💡Creativity speaks in puzzles.
Lessons from Bach's creative process.
Here's a quick lesson on creativity...
From a guy named Bach (one of the greatest musicians in history... if you never heard about him).
It’s an interesting insight I learned while digging through the book Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician.
They described Bach’s approach to his craft a "personal branch of musical science” because he didn’t just make music...he studied it like it was science.
He was constantly exploring boundaries.
Instead of playing the same songs over and over, he made up rules and puzzles for himself, like:
“Can I write a song in every single key that exists?”
“Can I create something new using really old music styles?”
“Can I solve musical puzzles no one else has ever tried?”
He wasn’t doing this to impress people. He did it to grow. Every time he solved one puzzle, he made a harder one.
That’s how he got better and better.
Why? Because for Bach, music wasn’t just sound…it was a way to understand the world. The book noted that he once said composing gave him “insight into the depths of the wisdom of the world” and might even serve as “an argument for the existence of God.”
But here’s where it gets relevant for you…
Bach’s genius wasn’t just in his talent…it was in his puzzles.
He built creative muscles by deliberately testing himself. He didn’t wait for inspiration to strike. He constructed his own puzzles. He made complexity his playground.
So if you want to get more creative, challenge yourself on purpose.
Bach didn’t wait for a “brilliant idea” to hit him. He made little games and goals that kept his brain sharp and his creativity flowing.
If you want to create like the greats, you have to think like the greats. Don’t just coast on talent. Build puzzles that stretch you. Turn your craft into a science. Create constraints that push you toward novel solutions. That’s where true innovation lives.
Make it playful. Make it personal.
And like Bach, you might just unlock something incredible.
Stay creative,
Dwayne