what is is with creativity, anyway?

There are more definitions of creativity than colors in the big box of crayons. Why is this word so difficult to define? One reason may be that creativity is endlessly entangled with "art" - and "art" and "artist" are words with their own baggage.

Webster defines creativity as:

"Creativity is marked by the ability or power to create-to bring into existence, to invest with a new form, to produce through imaginative skill, to make or bring into existence something new."

E.G. creativity is a) something new, that b) solves a problem.

The problem with this is that there are few things that are "new" - and this definition views creativity as only applicable to creating a "product" - or something new. This wholly ignores the creative process itself.

Artist and Author Nita Leland writes about creativity,

" I believe in the law of pure potentiality which suggests that we are all born with natural creative gifts and that those whose, creativity seems exceptional have been encouraged to use and grow their creativity. Also, many people are unaware that creativity isn't limited to what we typically think of as creative, activity--the arts, for example. A factory worker who thinks of a different way to put a widget together is being creative, but probably isn't aware of it--he's just trying to make his job easier.
Creativity falls into five levels, according to authorities she has cited in her book, "The Creative Artist.
" The first is the primitive level of children and beginning artists, whose every discovery is creative, in that whatever they do is new--to them--therefore creative.
" The second is the academic level, where the individual studies and builds skills and adds techniques and materials to his bag of tricks that are new to him, but that are the more traditional methods.
" The third is the inventive level, where the person looks beyond his own field for methods and materials that aren't normally used in his field and finds ways to apply them to his field.
" The fourth is the innovative level, where the person sees things in a totally different and unexpected way and comes up with an unexpected result. (For example, Picasso's bicycle seat and handlebars that became a wall sculpture of a bull.)
" The fifth level is that of genius, where the creative mind develops ideas that seem totally beyond the grasp of the ordinary mind."

Nita's definition solely deals with the process of creativity.

I think that creativity occupies a different plane than these definitions suggest. I believe the process is part of a simpler skill set. Indeed, like a muscle, the more we exercise it, the more creative (or more able to look outside the box for answers) we become. I believe creativity is just problem solving. Whether you are deciding what to have for lunch, or deciding what color to paint the sky, there is creativity involved.

In "Human Motivation", 3rd ed., Robert E. Franken writes, "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.

There are three reasons why people are motivated to be creative:
1. need for novel, varied, and complex stimulation
2. need to communicate ideas and values
3. 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. 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 change; 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)"

The challenge can be when we define ourselves as "creative". Then we get into definitions like "eccentric" or "self-confident", "innovative", etc. I believe that these are simply words that apply to anyone who is a good problem solver. Secondarily, there is a difference between being "artistic" and being "creative". A lawyer can be intensely creative (and the best lawyers are) and not artistic at all.

One of the reason that we think of children as being so creative is simply that they have not learned the "rules" about problem solving. When we give them something new, they see every possibility without regard for what has been done before, or what is expected. In short, they are excellent problem solvers because they look at every problem with fresh eyes. Their solutions tend to be "outside the box" simply because they don't even know a box exists yet. The challenge for adults is to learn to discard the box and look at every problem with eyes as fresh as a child.

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