Definition of Creativity Copyright Claim

this Blog Post at 10:00 on Sunday February 16, 2020

There remains a misconception that creativity is solely the province of the arts. This is not true. Creativity exists in all disciplines. It is valued by mathematicians, scientists and entrepreneurs, as well as by artists, writers and composers.

Ironically there has never been a clear and creative definition for "Creativity". Seems strange really to think that attempts at defining creativity are quite bland.

“As competition intensifies, the need for creative thinking increases. It is no longer enough to do the same thing better . . . no longer enough to be efficient and solve problems” — Edward de Bono

defining creativity by greg twemlow, Feb 16 2020

Defining creativity (from the report "Developing young children’s creativity: what can we learn from research?", autumn 2004, issue 32)

Definitions of creativity are not straightforward, and many writers have contributed to the debate about what constitutes creativity, often hotly contesting different views. However, most theorists agree that the creative process involves a number of components, most commonly:
• imagination
• originality (the ability to come up with ideas and products that are new and unusual)
• productivity (the ability to generate a variety of different ideas through divergent thinking)
• problem solving (application of knowledge and imagination to a given situation)
• the ability to produce an outcome of value and worth.

Where definitions of creativity differ most strikingly is the extent to which their proponents are attempting to identify creativity as a generic human characteristic, or to define what makes highly creative people special and different from others. This is the distinction between what the Robinson Report calls the ‘democratic’, as opposed to the ‘élite’, definition of creativity. Howard Gardner, adopts an élite definition of creativity when he argues that truly creative people are those who make a difference to the world (e.g. by moving forward thinking in science, social science, music or art). This type of ‘Big C’ creativity is reserved for very few individuals. The report of the National Advisory Committee for Creative and Cultural Education, chaired by Professor Ken Robinson, adopted a democratic view of creativity. It argued that this was the most useful way of viewing creativity in relation to education (5, para. 25)

"All people are capable of creative achievement in some area of activity, provided that the conditions are right and they have acquired the relevant knowledge and skills."

Definition of Creativity