Be a Creator, Not a Consumer
I can clearly recall a day in 2012 when we went out for a family lunch. Upon arrival, my father, a gifted artist, stood in the restaurant parking lot for almost ten minutes admiring the texture and color of a tree bark. At the time, I found it somewhat frustrating, we were there to eat, and yet he was lost in observation. But as I reflect now on the process of creation, I see that moment differently. His artistic brilliance wasn’t just about his mastery with a brush. It was rooted in something deeper, his ability to observe the world with profound attention.
That ability to pause and notice what most people overlook is not simply a trait of artists. It is the foundation of all true creativity. And in today’s world, where we are trained to scroll, skim, and react, it is a skill we are slowly losing.
The power of deep observation
Paying meaningful attention is a fundamental trait of innovators. How can we create something new if we haven’t fully understood what already exists? To observe closely, to slow down enough to question what’s beneath the surface, What am I really seeing? What’s behind it? What could be different? This is the quiet beginning of invention.
And yet, in a culture that values speed and productivity above all else, our capacity for deep observation is often underused. Our attention is fragmented. Our observations are fleeting. We become passive consumers, of information, products, and even ideas, rather than active participants in shaping what comes next.
From Passive to Purposeful: The practice of observation
Observation, for its own sake, can feel tedious. Imagine trying to observe, in fine detail, everything we do, how we eat, how we walk, how we interact with our devices. Within hours, our minds would grow fatigued and begin to drift, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of input.
But our observation becomes rich with purpose when paired with the act of creation. One powerful way to become a deeper observer is to shift from being a consumer to becoming a creator. When we set out to build something, whether it’s a meal, a piece of art, a garden, or a business, we are forced to notice every detail. We begin to think critically about how things work, how they could work better, and why each detail matters.
Over time, this way of engaging with the world rewires our thinking. We become more curious, more inventive, and more capable of approaching problems not with anxiety or apathy, but with insight.
Creation as a pathway to innovation
Take, for example, the process of building a home. When purchasing a pre-built house, we typically consider surface-level factors, number of rooms, layout, neighborhood. But if we were to design and build it ourselves, we would have to think deeply about hundreds of details such as insulation, material sustainability, airflow, and sunlight. Through that process, we’d gain insights we could never glean by simply comparing listings. We might even come up with new forms, such as floating homes or hay-insulated dwellings, that solve modern challenges in unexpected ways.
This is how creators think. They see beyond the existing solutions because they’re invested in the problem, and willing to reimagine the answer.
One of the most striking real-world examples of this mindset is India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan). Faced with tight budget constraints, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had a choice: purchase expensive foreign technology or attempt to build their own. Rather than being consumers of high-cost solutions, they chose to innovate from within. Indian scientists designed and developed much of the spacecraft themselves, crafting energy-efficient instruments like the Mars Colour Camera and Lyman Alpha Photometer to operate in the harsh Martian environment contributing valuable scientific data to the global understanding of Mars' atmosphere, surface, and history.
Against all odds, ISRO not only succeeded, but did so on their very first attempt, at a cost of just $74 million, a fraction of NASA’s $671 million Mars MAVEN mission. This wasn’t merely a story of cost-effectiveness. It was a triumph of intellectual ingenuity, of choosing to be a creator when consuming might have seemed an easier and more obvious choice.
Cultivating a creator’s mindset
You don’t need to build spacecraft or design homes from the ground up to be a creator. Creation begins with curiosity, and it can take root in the smallest daily choices. If you love food, try cooking from scratch instead of relying on pre-packaged meals. You might discover not only new recipes, but also new ways of thinking about your health, your ingredients, and the impact of food systems on the planet. As more people embrace this mindset, the entire food economy could shift, from one centered on convenience to one that values connection, care, and creativity.
Or consider something as simple as gardening. Making your own compost might seem like a minor act, but it invites you to reimagine waste, sustainability, and your role in shaping the environment. Even if you're not sure where to start, begin with observation. Ask questions. Read labels. What fabric is your shirt made of? Where did that fabric come from? Who made it, and how? With every inquiry, you activate a creator’s mindset, one that sees beneath the surface and imagines new possibilities.
Becoming a creator doesn't require special tools, expensive play gadgets, or colorfully designed innovation zones. True creativity begins within. Some of the most powerful insights emerge not in carefully curated spaces, but in the most unexpected places, in traffic, in noisy airports, in mundane corners of everyday life. What matters is not the setting, but the state of mind.
Rather than investing heavily in external environments, organizations would be wiser to invest in training for and nurturing the inner qualities of a creator, curiosity, deep observation, and resilience in the face of failure. When individuals are trained to slow down and pay meaningful attention, that awareness begins to infuse all aspects of life and work. It is in these small shifts that big breakthroughs are born.
In a world shaped by constant consumption, choosing to become a creator is a quiet, powerful act of resistance. But it’s also a pathway forward, to greater innovation, deeper engagement, and a future shaped not by what we take, but by what we make.
