Creativity, History and You
Historical Examination of
Creativity
• Look at people and
times to understand
creativity better
– What traits made
creative people creative?
– What environmental
conditions existed during
highly creative periods?
– What was the process of
creativity?
Creativity
Time
Creativity and Society
1. Creativity affects society – "Creativity is
the engine that drives cultural
evolution."
-M. Csikszentmihalyi in Handbook of Creativity, Robert J.
Sternberg (ed.), 1999, 320.
2. Society affects creativity – "There are
indeed certain instances in which
social/cultural realities largely determine
the possibility or lack of possibility for
developing creativity in a given field."
-D. H. Feldman in Handbook of Creativity, Robert J.
Sternberg (ed.), 1999, 179.
Renaissance
• Creativity is
enhanced by
learning about
many fields
– Lateral thinking
Michelangelo
Leonardo
Brunelleschi
Reformation
• Creativity
requires the
courage to think
new thoughts
and break with
tradition
Baroque
• Creativity can be
motivated by
– Love (of God or
church or king)
– Glory (desire to
impress)
Scientific Awakening –
Enlightenment
• Creativity can
come from
developing a new
way of thinking and
applying it to many
different fields
Classical
• Creativity can come by
using the benefits of
the rules and exploring
within the limits
Romantic
• Creativity can
express personal
feelings about
country, love,
nature, or
something only
dreamed
Impressionism and
Post-impressionism
• Creativity can be
based on new
techniques to
explore and
express the world
Modern
• Creativity can exist
without the rules if
there is still
communication
Technology
• Creativity can satisfy
human needs and
can then be used
either for good or bad
"The illiterate of the twenty-first
century will not be those who cannot
read and write, but those who cannot
learn, unlearn, and relearn."
– Toffler, Alvin (author of Future Shock), quoted in Thorpe, Scott,
How to Think Like Einstein, Barnes & Noble Books, Inc., 2000, p.
26.
Improving Creativity Skills
• Thinking better
Linear
Creat ivit y
– Linear and lateral
– Conscious and
subconscious
(Logic/Knowledge)
Focus
Dept h
Skills
Hard Work
Lat eral Creat ivit y
(Intuitive/Imagination)
Breadt h
I nnovat ion
Uniqueness
Analogies
Out -of-t he-Box
Non-Logic
Experience
Growt h
Expansion
Creativity begins with
thinking
Brain control
– Example: Napoleon
"Different subjects and different affairs
are arranged in my head as in a
cupboard. When I wish to interrupt one
train of thought, I shut that drawer and
open another. Do I wish to sleep? I
simply close all the drawers and there I
am – asleep." – Napoleon
(http://www.geocities.com/Area51/2162/napmem.html)
Use Mind Control
Put difficult questions in the back of your minds
and go about your lives. Ponder and pray quietly
and persistently about them. The answer may
not come as a lightning bolt. It may come as a
little inspiration here and a little there, “line upon
line, precept upon precept” (D&C 98:12). Some
answers will come from reading the scriptures,
some from hearing speakers. And, occasionally,
when it is important, some will come by very
direct and powerful inspiration.
― Boyd K. Packer (“Prayers and Answers,” Ensign, Nov. 1979, 21.)
Roger von Oech
has identified 10
mental blocks to
creativity
The following information is
taken from his book
From these five figures, select the one that is
different from all of the others.
•
•
•
•
•
B is the right answer — Why?
C is the right answer — Why?
A is the right answer — Why?
D is the right answer — Why?
E is the right answer — Why?
Mental Blocks
1. The right answer
Barriers to creative thinking
Barrier: The right answer
An elementary school teacher told me the following story about
a colleague who had given her first graders a coloring
assignment:
The instructions said: “On this sheet of paper, you will find an outline of a
house, trees, flowers, clouds, and sky. Please color each with the
appropriate colors.”
One of the students, Patty, put a lot of work into her drawing. When she
got it back, she was surprised to find a big black “X” on it. She asked the
teacher for an explanation. “I gave you an ‘X’ because you didn’t follow the
instructions. Grass is green not gray. The sky should be blue, not yellow
as you have drawn it. Why didn’t you use the normal colors, Patty?’
Patty answered, “Because that’s how it looks to me when I get up early to
watch the sunrise.”
—Roger von Oeck, A Whack on the Side of the Head.
Barrier: The right answer
• Children enter school as question marks and
come out as periods.—Neil Postman, educator
Barrier: The right answer
Overcoming Barrier #1
• Look for alternate answers
Mental Blocks
1. The right answer
2. That’s not logical
Barriers to creative thinking
Take a blank sheet of paper and write
the words ‘Soft’ on the top left and
‘Hard’ on the top right.
Which column would you place the
concepts that appear on the next slide?
Soft
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Logic
Metaphor
Dream
Reason
Play
Work
Exact
Approximate
Fantasy
Reality
Generalization
Specifics
Hard
Soft
–
–
–
–
–
–
Metaphor
Dream
Play
Approximate
Fantasy
Generalization
Hard
–
–
–
–
–
–
Logic
Reason
Work
Exact
Reality
Specific
Two
sides
of the
brain
Barrier: That’s not logical
• Some people have little use for soft thinking. Their
feeling toward it is “that’s not logical.” When faced
with a problem, they immediately bring in their
hard thinking strategies.
Barrier: That’s not logical
• Metaphors help us to understand one idea by
means of another.
• The key to metaphorical thinking is similarity. In
fact, this is how our thinking grows: we understand
the unfamiliar by means of the similarities it has
with what is familiar to us. For example, what
were the first automobiles called? . . “horseless
carriages.” . . . first locomotives . . . “iron horses”
• We refer to resemblances between things all of
the time. We say that hammers have “heads,”
tables have “legs,” roads have “shoulders,” cities
have “hearts,” and beds have “feet.” It’s all very
soft, but it is how we think.
Barrier: That’s not logical
Overcoming Barrier #2
• Use metaphorical thinking
Mental Blocks
1. The right answer
2. That’s not logical
3. Follow the rules
Barriers to creative thinking
Barrier: Follow the rules
1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, ??
What comes next?
Humans are adept in discerning patterns
and that gives us abilities to solve
problems.
But, we also get locked into those patterns
Barrier: Follow the rules
1. We make rules based on reasons that
make a lot of sense.
2. We follow these rules.
3. Time passes, and things change.
4. The original reasons for the rules may
no longer exist, but we continue to
follow the rules.
Barrier: Follow the rules
In 333 B.C., Alexander
arrived in Gordium to take
up winter quarters. While
there, he heard about the
legend surrounding the
famous “Gordian Knot.”
Whoever is able to untie
this knot, will become the
ruler of Asia.
Barrier: Follow the rules
He attempted to
untie it but failed
and got frustrated.
So he pulled out
his sword and
sliced the knot in
half. Asia was his!
Barrier: Follow the rules
• Every rule here can be challenged except
this one. – A corporate motto
• Warning: When I encourage you to
challenge the rules. I’m not advocating
you to do anything that’s illegal, immoral,
or unethical.
Barrier: Follow the rules
• Why the following typewriter keyboard?
Q W E R T Y U I O P
• To keep from jamming the keys.
• We follow the same system even though
there are key arrangements that facilitate
faster typing.
Barrier: Follow the rules
Playing the piano by different rules
Barrier: Follow the rules
Overcoming Barrier #3
• Try different ways
Mental Blocks
1.
2.
3.
4.
The right answer
That’s not logical
Follow the rules
Be practical
Barriers to creative thinking
Barrier: Be practical
Several years ago, the president of a
glass manufacturing company said to
the chief scientist, “Glass breaks. Why
not change that?”
What is your reaction to that question?
Barrier: Be practical
The engineer continued, “Have you ever
noticed what happens to paint after it’s
been on a house for five or six years? It
chips and cracks and is very difficult to
remove. There has to be a better way to
get it off. If we put gunpowder in our
house paint, we could blow it off the
house.”
Barrier: Be practical
The chief scientist challenged the others
in the R & D department to take the
president’s challenge seriously and ask
the question: What if it could be done?
The result: Corelle® dinnerware
Barrier: Be practical
Each of us has an “artist” and a “judge”
within us.
The artist is open-minded and is used in the
imaginative phase when ideas are being
generated.
The judge represents practical phase when
ideas are being prepared for execution.
Avoid bringing in the judge before the artist
has had a chance.
Barrier: Be practical
Barrier: Be practical
Overcoming Barrier #4
• Ask “What if”
Mental Blocks
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The right answer
That’s not logical
Follow the rules
Be practical
Play is frivolous
Barriers to creative thinking
Barrier: Play is frivolous
• How deep is the ocean?
– Just a stone’s throw.
• What do John the Baptist and Winnie the
Pooh have in common?
– They have the same middle name.
• What do you get when you combine the
Godfather with a lawyer?
– An offer you can’t understand.
Barrier: Play is frivolous
What do the squares look like to you? Try to think of at
least three different things.
Barrier: Play is frivolous
Now what do you see?
Barrier: Play is frivolous
During what kinds of activities and
situations do you get your ideas?
What, then is the right way of living?
Life must be lived as play. — Plato
Barrier: Play is frivolous
Barrier: Play is frivolous
Overcoming Barrier #5
• Use play as a way to think new thoughts
Mental Blocks
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The right answer
That’s not logical
Follow the rules
Be practical
Play is frivolous
That’s not my area
Barriers to creative thinking
Barrier: That’s not my area
A solar energy lab technician has a problem.
Her research lab is experimenting with a
solar cell material, gallium arsenide, which is
causing her problems in the slicing stage of
cell production. Her task is to use a special
high-speed wafer saw to make precision
cuts in the material. But every time she cuts
the material it cracks. She tries changing
the position of the saw. The material still
cracks. She is quite frustrated.
Barrier: That’s not my area
At home that weekend, she is in her
husband’s shop watching him make
cabinets. She notices that when he wants to
make precision cuts on certain types of
wood, he reduces (rather than increases)
the saw’s cutting speed. She gets an idea:
why not try the same approach on the
gallium arsenide. She does, and it works.
Barrier: That’s not my area
What this woman did exemplifies an
important part of creative thinking:
recognizing the basic idea of one’s situation
and applying it to another.
The benefits of transferring knowledge
gained in one area to another seem obvious.
Why don’t people do it more often?
One answer is specialization.
Barrier: That’s not my area
Steve Jobs: “Innovation is usually the result of connections
of past experience. But if you have the same experiences
as everybody else, you’re unlikely to look in a different
direction. For example, I went to Reed College in Portland.
At Reed, most of the men took modern dance classes from
a woman named Judy Massey. We did it to meet the
women. I didn’t realize how much I learned about
movement and perception from that class until a few years
later when I worked for Nolan Bushnell at Atari. I was able
to relate how much resolution of movement you need in
terms of perceiving things for video games.”
Barrier: That’s not my area
Barrier: That’s not my area
Overcoming Barrier #6
• Be an explorer
Mental Blocks
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The right answer
That’s not logical
Follow the rules
Be practical
Play is frivolous
That’s not my area
Don’t be foolish
Barriers to creative thinking
Barrier: Don’t be foolish
Looking at the fool’s wildly-colored clothing and donkey-eared
cap, it’s easy to regard him as a simpleton….. don’t be fooled!
It takes intelligence, imagination, cleverness, and insight to
play this role.
The fool was consulted by Egyptian pharaohs and Babylonian
kings. His opinion was sought by Roman emperors and
Greek tyrants. He played an important role at the courts of
the Chinese emperors. The fool was prominently employed
by European royalty in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Barrier: Don’t be foolish
What did the fool do?
Simply stated, it was his job to whack the king’s thinking out of
habitual thought patterns. The king’s advisors were often “yesmen” — they told him exactly what he wanted to hear…..
Therefore, he gave the fool a license to parody any proposal
under discussion and to shatter the prevailing mindset….. By
listening to the fool, the king improved his judgment, enhanced
his creativity, and protected himself from groupthink.
Barrier: Don’t be foolish
Some suggestions:
Put on Your Fool’s Cap
– The fool’s job is to shake, assault, massage, caress, and take a whack at
the habits, rules, and conventions that keep you thinking the same old
stuff.
Laugh at It
– There is a close relationship between the “haha” of humor and the “aha!”
of discovery.
– Humor works wonders to stimulate the flow of ideas.
Reverse your Perspective
– You’ll see the things you usually don’t look at.
– It may “free your thinking from deeply engrained assumptions”.
Barrier: Don’t be foolish
Barrier: Don’t be foolish
Overcoming Barrier #7
• Change perspectives even if it means
being different
Mental Blocks
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
The right answer
That’s not logical
Follow the rules
Be practical
Play is frivolous
That’s not my area
Don’t be foolish
Avoid ambiguity
Barriers to creative thinking
In the following line of letters, cross out six
letters so that the remaining letters, without
altering their sequence, will spell a familiar
English word.
BSAINXLEATNTEARS
BSAINXLEATNTEARS
What would I have left if I cross out SIXLETTERS?
BSAINXLEATNTEARS
Barrier: Avoid Ambiguity
Why don’t we like ambiguous situations?
– They’re confusing
– They cause communication problems
There are instances, however, when
ambiguity can be a powerful stimulant to
your imagination.
Barrier: Avoid ambiguity
One way to “think something different” is to look
at things ambiguously.
For example, what is half of 8?
– One answer if 4
What if the question is ambiguous?
– How about 0
– How about 3
– How about eig
Barrier: Avoid ambiguity
Barrier: Avoid ambiguity
Overcoming Barrier #8
• Take advantage of the ambiguity of the world
Mental Blocks
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
The right answer
That’s not logical
Follow the rules
Be practical
Play is frivolous
That’s not my area
Don’t be foolish
Avoid ambiguity
To err is wrong
Barriers to creative thinking
Barrier: To err is wrong
From a practical standpoint, “to err is
wrong” makes sense…..engineers
whose bridges collapse, stock brokers
who lose money for their clients…..won’t
keep their jobs long.
Nevertheless, too great an adherence to
the belief “to err is wrong” can greatly
undermine your attempts to generate
new ideas.
To err is wrong
History of discovery is filled with people who
used erroneous assumptions and failed
ideas as stepping stones to new ideas.
• Columbus thought he was finding a shorter route
to India
• Thomas Edison knew 1,800 ways not to build a
light bulb
Barrier: To err is wrong
Remember these two benefits of failure.
First, if you do fail, you learn what doesn’t
work. Second, the failure gives you an
opportunity to try a new approach.
If you hit every time, the target is too near or
too big.—Tom Hirshfield, physicist
Barrier: To err is wrong
Barrier: To err is wrong
Overcoming Barrier #9
• Don’t be afraid of mistrakes
Mental Blocks
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
The right answer
That’s not logical
Follow the rules
Be practical
Play is frivolous
That’s not my area
Don’t be foolish
Avoid ambiguity
To error is wrong
I’m not creative
Barriers to creative thinking
Barrier: I’m not creative
A major oil company was concerned about the lack
of creative productivity among its engineers.
To deal with this problem, a team of psychologists
was brought in to find out what differentiated the
creative people from the less creative ones.
After three months of study, the psychologists
found that the chief differentiating factor that
separated the two groups was:
Barrier: I’m not creative
The creative people thought
they were creative, and the
less creative people didn’t
think they were.
Barrier: I’m not creative
Barrier: I’m not creative
Overcoming Barrier #10
• Believe in your creativity
Which creative person are you now?
The hallmark of creative people is their mental
flexibility. They are able to shift in and out of
different types of thinking depending on the needs
of the situation at hand. Sometimes, they’re open
and probing, at others, they’re playful and off-thewall. At still others, they’re critical and faultfinding. And finally, they’re doggedly persistent in
striving to reach their goals. From this, I’ve
concluded that people who are successful in the
creative process are able to adopt four main roles,
each of which embodies a different type of
thinking.
The 4 creative rolls
1.
2.
3.
4.
Explorer ― open and probing
Artist ― playful and off-the-wall
Judge ― critical and fault-finding
Warrior ― doggedly persistent
Explorer
First off, you — as a creative thinker — need
the raw materials from which new ideas are
made: facts, concepts, experiences,
knowledge, feelings, and whatever else you
can find. However, you’re much more likely
to find something original if you venture off
the beaten path. So, you must become an
Explorer and look for the materials you’ll use
to build your ideas.
Artist
For the most part, the ideas and information
you gather as an explorer will be like so
many pieces of colored glass at the end of a
kaleidoscope. They may form a pattern, but
if you want something new and different,
you’ll have to give them a twist or two.
That’s when you shift roles and let the Artist
in you come out.
Judge
Now, ask yourself, ‘Is this idea any good? Is
it worth pursuing? Will it give me the return I
want? Do I have the resources to make it
happen?’ To help you make your decision,
you adopt the mindset of a Judge. During
your evaluation, you critically weigh the
evidence.
Warrior
Finally it’s time to implement your idea. You
realize, however, that the world isn’t set up
to accommodate every new idea that comes
along. As a matter of fact, there’s a lot of
competition out there. If you want your idea
to succeed, you’ll have to take the offensive.
So, you become a Warrior and take your
idea into action. As a warrior, you’re part
general and part foot-soldier.
Summary
• Your Explorer is your role for searching for new
information and resources
• Your Artist is your role for turning these
resources into new ideas
• Your Judge is your role for evaluating the merits
of an idea and deciding what to do with it
• Your Warrior is your role for carrying your idea
into action
The Importance of Creativity
Creativity in the world
Charity
Thank You
Are you more creative?