Dimensions of Creative Work A partial taxonomy for clarifying what is being studied and under what conditions.

Thought for the day. “Well…. It depends.” Any Behavioral Scientist.

Major Sources Based in part upon review by Sternberg (1999), Ch 22 in Handbook of Creativity. –He is consistent with the work of several other people, as any good review should be. –Caveat: I claim ownership of all errors of interpretation and any dumb remarks.

Definition Creativity involves the development of: –A novel product –Which has value (by some criterion) To the individual (P-creative--Boden) To a larger social group (H-creative--Boden) But study of creativity has: –Neither clarified nor simplified the problem any further.

For example People “Creativity is best described as the human capacity regularly to solve problems or to fashion products in a domain, in a way that is initially novel but ultimately acceptable in a culture.” (Gardner, 1989) Products “Creative products, be they poems, scientific theories, paintings or technological advances, are both novel and acknowledged to be valuable or useful in some way.” (Gilhooly, 1982) Process “Creativity is a process that can be observed only at the intersection where individuals, domains and fields intersect.” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1999)

Study Dimension 1 Creativity is a property of people, of products and of processes, leading to concern with: –Individual differences and distinctive differences between people. –The properties of a product that make it novel and valuable. –Analyzing steps and processes in thinking.

Study Dimension 2 Creativity is a personal, social, societal and cultural phenomenon. –Personal: creation of something novel and valuable to the individual (personal judgment) –Social (Human): creation which adds something new to the culture (social judgment) (Our Note: You can have P-creativity without H-creativity but distinction is crucial.)

Study Dimension 3 Creativity is common or it is rare. –All humans are capable of creativity (little “c”). –Creativity occurs only in unique individuals (big “C”). (Our Note: One reason for attending carefully to the distinction between P-creative and H- creative is that it solves a problem and allows the answer to be “yes.”)

Study Dimension 4 Creativity is a domain specific or domain general phenomenon. –There are general skills applied across a variety of situations. –Different domains require extensive knowledge and different special abilities. –One major criterion is how much constraint there is on the creative process (e.g., following scientific method vs. painting masterworks).

Study Dimension 5 Creativity is quantitative or qualitative. –People may have varying amounts of creativity (e.g., as measured by psychometric tests). (Our Note: Seems true whether adequately captured in the tests or not.) –People display different types of creativity. (Our Note: See for example, Gardner “Creating Minds.”)

Study Dimension 6 Creativity takes place –At an Individual level –At a Group level Group level requires concern with understanding social processes. –E.g., Organization of the group. –E.g., Composition of the group.

Propose: There is a Problem Space for Study of Creativity. Study of creativity is an n-dimensional problem. (6 is probably not enough) Need to be clear which part of that space we are talking about or working in: –Properties of people, products, or processes. –Valuations which are personal or social. –Personal abilities which are general or unique. –Knowledge and skills which are general or domain specific. –Characteristics which are qualitative or quantitative. –Involves individuals or groups.

A really really big complexity. “Creativity can not be commanded.” Many people. This has major implications for: Research on creativity and creativity enhancement. Development of functional requirements. Design, Development, Deployment and Evaluation of Creativity Support Tools (CST)

A related complexity. “Necessary” and “Sufficient.” Do we know some of the conditions necessary to ensure that creativity can happen? Yes! (cf. Csikszentmihalyi, 1999, and others) Do we know which factors are sufficient to ensure that creativity will happen? No!

Example and Implication Example: H-creative advances are generally only made by experts in the domain, but being a domain expert is not sufficient to guarantee creativity. –10 years, or –10,000 hours of deliberated practice. Implication: Figure out how to eliminate barriers or to facilitate the things that are necessary and then stay out of the way.