What is Creativity?

What is Creativity? Contrary to popular belief, creativity is not the ability to paint a masterpiece, write a concerto or develop an app that goes viral.

Creativity is in fact very simple to understand- Creativity is the ability to have New Perspectives. We all have it and use it to some degree. Some of us just use it more purposefully than others. Those who are more purposefully creative tend to report living a more satisfied life.

What people typically mean when using the word creativity is creative and critical thinking used in harmony, or what Otto Selz, and later, Tim Hurson called Productive Thinking. Stanford’s Encyclopedia of Philosophy describes critical thinking as “careful goal-directed thinking.” It is rare that a person would use either creative or critical thinking independently, and even more rare that the process would be successful or productive.

If one were to think of all the possible uses for a bed sheet, that would exhibit creative thinking. If one of the possibilities was “parachute”, and the thinker were to take the sheet and jump off her roof, she would probably break her leg. That would exhibit a lack of critical thinking or the ability to analyze the consequences of jumping off the roof without making modifications to the sheet. But, again, it would be impossible to properly analyze and judge the idea without being able to imagine, or creatively construct the possible consequences that might result (critical thinking). As the above example illustrates, the two are not easy to separate.

In most situations thinking happens on a sliding scale between creative and critical thinking with the slider vacillating between one and the other throughout the creative process. What is typically meant when using the term creativity or creative thinking is Productive Thinking or the ability to use New Perspectives with Analysis and Judgement to develop ideas with value or the potential for value. So, if someone said “I am going to jump off my roof using my bed sheet as a parachute” you would not likely call that creative; you would call it stupid. Whereas, if someone took her bed sheet and sewed it to maximize resistance and jumped off her roof and landed safely, you would call that creative.

You may be wondering what attributes are necessary for one to be creative, and while there are many that make creativity more effective, there is only one you need to get started: being open to new perspectives; at least regarding the issue to which you are applying creative thought. Without open-mindedness, you will revert to old, worn-out ideas. If you want to maximize your creative thought and output, you might also consider embracing other traits such as (but not limited to): perseverance, passion or interest, risk taking, being open to failure, keen observation, humor, simplicity, playfulness and curiosity.

Stay tuned for the next installment, How to Cultivate Your Creativity.