ideas as they come to mind. Don’t edit them. Let them flow. Try mixing and matching and see what you come up with. There are no dumb ideas, only ideas that never see reality. So stop critiquing and start creating.

Technology is quickly claiming the future as its own. The most creative companies will thrive, and the most creative techies will help lead the charge forward. Take the steps today to tap into and develop your creative genius to stand out from the IT minds around you—and thrive in this most happening industry long into the future.