What is Creativity?

Creativity is viewed fallaciously by many as the domain or possession specially reserved for artists, writers and scientists. This perception completely disguises the fact that creativity is sorely needed by many people in finding sources of income, helping others in need, coming up with solutions to myriad problems or resolving disputes. 

Creativity is seen as an inspiration that comes to one. How inspiration comes to people seems to be indeterminate, vague or nebulous - a mystery. It is seen to be something that only an eclectic few can possess- a rare, special gift. Creativity if seen in this way, looks as if it is a passive talent and not an actively derived talent. Even though no specific formula exists for creativity, it is something that can be taught, learnt and mastered from various thinking skills. 

Creativity has three underlying principles. Firstly, new ideas are composed of existing or older element Creativity is predominantly about alternative possibilities. While critical thinking is about correct thinking, creative thinking is about alternative possibilities that are new and useful. It is the process of coming up with new and useful ideas. It can be seen as a new solution to a problem, a new product, a new theory or a new piece of art or a recipe. In order to be creative, one must be bold and daring, be willing to step off the well-trodden path, challenge the status-quo and explore new frontiers and horizons. We must ask the following question. How are new ideas generated from old ideas? The answer is this, in a sense, ideas are made up of different elements, and what we need to do is to look for new combinations of ideas by joining different ideas together, deleting or omitting some elements or replacing some elements with other ones. We have the example of the smart phone which was derived from the landline phone. However, there is an implication in the first principle - the ingredients for creativity depend on the pool of ideas available for recombination. This is the raison d' etre why an unquenchable intellectual curiosity and a wide knowledge base can significantly enrich one's creativity. One will have a vast range of concepts, theories and experience to draw upon. This is also the rationale or logic for the usefulness of trying to solve a problem by consulting people with different expertise. 

Hence, we find that creativity does not come from a bolt out of the blue or as an epiphany. We find that creativity does not come from a vacuum or from sheer iron-clad determination. We become creative from absorbing lots and lots of ideas before we can arrive at one ourselves. As the famous British actor John Cleese once said, “You say I'm going to write something completely new and original and very funny." You can't do it. It's like trying to fly a plane without having any lessons. You've got to start somewhere and the best way to start is by copying something that is really good. John Cleese. 

The second principle about creativity is that not all ideas are on par. Creativity is simply not a matter of producing new ideas. Creativity is essentially about creating new ideas that are useful and valuable. These are the kind of ideas that serve an important need or create a new trend that is impactful.  This is the kind of creativity that is valued.

Creativity is divided into Cognitive creativity and Artistic creativity. 

Cognitive creativity is about arriving at new solutions to practical and theoretical problems. These can be such as developing a new scientific theory, creating a new medicine, developing a new business solution or creating a new commercial product. Cognitive creativity requires critical thinking. One must think correctly and logically to see if an idea makes sense. For instance, if an engineer is designing a new kind of revolutionary gearbox for motorcars, he must make sure that the gearbox functions within the bounds of the laws of physics and logic. In similar fashion, a new financial product must be logical and not contravene any business legislation. Any proposal must be well thought out.

Artistic creativity is about the creation of artwork and the expression of ideas and emotions through various forms of art. Critical thinking is not averse to artistic creativity but the enhancement of critical thinking skills will not improve artistic creativity.  

There is the perception that being too critical can cause new ideas to be dismissed. This is because creative thinking runs against established conventions in thought. However, using good critical thinking skills does not necessarily equate to being always over critical. Sometimes we can suspend critical thinking, although this runs against the principles of critical thinking, and allow ideas to flow and then evaluate them critically. This could be a productive thing to do. Rather than outright dismissing ideas before evaluation. It is a serious misconception that critical thinking and cognitive thinking are opposed to each other. In actual fact, they aid each other.

The third principle is that creativity sees the connections between ideas. This ability to detect the connections will enhance creativity. Even though we have our pool of ideas, we must bear in mind that useful ideas come from unexpected sources. For example, an aerospace engineering crops up where a new type of wing is to be developed might take insights from a study in zoology which studies the wings of bats and birds. The studies are from disparate fields and yet aid the design of new wings. It can be seen in a successful marketing campaign might take information from sociological and psychological studies. Again, sociology and psychology are different fields from business. 

As such, creative thinking requires seeing the connection between different areas and disciplines. Firstly, a wide knowledge base and a deep sense of curiosity is needed. Creative people are widely read, possess a deep sense of curiosity, and always willing to explore subjects or topics which will not bring immediate benefits. Secondly, the learning process must be ensured to that the learning process should aim at a deep understanding of the connections between key concepts.

So, in order to be creative, there must be the ability to see the connection between different ideas. Firstly, a wide knowledge base  and a deep sense of curiosity is required. Creative people are often well read, pare deeply curious, and a willingness to explore subjects or topics which will not reap immediate benefits. Secondly, it must be ensured that the learning processes should aim at a deep understanding of the connection between key concepts. Studying goes beyond merely studying bits and pieces of unrelated information, but examine them from different angles, systematically reformulating them in way to achieve better understanding.

To conclude, creativity is the about the reformulation of old ideas into new ones. Creativity requires the ability to deviate from the norm, challenge the status-quo and think critically and evaluate ideas but not be critical while creative activity is conducted but after the creative session. Creative thinking is of two kinds: cognitive creativity and artistic activity. Cognitive creativity is the generation of new and useful ideas while artistic creativity is the creation of works of art, literature etc. Critical thinking aids cognitive creativity but is not needed in artistic creativity. Lastly, there must be the ability to see the connections between ideas from different fields, view them from different angles and reformulate them systematically so as to gain better understanding.