Coloring is Everything

I read an article recently about adult coloring books. Not what some might think. Landscapes and more grown up types of pictures for adults to color. For balance the article included the criticisms of people who believe that adults who color are showing a refusal to grow up or immaturity somehow. So I had to think about it.

Parents with children usually end up coloring with their kids in a Strawberry Shortcake book. Some of the coloring books have words and stories. We give children coloring books to teach them a variety of things. It is a good measure for their dexterity, motor control, training them to conform to social norms, and color schemes. The one that stands out the most is the motor control.

I don't remember the journey to learning to color. I don't even remember not knowing how to color. I have watched my daughter as she is growing and learning to color. I saw how frustrated she was by not being able to stay in the lines. I saw the crayons go from formless color blobs to starting to conform to the cute little kittens and puppies with bow ties on the page.

I think the phenomenon of adult coloring is about control. Think about corporate people who are told everything about how they will accomplish their day. You will not use the bathroom without letting someone know where you are going. You will finish this project before lunch. Today's world is so automated, very few people have the luxury of choice or control over their day.


So why is it so "immature" to choose a past time that allows you to not only make every choice. You pick the book, the medium you color with, each color. You want an watermelon to be blue - then by all things holy, color the watermelon blue. Want your rain boot to have contours, then use the combination of colors that rounds it out. Make your own shadow. Complete the scene with other drawings of your own.

Our imaginations used to be limited to "the right color, now stay inside the line." We learned the rules, now lets break them. Here's another thing. We get involved in big projects, projects that fail, projects that stall, projects that never seem to end. When you need a quick win, with coloring, you can have one. The picture is finished when you say it is.

I think managers should purchase coloring books, crayons and colored pencils and place them in a common location where their employees can color. Think about how innovative your employees will be if you allow them to tap into their creative side and think about the possibilities. Think what you'll learn about their personalities.