Thinking About Creativity: Emerging Themes

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Thinking About Creativity Emerging Themes

• October 25, 2005

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Creativity Definition

• A creative idea is one that is both novel and
  useful (Amabile, 1983)
• Characteristics of creative ideas
• Diverge from the status quo.
• Can be threatening to people.
• May take a long time to recognize.
• Question What factors increase the likelihood
  that creativity will emerge?

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The Thought Process

• Divergent vs. Convergent Thinking
• Not all ideas that are different are creative,
  but the ability to generate a large number of
  different ideas will maximize your chances.
• Constraint of Past Experience
• Difficult to overcome old ways of looking at a
  problem.
• Use of Analogies
• Make connections between different sources of
  information.

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The Person Traits and Consequences

• Tolerance of ambiguity, broad interests and
  openness to new experiences
• Allow people to think divergently, facilitates
  novel connections.
• Confidence, high energy
• Stimulate productivity, persistence in the face
  of criticism.

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The Situation

• Intrinsic motivation increases creativity
• Groups can stifle creativity
• Increase anxiety about suggesting new ideas.
• Decrease motivation to suggest new ideas.
• However, groups can stimulate creativity when
  they
• Have norms that allow even emphasize the value of
  being different and creative (e.g. IDEO,
  Individualism).

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Key Emerging Theme

• Funnel Model of Creativity (Staw)
• The larger the opening the more diverse ideas
  will be considered before final decision is made.
• Factors that increase creativity widen the
  funnel.
• Thinking with an open mind, traits that motive
  people to seek out new experiences, situations
  that welcome people who are different.

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Terracycle Analysis

• Break into groups of 4.
• Use the talk and articles to analyze Terracycle
  from each perspective Thought, Traits,
  Personality, Situation.
• I will collect your sheets at the end of class.