Creativity and Innovation
Overcoming the fear of failing ICOM5047 J. Fernando Vega Riveros, Ph.D.
What ideas do you associate with creativity?
• • • • • • • • • Produce something Original idea Ingenuity Imagination Thinking out-of-the-box Craziness Extraordinary Innovation Eureka
Myths about creativity
• Accidental discovery (the “aha” or “eureka” experience) • Genius view, great leaps of imagination
• Few cases are found in creativity research • Weisberg’s view is that creativity is the result of ordinary thought processes by ordinary people • Plato’s view: what appear as a new idea is a recognition of an old one or the new application of a concept; the connection may already exist in nature • Large number of patents from a large number of people • Hard work in arts
• Moment of Inspiration, the Muse experience
What is creativity?
To be creative, a solution must satisfy one or more of the following conditions: 1. The product of the thinking has novelty or value (either for the thinker of for his culture) 2. The thinking is unconventional in the sense that it requires modification of rejection of previously accepted ideas 3. The thinking requires high motivation and persistence, taking place either over a considerable span of time (continuously or intermittently) or at high intensity 4. The problem as initially posed was vague and illdefined, so that part of the task was to formulate the problem itself. Newell, Simon and Shaw
What is creativity?
To be classified as creative, an improvement must: 1.Be new or unique 2.Have utility or value
Metatheory of creativity
• Core of creativity:
• conscious; • Unconscious and • Cognitive attributes
Metatheory of creativity
• Sum total of subjective experiences associated with creating: buffer zone between stimulation from within and from without • Outside is perceived, organized and integrated within the individual
Metatheory of creativity
Phases
Preparation Incubation Discovery...