By Gregg Wartgow, Special to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers --
What does it take to really be creative in a productive way? According to renowned artist Phil Hansen, creativity essentially comes down to three things: ideas, skills, and motivation.
“Whenever creativity doesn’t seem to be working, you can usually diagnose what’s missing by thinking about a Venn diagram of those three things,” said Hansen, who spoke at AEM’s Annual Conference this past November.
As an aspiring artist back in high school, Hansen definitely possessed the ideas and motivation to create marvelous works of art. He also possessed the skills, except that he had a hand tremor that was making it increasingly difficult to use a paintbrush.
Rather than abandon his dream of becoming an artist, Hansen decided to identify ways of working around his limitations. It wasn’t easy at first. Hansen had to constantly remind himself that true creativity comes from within, which allows challenges to be transformed into possibilities. That mindset allowed Hansen to break through his barriers to creativity.
It’s a story anyone seeking creativity in their profession can draw valuable lessons from:
- Is your limitation holding you back, or is it your belief of that limitation’s power?
- How can unconventional creativity help turn adversity into an advantage?
- “Creative buddies” help unleash creativity in powerful, sometimes unconventional ways.
Join AEM member company executives and the next generation of industry leaders at the 2026 AEM Annual Conference, set for Nov. 10-12, 2026, at the JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort & Spa in Tucson, Arizona. To learn more, visit aem.org/annual.
Turning Adversity into Advantage
To learn to work around his hand tremor, Hansen said he needed to embrace the unconventional. The blunt words of a neurologist are what lit his fire.
“I first fell in love with pointillism in high school, which is the art of using dots to make a picture,” Hansen said. “I loved the patience and persistence it required, but my hand would shake at times. So, I just held the pen really tight to cover it up, but that caused arm fatigue which led to even more shaking. As a young artist now in art school, this seemed like the end of my dream. So, I dropped out of art school and eventually quit doing art completely.”
Eventually a friend convinced Hansen to see a neurologist. The news wasn’t great; Hansen had permanent nerve damage. He was shocked, and the neurologist responded by telling Hansen that the only thing he could do was “embrace the shake.”
“I realized I had to start reimagining my life,” Hansen said. “I went home and began scribbling. I saw that those scribbles created some interesting shades. That’s when I realized my scribbles would still create art. It would be different, but I could still get there.”
Now inspired to think unconventionally and fully “embrace the shake,” Hansen began exploring other ways of creating art. He began painting with his feet. He created a 3D structure with 2x4s and then used a blow torch to create a 2D image inside of it.
“All of us are taught that limitations and constraints are bad,” Hansen said. “But here I was, experiencing the complete opposite. My limitation was pushing me in a positive and interesting way.”
Then Hansen experienced a breakthrough moment while lying on the couch watching a martial arts movie.
“I jumped off the couch in the middle of the night and shouted, ‘I can paint with karate chops!’ It was one of those weird, middle-of-the-night ideas we all have after something has been spinning in the back of our head for a while,” Hansen said.
The difference for Hansen was that the unconventional was now spinning in the back of his head.
Embracing Limitation
Another breakthrough moment happened much later in life when Hansen was giving a TED Talk. An audience member shared Hansen’s limitation of a hand tremor. They chatted for a while following Hansen’s presentation. Hansen offered all kinds of ideas on how to create art with a hand tremor. The audience member quickly grew disinterested and politely exited the conversation.
“I thought the answer was creativity because that’s what worked for me,” Hansen said. “But I was reminded that sometimes a person has to get away from creativity for a while before finding their way back to it.”
In order to find their way back to creativity, a person must embrace the limitations that are obstructing their path. Hansen said those limitations come from two different places:
- Limitations, like Hansen’s hand tremor, are largely beyond one’s control.
- Self-limiting beliefs, on the other hand, are within one’s control.
In Hansen’s case, he initially believed he couldn’t be an artist with a shaky hand. Once he got past that self-limiting belief, a whole new world opened up for him.
Importance of Creative Buddies
When seeking to unleash creativity, particularly unconventional creativity, Hansen stressed the importance of having what he calls a creative buddy.
A creative buddy is a trusted person you can bounce of ideas off of to advance the creative process. The most useful creative buddies are heavier on being supportive and lighter on being critical. Whom can you look to in your organization, or perhaps outside of your organization, to play this important role?
It’s also useful to play the role of creative buddy for someone else, according to Hansen.
“Sometimes it can be difficult because everyone is conditioned to solve problems quickly,” Hansen said. “When someone comes to you with something, take a step back and think about what they’re really looking for. Yes, they may be looking for a quick solution. But they may also be looking for an opportunity to explore.”
How do you know the difference? Hansen said the best thing to do is simply ask. To that point, you may need to give your creative buddy a primer on what you are looking to glean from your collaboration. Doing so sets the stage for a productive collaboration.
“I like to text my creative buddy first, asking if they have a little time to explore an idea I have,” Hansen related. “When I tell people how that is the goal of the conversation I’m looking to have, we end up having a completely different type of conversation,” Hansen said.
And what type of conversation is that? It’s a conversation that unlocks unconventional creativity by embracing limitations and turning adversity into advantages.
