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Support for these resources has been provided by the Australian Government Office for Learning
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These resources have been adapted from the OLT funded project “An Australian Creativity MOOC
for Australian coursework Master’s students” which was led by Adjunct Associate Professor Kym
Fraser (Victoria University) in collaboration with Adjunct Professor Yoni Ryan (Queensland
University of Technology), Professors Denise Wood and Donna Lee Brien (CQUniversity) and Mr
Brett McClennan (Open Universities Australia).
We are keen to keep track of use of the resources and to have your feedback.
Please let Adjunct Professor Yoni Ryan at y.ryan@qut.edu.au know if you use the
resources.
Module 1 What is creativity?
Table of Contents
Introduction
Why is creativity important?
Definitions
Who uses creativity?
Being more creative
Video example (optional)
Readings and resources
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2
3
5
6
8
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Introduction
This module is designed to take approximately 5 hours of study in week one of this
four week course. Please begin by first viewing the video that introduces this
module: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZJ-e0GG9RE
In this first module, we want you to explore the meaning of creativity, definitions and
some of the myths about creativity.
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section ‘Acknowledging materials used from this course’.
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Who are the 5 most creative people you can think of? Now write down the 3
qualities these people display.
Are there any qualities that the 5 creative people you identified have in common?
Now share your list via a post to the Module One Forum.
The Advertising Age’s annual list of the top 50 most influential creative figures in
advertising, technology development, publishing, advertising and other
areas includes people from the following professions: special effects makeup
designer; internet activist; cartoonist, blogger; app designer; astronaut; data
scientist; and restauranteur. You can see from this list that although there are
several professions we recognise as being creative, all professions - including the
sciences -rely on creativity problem solving skills.
Do a search on Google for the term 'creative people' + your profession or
discipline area and see if there are any sources of information.
How difficult was it to locate such a list in your discipline/profession?
Why is Creativity Important?
The term creativity has been increasingly used since the 1950s, reflecting a
widening recognition that new ideas and innovation have become increasingly
valued by, and important in, our society since this time.
As the issues and problems that face the world, our societies and us as individuals
become more complex, it is recognised that creativity is a significant asset in
developing solutions to these challenges.
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This is not just to do with the creative arts, but also business and the economy, the
environment, health and wellbeing – all the big issues!
The Australian Government highlighted the central role that creativity plays as the
driver of social and economic success in a report published in response to the
Australia 2020 Summit held in 2008. As the report states, "creativity, interpretation,
innovation and cultural understanding are all sought after skills in the industries of
the 21st century" (Responding to the Australia 2020 Summit, 2009, p. 193).
Similarly, Richard Florida (2003) argues that businesses need to be able to attract a
creative workforce to enable them to generate new ideas, grow their business and
enhance economic opportunities. Creativity and innovation are therefore crucial to
the success of businesses in the 21st Century.
Another prominent writer on creativity, education expert Ken Robinson, brings this
success back to the individual’s creativity. In his book, The Element: How Finding
Your Passion Changes Everything (2009), Robinson identifies how allying personal
interests to personal skills is key to success. He argues that melding personal talent
to personal passion is the key to achieving at the highest level. This book is well
worth reading, not least because it draws on a fascinating series of case studies of
creative people including musician Paul McCartney, actor Meg Ryan, popular
television program The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, and physicist Richard
Feynman, to investigate this paradigm.
Definitions
Creativity has been defined in different ways by different people over time. Below
are several definitions. Which of these definitions resonate most with you and with
your profession/discipline? Think about why this is. What characteristics do these
definitions share? Look back to the people you identified as being creative.
The California State University, Northridge, has an excellent set of definitions drawn
from a number of sources, at http://www.csun.edu/~vcpsy00h/creativity/define.htm
From Human Motivation, 3rd ed., by Robert E. Franken: "Creativity is defined as
the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may
be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining
ourselves and others" (page 396).
There are three reasons why people are motivated to be creative:
1. the need for novel, varied, and complex stimulation;
2. the need to communicate ideas and values; and
3. the need to solve problems (page 396).
In order to be creative, you need to be able to view things in new ways or from a
different perspective. Among other things, you need to be able to generate new
possibilities or new alternatives and every profession needs people to create novel
ways of doing the work of the profession.
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Tests of creativity measure not only the number of alternatives that people can
generate but the uniqueness of those alternatives. The ability to generate
alternatives or to see things uniquely does not occur by chance; it is linked to other,
more fundamental qualities of thinking, such as flexibility, tolerance of ambiguity or
unpredictability, and the enjoyment of things heretofore unknown (page 394).
Interestingly, while certain very well known individuals who have changed our
culture in some important way are described as creative, it is because their
achievements are public that they are so easy to identify. (e.g., Leonardo, Edison,
Picasso, Einstein, etc.) (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996, 25-26). However most of us are
the quiet creatives who work within organisations and never become famous, but
we are still creative regardless of our profession.
In Creativity - Beyond the Myth of Genius, Robert W. Weisberg states:
..."creative" refers to novel products of value, as in "The airplane was a creative
invention." "Creative" also refers to the person who produces the work, as in,
'Picasso was creative." "Creativity," then refers both to the capacity to produce such
works, as in "How can we foster our employees' creativity?" and to the activity of
generating such products, as in "Creativity requires hard work" (page 4).
“All who study creativity agree that for something to be creative, it is not enough for
it to be novel: it must have value, or be appropriate to the cognitive demands of the
situation" (page 4).
Watching Tina Seelig’s ‘The 6 Characteristics of Truly Creative People’ will be
useful here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgCdsERkqrc
Just for fun, choose 4 qualities that you have and compare them with Tina Seelig’s
list of characteristics.
Who Uses Creativity?
There is a myth about creativity that a small number of special, gifted people are
born with immense creative talent, and then go on use this in their lives. We call
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such people creative geniuses, and this is often how we think about famous artists
and others who have displayed considerable creativity in their work and careers.
Go back to the list you made at the beginning of this module. Commonly, students
will list such individuals as Shakespeare, Mozart, Picasso, Marie Curie and Walt
Disney as well as more contemporary figures such as John Lennon, Steve Jobs
and other high profile musicians and actors.
Yet many studies show that any innate talent is a small part of being creative and
much that we call ‘talent’ in a field can be learned. Instead, excellence is most often
achieved by a combination of factors. These include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
opportunities;
encouragement;
training;
motivation; and
practice.
Play, experimentation and risk are also often included in this list.
Think back to your creative people list – and the above elements. Did they have
any of the above to help them to be creative?
Talent is no use unless you take up opportunities, train and practise and have the
encouragement and motivation to keep going! Plus, if you are going to make
breakthroughs into new areas, there is often an element of experimentation and risk
involved. Such a process inevitably leads to some experiences of failure along the
way, along with opportunities to identify innovative strategies for looking at the
problem and solutions through a different lens.
Many believe that we are all born creative and, as we grow up, our education and
our experience teach us to be ‘uncreative – or to believe we are not creative.
Studies in creativity, including – but not exclusively – in such creative arts as
painting, music, film making, animation, are often based on two ideas.: that
creativity is both (1) a skill that can be developed, practised and enhanced, and (2)
a process that can be planned and managed.
The following video clips provide insight into how creativity is applied by
professionals working in four different disciplinary fields.
Video Example One: Professor Margaret Mcallister describes the role of creative
thinking in mental health nursing module (you will need to register for the Creativity
Unlimited OOC) in order to access this video).
http://opencourses.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=995
Video Example Two: Bob Stewart, a commercial pilot, discusses how he applies
creative problem solving to deal with unexpected challenges when flying
commercial aircraft module (you will need to register for the Creativity Unlimited
OOC) in order to access this video).
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http://opencourses.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=995
Video Example Three: Mark Tolson, a businessman and banker describes the role
of creative problem solving in the banking industry module (you will need to register
for the Creativity Unlimited OOC) in order to access this video).
http://opencourses.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=995
Video Example Four: Di, a registered nurse, discusses how she applies creative
problem solving or lateral thinking in the nursing profession module (you will need
to register for the Creativity Unlimited OOC) in order to access this video).
http://opencourses.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=995
Please respond to each of these questions via a post to the Module One
Forum. Make sure you also respond to postings from one of your peers. Your
responses need to be thoughtful – what do you agree with or disagree with in what
your peer has said, and why?
1. In what ways do you or could you be creative in your study, career and
personal development?
2. How would you judge yourself and your achievements and progress?
How would your peers and potential users/audience evaluate your achievements?
Being More Creative
How is creativity used and useful? Contemporary thinkers on creativity and its uses:
1. How To Be Creative
2. TED Talks lists 110 talks on creativity
Go to these and find one that resonates with you. Watch it and make notes
on what ‘speaks to you’ in this talk. Share your reflections via the forum. If you find
particular TED Talks videos or even other resources that do resonate with you,
please share with everyone via the course Wiki.
Other prominent contemporary thinkers on Creativity include:
1. Edward de Bono
2. Daniel Pink
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3. Ken Robinson
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s well known investigations of ‘optimal experience’ have
revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of
consciousness called flow. During this flow state, individuals typically experience
deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. Think about when you
have experienced this flow state. What were you doing? How did it feel? What did
you produce? Would you be able to replicate that experience at will?
Summary
Now that you’ve considered some of the luminaries of creativity, and various
definitions, we’ll turn to theories of Creativity in the next module. We’ll also start you
thinking about how creativity relates to your own profession.
Before you move to Module 2, please view the summary video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M30VZA5d8KQ
Video Example (optional)
In each module you will find links to a series of videos in which two hypothetical
students, Nick and Sue discuss applying creativity to assist in responding to a
research assessment task for Sue's Advanced Microbiology course. In subsequent
modules, our hypothetical students discuss how they apply these same skills to the
launch of a project with the help of social media and crowdsourcing.
Although these resources are optional, you might find them helpful in seeing how
the principles covered in the course are applied in practice.
In the first of these videos our hypothetical students discuss what creativity is and
how it might be applied to the task of identifying a research problem (you will need
to register for the Creativity Unlimited OOC) in order to access this video).
http://opencourses.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=1070
Readings and Resources
Required reading (available in the readings folder):
Simonton, Keith Dean (2000). Creativity: Cognitive, personal, developmental, and
social aspects. American Psychologist, v55.i1, 151-8.
Additional suggested readings and resources:
Creative Education Foundation (2010). What is CPS? Retrieved December 27,
2010 from http://www.creativeeducationfoundation.org/?page_id=41
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: flow and the psychology of discovery and
If you use materials from this resource, please acknowledge the support as indicated in the
section ‘Acknowledging materials used from this course’.
7
invention. New York: Harper Collins.
De Bono, Edward. (1973). Lateral thinking: Creativity step by step. New York:
Harper Paperbacks.
Florida, R. (2003). The rise of the creative class: and how it’s transforming work,
leisure, community and everyday life. Victoria: Pluto Press.
Franken, Robert E. Human Motivation, 3rd ed. Belmont, CA.: Brooks/Cole
Publishing Company.
McKim, R. (1980). Experiences in visual thinking. Belmont, CA.: Brooks/Cole
Publishing Company.
McLoughlin, Nigel & Donna Lee Brien (eds) Creativity: Cognitive, social and cultural
perspectives, TEXTSpecial Issue Website Series, 13 April 2012 (open access
journal) Retrieved December 20, 2013
from http://www.textjournal.com.au/speciss/issue13/content.htm
Michalco, M. (2006). Thinkertoys: A handbook of creative techniques. Berkeley,
CA: Ten Speed Press
Pink, Daniel. (2005). A whole new mind. Why right brainers will rule the future. New
York: Riverhead.
Robinson, Ken. (1998). All our futures: Creativity, culture and education (The
Robinson Report). London: National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural
Education.
Robinson, Ken. (2001). Out of our minds: Learning to be creative. Oxford, UK:
Capstone Publishing.
The Global Creativity Corporation. Innovation styles system. Retrieved December
29, 2010 from http://innovationstyles.com/isinc/system/overview.aspx
Weisberg. Robert W. (1993). Creativity - Beyond the Myth of Genius. New YorK; W.
H. Freeman & Co.
If you use materials from this resource, please acknowledge the support as indicated in the
section ‘Acknowledging materials used from this course’.
8