CREATIVITY

Submitted by,

R.VIGNESHWARAN

09MBA55
Creativity

Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby something new is created which has
some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to
the society or domain within which the innovation occurs. What counts as "valuable" is
similarly defined in a variety of ways.

Scholarly interest in creativity ranges widely: the mental and neurological processes
associated with creative activity; the relationship between personality type and creative
ability; the relationship between creativity and intelligence, learning and mental health; and
ways of fostering creativity through training and technology.

Creativity and creative acts are therefore studied across several disciplines -
psychology, cognitive science, education, philosophy (particularly philosophy of science),
theology, sociology, linguistics, business studies, and economics. As a result there is a
multitude of definitions and approaches.

Creativity Process

DO IT
DO IT is a process for creativity.

Techniques outlined earlier in this section focus on specific aspects of creative

thinking. DO IT bundles them together, and introduces formal methods of problem definition
and evaluation. These help you to get the best out of the creativity techniques.

DO IT is an acronym that stands for:

D - Define problem

O - Open mind and apply creative techniques

I - Identify best solution

T - Transform

These stages are explained in more detail below.

How to Use the Tool:

1. Define the Problem

This section concentrates on analyzing the problem to ensure that the correct question is
being asked. The following steps will help you to do this:

 Check that you are tackling the problem, not the symptoms of the problem. To do this,
ask yourself why the problem exists repeatedly until you get to the root of it.
 Lay out the bounds of the problem. Work out the objectives that you must achieve and
the constraints that you are operating under.
 Where a problem appears to be very large, break it down into smaller parts. Keep on
going until each part is achievable in its own right, or needs a precisely defined area
of research to be carried out. See Drill-Down for a detailed description of this process.
 Summarize the problem in as concise a form as possible. Robert W. Olsen suggests
that the best way to do this is to write down a number of 2 word problem statements
and choose the best one.

2. Open Mind and Apply Creative Techniques

Once you know the problem that you want to solve, you are ready to start generating
possible solutions. It is very tempting just to accept the first good idea that you come across.
If you do this, you will miss many even better solutions.

At this stage of DO IT we are not interested in evaluating ideas. Instead, we are trying
to generate as many different ideas as possible. Even bad ideas may be the seeds of good
ones.

You can use the whole set of creativity techniques covered earlier in this section to
search for possible solutions. Each tool has its particular strengths and benefits, depending on
the problems that you want to solve. While you are generating solutions, remember that other
people will have different perspectives on the problem, and it will almost certainly be worth
asking for the opinions of your colleagues as part of this process.

3. Identify the Best Solution

Only at this stage do you select the best of the ideas you have generated. It may be
that the best idea is obvious. Alternatively, it may be worth examining and developing a
number of ideas in detail before you select one.

The Decision Making Techniques section of Mind Tools explains a range of excellent
decision making techniques. Decision Tree Analysis and Force Field Analysis are particularly
useful. These will help you to choose between the solutions available to you.

When you are selecting a solution, keep in mind your own or your organization's
goals. Often Decision Making becomes easy once you know these.

4. Transform

Having identified the problem and created a solution to it, the final stage is to
implement this solution. This involves not only development of a reliable product from your
idea, but all the marketing and business side as well. This may take a great deal of time and
energy.

Many very creative people fail at this stage. They will have fun creating new products
and services that may be years ahead of what is available on the market. They will then fail to
develop them, and watch someone else make a fortune out of the idea several years later.

The first stage in transforming an idea is to develop an Action Plan for the
transformation. This may lead to creation of a Business or Marketing Plan. Once you have
done this, the work of implementation begins!

DO IT was devised by Robert W Olsen in his book ‘The Art of Creative Thinking’.
Key points:

DO IT is a structured process for creativity. Using DO IT ensures that you carry out the
essential groundwork that helps you to get the most out of creativity tools.

These steps are:

1. Problem Definition: During this stage you apply a number of techniques to ensure that
you are asking the right question.
2. Open Mind: Here you apply creativity techniques to generate as many answers as
possible to the question you are asking. At this stage you are not evaluating the
answers.
3. Identify the best solution: Only at this stage do you select the best solutions from the
ones you came up with in step 2. Where you are having difficulty in selecting ideas,
use formal techniques to help.
4. Transform: The final stage is to make an Action Plan for the implementation of the
solution, and to carry it out. Without implementation, your creativity is sterile.

5. Creativity techniques are methods that promote original thoughts by facilitating

divergent and/or convergent thinking. Some techniques require groups of two or more
people while other techniques can be accomplished alone. These methods include
word games, written exercises and different types of improvisation. Creativity
techniques can be used to develop new materials for artistic purposes or to solve
problems.

6. Most creativity techniques use associations between the goal (or the problem), the
current state (which may be an imperfect solution to the problem), and some stimulus
(possibly selected randomly). There is an analogy between many creativity techniques
and methods of evolutionary computation.

Creativity techniques

Creativity techniques are methods that promote original thoughts by facilitating

divergent and/or convergent thinking. Some techniques require groups of two or more people
while other techniques can be accomplished alone. These methods include word games,
written exercises and different types of improvisation. Creativity techniques can be used to
develop new materials for artistic purposes or to solve problems.

Most creativity techniques use associations between the goal (or the problem), the
current state (which may be an imperfect solution to the problem), and some stimulus
(possibly selected randomly). There is an analogy between many creativity techniques and
methods of evolutionary computation.

Randomness

Randomness, or aleatory, is the introduction of chance elements. Aleatory is

commonly found in music, art, and literature, particularly in poetry. In film, Andy Voda
made a movie in 1979 called "Chance Chants" which he produced by a flip of a coin, or roll
of a dice. In music, John Cage, an avant-garde musician, composed music by superimposing
star maps on blank sheet music, by rolling dice, and by preparing open ended scores that
depended on the spontaneous decisions of the performers. (1) Other ways of practicing
randomness include coin tossing, picking something out of a hat, or selecting random words
from a dictionary.

In short, aleatory is a way to introduce new thoughts or ideas into a creative process.

Improvisation

Improvisation is a creative process which can be spoken, written, or composed

without prior preparation. Improvisation, also called extemporization, can lead to the
discovery of new ways to act, new patterns of thought and practices, or new structures.
Improvisation is used in the creation of music, theatre, and other various forms. Many artists
also use improvisational techniques to help their creative flow.

Here are two significant methods:

 Improvisational Theater is a form of theater in which actors use improvisational

acting techniques to perform spontaneously. Many “improv” techniques are taught in
standard drama classes. The basic skills of listening, clarity, confidence, and
 performing instinctively and spontaneously are considered important skills for actors
to develop.

 Free Improvisation is real time composition. Musicians of all kinds “improv” music;
this music is not limited to particular genre. Two contemporary musicians that use
free improvisation are Anthony Braxton and Cecil Taylor. Through free
improvisation, musicians can develop increased spontaneity and fluency.

Each type of improvisation improves the thinking and acting skill of the actor, this is
made by using no practise, a similar set of techniques is called Alienation since one of its
many techniques uses actors that haven't rehearsed or even read the play, improvisation is an
acting skill where actors make up a storyline, start and ending on the spot and actors have to
try their best to keep in character.

Problem Solving

In problem-solving contexts, the random word creativity technique is perhaps the

simplest method. A person confronted with a problem is presented with a randomly generated
word, in the hopes of a solution arising from any associations between the word and the
problem. A random image, sound, or article can be used instead of a random word as a kind
of creativity goad or provocation.

Therapeutic Applications

Projective therapy is a form of psychotherapy which uses synthesis to produce

original interpretation and problem solving strategies. Fiction is read in the form of a novel or
observed in the form of a film. In this therapeutic technique, patients analyze the fictional
work and immerse themselves in this fictional world. Rather than focusing on their problems,
they analyze the author- or actors- motivation, plot-development and cinematography during
the group process. By reading/viewing many consecutive works during this process, the
patients are able to achieve a creative link between their own issues and those of the fictional
characters.
 This synthesis is usually unique to each individual since it bypasses the conscious and
directly accesses the unconscious by linking with semiotic objects and archetypes which
populated this otherwise inaccessible part of the mental process.This technique was first used
by Dr. A James Giannini at Yale University using the World of Tiers science-fiction series
written by Philip Jose Farmer. A later novel in this series, Red Orc's Rage, was produced by
both Farmer and Giannini. This particular novel reviewed the technique of projective therapy;
the use of the creativity unleashed in this process: and the evolution of the Tiers series itself