What is Creativity (Part 1)

What is Creativity? Part 1

David E. GoldbergIllinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering EducationUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUrbana, Illinois 61801

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

What is Creativity? Part 1 © 2008 David E. Goldberg. All rights reserved.2

“Creative” is Common Term

“Creative” and “creativity” commonly used:

He/she is creative thinker.

That was a creative design.

That was a piece of creative accounting.

But not always clear what we mean.

Explore 7 senses of the concept.


Creativity as X: 7 ViewsCreativity is X versus Creativity as X.Simple concepts “is” versus complex concepts “as.”7 views:

C as individual thought process.C as group brainstorming.C as socially enabled/mediated process.C as history.C as generative vision.C as heuristic inventive process.C as eliminating resistance/blocks.


Creativity as Individual ThoughtWallas, G. (1926). The art of thought. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co.Professor of Political Science, University of London.4 stages of control:

preparation

incubation

illumination

verificationGraham Wallas

(1858-1932)


Creativity as Group Brainstorming

Much creative activity takes place in groups or teams.

Organizational rather than individual process.

Osbornian brainstorming (1953):

Has distinct stages.

Promotes creation before criticism.

Alex Osborn (1888-1966)


Creativity as Social ProcessCreativity defined: Creativity is any act, idea, or product that changes an existing domain, or that transforms an existing domain into a new one.

3 elements:

Domain: symbolic rules and procedures.

Field: individuals who are gatekeepers to the domain.

Person: the creative one.

Part of study of flow or optimal experience

Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (b. 1934)www.ifoundry.uiuc.edu

http://www.ifoundry.uiuc.edu/

What is Creativity? Part 1

David E. GoldbergIllinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering EducationUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUrbana, Illinois 61801

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]