Creative people are what kind of people? What is human creativity? Creativity and creative thinking.

A creative person has excellent skills in developing his own imagination, he goes beyond stereotypes, revealing the boundaries of fantasy and coming up with completely new ideas. What is creativity, why is it needed and who are creative people - you will find out very soon.

What is creativity?

Let's figure out what a creative person means. Creativity is a special personal quality that allows you to effectively engage in creative, creative, innovative activities.

Creative people are those who are able to find new and optimal ways to solve problems. They can see the problem from different angles, sometimes see it in a way that no one has seen before. However, creativity is not only innovation and creativity, a way of thinking that brings practical benefits in various activities.

How is creativity different from creativity?

Very often people mix these concepts or use them as synonyms without thinking about the true meanings of the words. Creativity is also the ability to create something new. However, the concept of creativity refers to art and aesthetic creation, and creativity - to the field of utilitarian, practical application. These two properties of the human personality may intersect, but do not have to be combined and do not result from one another.

For modern professions, especially those associated with innovation, it is creativity that is required - the ability, based on accumulated experience and knowledge, to generate new ideas and methods that optimize the workflow or create a unique product. The concept of creativity includes such qualities as determination, the ability to take risks, ingenuity, resourcefulness, and quickness of thought. Also, creativity is always accompanied by a broad outlook, because without it, it is difficult to come up with a new solution to the problem.

Professions for creative people

Creative thinking is needed in many areas including business, advertising, science, art and politics. Now in many job offers you can find the message that the employer needs creative people for various positions.

Creativity in business is the ability to adapt to new changes in accordance with changing market conditions. Businesses, especially small or medium ones, do not tolerate conservatism. Now the development of business technologies is going very fast, new training courses are constantly appearing, new trends in personnel management, and so on. Creativity in business is needed for mobility, quick decision-making and innovation.

Creativity in advertising is the ability to present a product in a new way, from an unexpected angle. In the modern world, a person receives an overwhelming amount of information per day. they no longer know how to attract the attention of a potential consumer and not cause irritation in an overly intrusive or flashy way. It is to solve such problems that creative people are needed in advertising. The advertising message should be of high quality, interesting and informative.

Creativity in the service sector is the ability to find new approaches in communicating with people. This area of application of creativity requires not only a good knowledge of people in the everyday sense and developed intuition, but also the accumulated baggage of knowledge in the field of psychology and sociology. For the sales sector, it is important to be able to present the product in such a way that a potential buyer wants to purchase it; in the hotel business, room decoration or, for example, guest service features can be queative.

Creativity will find a place for itself in almost any profession, if it is subordinated to purely utilitarian goals and not to be confused with creativity. Most often, creative people are those who, in addition to a developed imagination, have knowledge in the field of economics, management, production technology, and so on.

Ways to develop creativity

What does the word creative person mean? Creativity is not an innate ability. Yes, there must be prerequisites for it, but it can and should be developed. There are various methods for developing creativity in children and adults. In childhood, attention is paid more to the development of creative abilities and skills, on the basis of which, in combination with the acquired experience and knowledge, creativity can subsequently be developed.

Consider a few exercises to develop this ability.

Discussing an idea in a team where everyone has a specific role: critic, dreamer and realist. Considering the problem from three points of view allows you to see its new facets and solutions.
Creation of an association tree. A problem is depicted on a piece of paper, lines go from it, where ideas related to it are written. In the process of creating a tree, ideas may appear that would not immediately come to mind.
Go the opposite way. Imagine what needs to be done so as not to solve the problem for sure, and then replace these ideas with the opposite ones.
It is recommended to expand your horizons - to be interested in everything that is happening around. Go to theaters, visit exhibitions, read newspapers, journalism and communicate more often with creative people, they have something to tell.

This is not a complete list of exercises for the development of creativity, but they are all related to the expansion of the horizons of thinking, the development of imagination and the destruction of stereotypes.

Most Creative People

With the increasing interest in the term "creativity" in the last decade, publications related to this concept began to appear. Many countries publish their own magazines about creativity. Editors of publishing houses make lists of the most creative people of the past year. They include owners and founders of advertising agencies, software developers, filmmakers, designers, writers, entrepreneurs, singers and journalists.

According to Creativity magazine, the most creative person is Sachin Agarwal, founder of Posterous. Also, along with him, his colleague Jerry Tan was named the most creative person.

Signs of a creative person

And yet, what does a creative person mean? Like all internal human qualities, creativity has an external manifestation in behavior.

On what grounds can such a person be distinguished from the crowd?

Creative people are They are not afraid to try new things.
Intuition for them is no less important decision-making tool than logic.
Creative people have a great sense of humor.
Creative people are those who share their thoughts and ideas with others.
Easily understand the most intricate interweaving of information. Creative people subject the received information to critical reflection, they never go on about the crowd.
They are interested in the process itself, not just the result.
They like to learn new things, look for answers to the most difficult questions. The more difficult the task, the more willingly a creative, creative person will undertake it.
Creative people are always on the lookout for solutions, answers, knowledge and ideas.
Creative people are great teachers. They easily explain things that are difficult to understand to others, trace the connection between existing material and create something new from it.
A creative person does not tolerate boundaries and frameworks. He is constantly expanding his horizons, trying on new points of view.
Creative people are innovators. They are eager to test new ideas and prove to be competitive in the future.

Fashion for creativity

Currently, in every second resume in the column "additional information" the quality is indicated - creativity. What is a creative person, is it so important to be creative? Yes, many specialties require innovative solutions, the ability to think outside the box and present yourself or your product in a non-trivial way. But at the same time, there are enough specialties that do not require a creative approach. In everyday life, the meaning of this feature is even more blurred. Because of the fashion for creativity, many people want to appear creative and inventive even with their friends.

A non-creative person is not a person without imagination, unable to think beyond stereotyped constructions. Creativity, rather, is an integral quality for some areas of professional activity, rather than a vital one in everyday life. A person does not have to be creative at all, but it is useful to develop creative abilities at any age.

What is it and is it in Russia?

The creative class in Europe and America is usually called people who design and create new ideas, images, products. These are designers, advertising specialists, marketers and so on. The global task of the so-called creative class is to change the world, make it more convenient and adapt it to the needs of the population. In a less global sense - to give an attractive appearance to products, to introduce any innovations related to domestic comfort, to add functionality to household items and appliances. There is no creative class as such in Russia. Here, these people are in the minority, since society at the moment needs less creative developments than European or American. This is due to the peculiarities of culture and mentality. However, we can definitely say that the creative direction of activity in Russia is developing. New niches are found and created in the service market, where creative specialists are required. It is difficult to predict whether Russia will catch up with Europe in this sense, but there is no doubt that the creative class will develop in Russia as well.

What is creativity for?

This quality is used in various fields to solve various problems. In general, creativity is needed to optimize, improve, increase efficiency, increase functionality and increase production capacity. In a word - for a qualitative leap forward. In science and production, creativity is needed to invent new equipment, new technology, even the production technologies themselves. Creativity makes our life more interesting, colorful and comfortable. The transition from an industrial society to a post-industrial one was marked by the expansion of the service sector. At present, the ability to present a service or product to a potential consumer plays an important role in this area.

Beauty, energy and novelty, combined with practical benefits - this is the creativity that, in practical application, gives aesthetic pleasure and everyday comfort.

Creativity is a word that is on everyone's lips today. It can be found as a personal characteristic, in most resumes of people of various professions (and not only creative ones). Creative people are hunted down by large companies and admired. Many are sure that this quality is simply a necessity in the modern world, however, no one knows exactly how and in what way to measure it.

From this article, you will learn what “creativity” (the concept of creativity) is and who a “creative person” is, and in the following ones, I will give creative thinking development methods and creativity exercises.

Creativity is the ability to create and find new original ideas, deviating from accepted patterns of thinking, successfully solving problems in an unconventional way. It is seeing problems from a different angle and solving them in a unique way. Creative thinking is revolutionary and creative thinking that is constructive in nature.

It has value in business, science, culture, art, politics - in a word, in all dynamic areas of life where competition is developed. Therein lies its value to society.

For example, creativity allows entrepreneurs to see the prospect where it would seem that it has long been gone. If a certain niche is filled by competitors, they may come up with something new. Creative abilities allow writers to find original stories that are hard to stop reading. For psychologists, creativity helps invent new methods of communication with clients. The creativity of scientists is an important factor in human progress. And how important is a creative approach for such professions as: engineer, designer, PR agent, advertiser (advertising manager, advertising agent ...) ... creativity and creativity go hand in hand.

To be a creative person means to have certain preferences and advantages in this world, for example, to compare favorably with colleagues at work, to be a more interesting interlocutor (tediousness and banality are qualities not inherent in creative individuals), to be able to find unexpected solutions from difficult life situations. Creative people are more balanced and tolerant of others, because they know that each person sees the world in his own way.

Use your creative abilities possible not only to create new interesting ideas (to improve life or its individual aspects), but also to self-improvement and personal development generally. Any creative activity helps us gain personal meaning and comprehend our own values. And this is the most important spiritual need of a person, which distinguishes him from other living beings.

studying biographies and stories of successful people David Galenson (economist, researcher) came to the conclusion that the peak of creative abilities can be reached at any age. Galenson identified two types of creative individuals. Some show themselves in all their splendor even at the draft age, while others mature very slowly, their highest creations and ideas fall on the second half of life. He goes on to give two striking examples from both groups:

Pablo Picasso, who entered the history of art at an early age, painted his most expensive paintings between the ages of 26 and 30. Here's what the artist said about his creative talent - " I rarely experimented. If I had something to say, I never looked for a way to do it, but just found it…».

Just the opposite example - Paul Cezanne. He began to draw at the age of 15, but only when he was 61 years old did he gain success and a special look. Cezan liked to say - "In art, I'm looking for my way."

The last example clearly indicates that a person can develop creative abilities in himself at any age. However, many of us are not at all ready to recognize in ourselves a creative gift, while the ability think creatively many people have. These abilities are either underestimated by a person, or not noticed at all, and he considers himself hopelessly ordinary.

Do you want to become creative personality? It's possible! Find out how from the article - " Development of creative thinking and creative abilities».

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Today you can often hear a "creative idea", a "creative" solution. This designation is very popular these days, but not everyone understands its meaning. What does a creative person mean? Is it possible to become one and how to do it? In what areas is this quality most in demand? Which of the inhabitants of the planet is recognized as the most creative? The answers can be found in this article.

What is a creative person

A creative person is someone who thinks outside the box and stands out from the crowd. Moreover, he does it not on purpose, not for show. One cannot call a creative person who, striving for originality, simply put on awkward clothes and went out into the street in it. Yes, they will pay attention to it and remember it. However, there is no constructiveness in such behavior, and we are not talking about creativity.

This can be called a person who, thanks to his ability to think outside the box and see an object from different angles, is always able to find an unexpected solution to a problem that most others will not come up with. These are innovators, revolutionaries, pioneers. They boldly push the "doors", unnoticed by the rest, and give others the opportunity to see, learn, understand something new, previously hidden from the eyes of the crowd.

Everything that a person uses today and that he has was once discovered by creative people. Some of the ancients came up with the idea of mixing flour with water and baking it all on a hot stone. This is how mankind received bread. Someone invented pizza by throwing leftover food on a sheet of dough, realized that sweet lemonade can be made from sour lemons, invented Coca-Cola or a rocket. There are many such examples.

The concept of "creativity" is sometimes confused with creativity. It's not the same thing. A creative creative person can meet everyone on the way. Such geniuses create shocking works of art, initially not recognized by society, but then becoming classics. Their creations stand out from the stream, stand apart, and sometimes contradict everything that has been created before.

A creative person does not have to be a creator of aesthetic values. A non-standard mind and the ability to see a problem from different angles will be even more useful in more practical areas. For example, in business, psychology, advertising. Even an ordinary housewife, characterized by creativity, is able to do a lot of useful things. For example, come up with an efficient way to wash dishes or invent a new recipe for a gorgeous cake.

Courageous, with a developed imagination, active, open to everything new, thinking outside the box, free from stereotypes - this is what a creative person means. Many people think that getting creative is easy, but is it?

How to become a creative person

Is it possible to develop such qualities in oneself? The presence of makings also plays a role, but this is not at all necessary. The sooner the development process starts, the better. Indeed, in childhood, everyone is disposed to the new and absorbs everything like a sponge. Psychologists recommend various developmental exercises for children:

1. Draw an "idea" tree, where each branch will be a solution to the problem. The more lines, the better.

2. Play critic, dreamer and realist. Children, taking into account their role, should voice the appropriate visions of the situation.

3. Reverse game. Tell what needs to be done in order not to solve the given problem, and then turn the scheme of actions the other way around.

Creative thinking of a person is based on knowledge and impressions. If there are few of them, then he will think narrowly, one-sidedly, stereotypically. Therefore, he needs to constantly expand his boundaries. Communicate with different people, travel, attend cultural events, learn new languages and sciences. In the process of knowing the world, fresh ideas will surely come to mind.

It is necessary to try to develop the personality traits of creative people. Namely:

Sense of humor;

Ease of lifting;

Observation;

The ability to critically evaluate any other person's opinion and not be afraid to express one's own;

Independence from prejudices and patterns;

Insight;

Willingness to take risks.

A creative person is not afraid to experiment and combine what at first glance seems incompatible. He also differs from many others in that he does not delay the implementation of his ideas. As soon as the decision came to mind, he immediately tries to apply it. In doing so, it often hits the nail on the head.

It follows intuition and does not allow the mind to “put a spoke in the wheel”, as it happens when a person thinks for a long time, hesitates, weighs all the pros and cons. As a result, he retreats from his idea, which could become a real breakthrough. Creative people "forge the iron" while it's hot, they think it's better to do it and regret it. This can and should be learned.

Another important point. Creative people are confident in their uniqueness. They do not even admit that they are only part of the gray mass. It is this confidence in one's own originality that creates real miracles.

Creativity in one way or another is useful in any field of activity. The teacher needs to be able to present the material in an original way and find an approach to each student. The doctor must choose from a variety of the only correct solutions, making a diagnosis and prescribing treatment (after all, each case is individual). The investigator, having thought creatively, will quickly figure out the criminal, etc.

There are professions in which there is simply nothing to do without creativity. Here it is necessary as air. The main list of such areas of activity:

Fashion and design;

Entrepreneurship;

Journalism;

directing;

Architecture;

Photo;

Web design.

All professions related to these areas involve the creation of a product that needs to be implemented. The more creative the creation, as well as the methods of its presentation, the more likely we are to succeed. Irregularity is important in most professions. Especially if they involve direct contact with people.

To creativity, constituting a relatively stable characteristic of the individual. Initially, K. was considered as a function of the intellect, and the level of development of the intellect was identified with the level of K. Subsequently, it turned out that the level of intelligence correlates with K. up to a certain limit, and too high intelligence prevents K. At present, K. is considered as a function of the integral personality, dependent on the whole complex of its psychological characteristics. Accordingly, the central direction in the study of K. is the identification of personal qualities with which it is associated.

Brief psychological dictionary. - Rostov-on-Don: PHOENIX. L.A. Karpenko, A.V. Petrovsky, M. G. Yaroshevsky. 1998 .

Creativity

The creative abilities of the individual - the ability to generate unusual ideas, deviate from traditional patterns of thinking, quickly solve problem situations. It is characterized by readiness to produce fundamentally new ideas and is included in the structure of giftedness as an independent factor. Among the abilities, intellectual is singled out as a special type. According to A. Maslow, this is a creative direction, innately characteristic of everyone, but lost by the majority under the influence of the environment. According to P. Torrance, creativity includes:

1 ) hypersensitivity to problems, to deficiency or inconsistency of knowledge;

2 ) actions to identify these problems, to find their solutions based on hypotheses, to test and change hypotheses, to formulate the result of the solution.

To assess creativity, various divergent thinking tests, personal questionnaires, and performance analysis are used. The study of the factors of creative achievements is carried out in two directions:

1 ) analysis of life experience and individual characteristics of a creative person - personal factors;

2 ) analysis of creative thinking and its products - factors of creativity: fluency, clarity, flexibility of thinking, sensitivity to problems, originality, ingenuity, constructiveness in solving them, etc.

In order to promote the development of creative thinking, learning situations can be used that are characterized by incompleteness or openness for the integration of new elements; while students are encouraged to formulate a variety of questions. The question of creativity as an independent property, independent of the intellect, remains unresolved. Reliable ways to measure it have not been found either.

Dictionary of practical psychologist. - M.: AST, Harvest. S. Yu. Golovin. 1998 .

Creativity Etymology.

Comes from lat. creatio - creation.

Category.

The creative ability of the individual.

Specificity.

It characterizes readiness to produce fundamentally new ideas. According to P. Torrens, creativity includes an increased sensitivity to problems, to a lack or inconsistency of knowledge, actions to identify these problems, to find their solutions based on hypotheses, to test and change hypotheses, to formulate the result of a solution. Creativity is included in the structure of giftedness as an independent factor.

Diagnostics.

To assess creativity, various divergent thinking tests, personality questionnaires, and performance analysis are used.

Formation.

Learning situations that are incomplete or open to the integration of new elements can be used to promote creative thinking, and students are encouraged to formulate multiple questions.

Psychological Dictionary. THEM. Kondakov. 2000 .

CREATIVITY

(English) creativity) - creative possibilities ( ) of a person that can manifest itself in thinking,feelings,communication, certain types activities, characterize in general and/or its individual aspects, products of activity, the process of their creation. K. is considered as the most important and relatively independent factor of giftedness (see. ), which is rarely reflected in intelligence tests and academic achievement. On the contrary, K. is determined not so much by a critical attitude to the new with t. sp. existing experience, how much receptivity to new ideas.

An important stage in the study of K. was the work of J. Gilford (1967), who singled out convergent(logical, one-way) and divergent(going in different directions at the same time, deviating from logic) (cm. ). Most tasks in tests for K. are focused on identifying divergent abilities: they do not require a certain number of answers; it is not the correctness of the answers that is evaluated, but the compliance with the task; the search for non-trivial and unexpected solutions is encouraged.

P. Torrens (1974) defined K. as the appearance of sensitivity to problems, to a deficit or disharmony of existing knowledge; definitions of these problems; search for their solutions, promotion hypotheses; testing, changing and retesting hypotheses; and finally, the formulation and communication of the result of the decision. Consideration of creativity as a process makes it possible to identify the structure of creativity (as abilities), the conditions that stimulate this process, and also to evaluate creative achievements. In tests K., developed by Torrens, models of creative processes are used, reflecting their complexity in various fields of activity: verbal, visual, sound, motor. Tests evaluate K. in terms of fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration of ideas.

In addition to tests to determine K., special questionnaires are used with lists of situations, feelings, interests, forms of behavior that characterize creative people. These questionnaires can be. addressed to both the subject himself and the people around him. For product analysis creativity expert estimates are used: scientists, artists, inventors. The standards for such assessments are always based on public judgment (cf. , ).

High indicators of K. in children by no means guarantee their creative achievements in the future, but only increase the likelihood of their occurrence in the presence of high motivation for creativity and mastery of the necessary creative skills (see. ). The experience of teaching some aspects and methods of creative behavior and self-expression, modeling creative actions demonstrates a significant growth in K., as well as the emergence and strengthening of such personality traits as independence, openness to new experience, sensitivity to problems, and a high need for creativity. Among the conditions stimulating the development creative thinking, distinguish the following: situations of incompleteness or openness, in contrast to rigidly set and strictly controlled ones; resolution and encouragement of multiple issues; encouraging responsibility and independence; emphasis on independent developments, observations, feelings, generalizations; attention to the interests of children from adults and peers. Prevent the development of K.: avoidance risk; striving for success at all costs; tough stereotypes in thinking and behavior; ; disapproving ratings imagination(fantasy), research; deference to authority. see also . (E. I. Shcheblanova.)

Big psychological dictionary. - M.: Prime-EVROZNAK. Ed. B.G. Meshcheryakova, acad. V.P. Zinchenko. 2003 .

Creativity

CREATIVITY (with. 328) (from English creativity) - the level of creative talent, creativity, which is a relatively stable characteristic of the individual. In recent years, the term has become widespread in Russian psychology, almost replacing the previously used phrase Creative skills. These concepts seem to be synonymous, which could raise doubts about the advisability of introducing a foreign term. Actually creativity it would be more correct to define it not so much as some creative ability or a combination of those, but as the ability to be creative, and these concepts, although very close, are not identical.

The creative components of intellectual processes have attracted the attention of many scientists throughout the development of psychological science. Suffice it to recall the original studies of the Frenchman Alfred Binet, the Englishman Frederick Bartlett, the works of Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Koehler, Karl Dunker, carried out in line with Gestalt psychology, and many other interesting studies. However, most of these works did not actually take into account individual differences in creative abilities, although it was recognized that different people were not equally endowed with these abilities.

Interest in individual differences in creativity has emerged in connection with the obvious achievements in the field of testometric studies of intelligence, as well as with no less obvious omissions in this area.

By the beginning of the 60s. 20th century large-scale experience in testing intelligence has already been accumulated, which in turn posed new questions for researchers. In particular, it turned out that professional and life success is not at all directly related to the level of intelligence calculated using IQ tests. Experience has shown that people with not very high IQs are capable of extraordinary achievements, and many others with significantly higher IQs often lag behind them. It has been suggested that some other qualities of the mind that are not covered by traditional testing play a decisive role here.

Since a comparison of the success of solving problem situations with traditional intelligence tests in most cases showed a lack of connection between them, some psychologists have come to the conclusion that the effectiveness of problem solving does not depend on knowledge and skills measured by intelligence tests, but on a special ability "to use the information given in tasks in many different ways and at a fast pace. This ability is called creativity. The “distant association test” has become the main means of diagnosing creativity (Remote Associates Test), which measures the features and "speed of movement of attention at some symbolic level within a wide range of information."

J. Guilford and his staff identified 16 hypothetical intellectual abilities that characterize creativity. Among them:

fluency(the number of ideas that arise in a certain unit of time);

flexibility(ability to switch from one idea to another);

originality of thinking(the ability to produce ideas that differ from those generally accepted);

curiosity(increased sensitivity to problems that are not of interest to others);

irrelevance(logical independence of reactions from stimuli).

In 1967, Guilford combined these factors in the general concept of "divergent thinking", which reflects the cognitive side of creativity. Compared to convergent thinking, which focuses on a known, trivial solution to a problem, divergent thinking occurs when the problem has yet to be defined and when there is no predetermined, established solution.

Initially, Guilford included in the structure of creativity, in addition to divergent thinking, the ability to transform, the accuracy of the solution, and other intellectual parameters proper. Thus, a positive relationship between intelligence and creativity was postulated. In the course of numerous experiments, it turned out that highly intelligent subjects may not show creative behavior when solving problems, but there are no low-intellectual creativity.

Later, E. Torrens, based on the results of extensive empirical research, formulated a model for the relationship between creativity and intelligence: with an IQ of up to 120 points, general intelligence and creativity form a single factor, with an IQ of over 120 points, creativity loses its dependence on intelligence.

Further studies contributed little to clarifying this provision, since they led to conflicting results. N.Kogan and M.Vollah critically analyzed the procedure for testing creativity in the experiments of Gilford and Torrance. Rejecting the elements of competition, time constraints and the criterion of accuracy, they as a result established the independence of the factors of creativity and intelligence.

In our country, studies conducted by the staff of the laboratory of abilities of the IP RAS revealed a paradoxical dependence: highly creative individuals solve tasks on reproductive thinking worse (they include almost all intelligence tests) than all other subjects. This, in particular, makes it possible to understand the nature of many of the difficulties that creatively gifted children experience at school. Because, according to this study, creativity is the opposite of intelligence as the ability to adapt universally, then in practice there is the effect of the inability of creatives to solve simple, stereotyped intellectual tasks.

An interesting study on the relationship between creativity and intelligence was conducted by our compatriot E. L. Grigorenko (now working under the direction of R. Sternberg at Yale University). She was able to reveal that the number of hypotheses generated by an individual when solving a complex mental problem is correlated with creativity according to the Torrens method, and the correctness of the solution is positively correlated with the level of general intelligence according to Wexler.

Based on these data, V.N. Druzhinin concludes that creativity and intelligence are orthogonal factors, that is, they are independent of each other. Meanwhile, they are operationally opposite: situations conducive to the manifestation of intelligence are opposite in their characteristics to situations in which creativity is manifested. In other words, creativity and general intelligence are abilities, each of which determines the process of solving a mental problem, but they play a different role at different stages of this process.

However, although research on creativity has been actively conducted for several decades, the accumulated data not so much clarify as confuse the understanding of this phenomenon. Suffice it to say that more than 60 definitions of creativity were described forty years ago, and by now it is already impossible to count them. At the same time, some researchers ironically note: “The process of understanding what creativity is itself requires creative action.”

Several years ago, F. Barron and D. Harrington, summing up the results of research in this area, made the following generalizations of what is known about creativity.

Creativity is the ability to respond to the need for new approaches and new products. This ability also allows you to realize the new in being, although the process itself can be both conscious and unconscious.

The creation of a new creative product largely depends on the personality of the creator and the strength of his internal motivation.

The specific properties of the creative process, product and personality are their originality, consistency, validity, adequacy to the task and another property that can be called suitability - aesthetic, ecological, optimal form, correct and original at the moment.

Creative products can be very different in nature: a new solution to a problem in mathematics, the discovery of a chemical process, the creation of music, a painting or a poem, a new philosophical or religious system, an innovation in jurisprudence, a fresh solution to social problems, etc.

Unfortunately, until now, scientists have not even reached agreement on whether creativity exists at all, or is it a scientific construct? However, the same doubts are expressed about the traditional concept of "intelligence". It is not surprising that the relationship between these concepts causes even more controversy. According to some American psychologists, most of the data obtained on the relationship between creativity and intelligence make it possible to single out creativity "as a concept of the same level of abstraction as intelligence, but more vaguely and indefinitely measured."

On this basis, it cannot be ruled out that creativity, like the traditionally measured intelligence, is characterized by a certain set of mental actions, skills and strategies learned in vivo. Evidence in favor of this comes from research on the development of creativity. Thus, Goodnow, Ward, Haddon and Lytton demonstrated a direct dependence of creativity on the conditions of socialization, up to the level of educational institutions in which different people receive education. In other words, there are conservative schools that form performers - creative individuals do not get along in them, they are rejected by them; and there are creative schools that literally teach to think creatively. True, even the first ones sometimes become creators (remember the same Thomas Edison, who could not cope with the routine program), and the second ones do not at all guarantee a 100% creative return of their graduates. Probably, something is inherent in the person himself, and not only in the cognitive sphere, but also in the personal one. What is laid down, to what extent, how to stimulate and encourage it? These questions are still waiting for their researchers.

Popular psychological encyclopedia. - M.: Eksmo. S.S. Stepanov. 2005 .

Synonyms:

See what "creativity" is in other dictionaries:

CREATIVITY- (lat. create, create) the ability to create, the ability to perform creative acts that lead to a new unusual vision of a problem or situation. Creativity can manifest itself in the thinking of individuals, in their work activity, in ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

CREATIVITY- (from lat. creatio creation), creative, constructive, innovative activity ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Creativity- (from Latin creatio - creation) the creative abilities of an individual, characterized by a readiness to produce fundamentally new ideas and included in the structure of giftedness as an independent factor. By … Psychological Dictionary

Bold ideas have led more than one company to success: think of the Polaroid instant camera and the sharing economy of Airbnb and similar startups.

In 1995, Chef Massimo Bottura also went beyond the usual when he opened Osteria Francescana in Modena and reimagined Italian cuisine in a country where tradition is paramount. The reward for courage was inexhaustible success. In two decades, the establishment has gone from being rejected by locals to three Michelin stars, and in 2016 it was in first place in the ranking of the fifty best restaurants in the world. This year the restaurant was again recognized as the best.

What at first glance seemed like a risky decision to go against the favorite recipes of several generations glorified Bottura. Such success often breeds arrogance and leads to further failure. However, the success of Osteria Francescana, on the contrary, set the stage for future experiments. There are two key lessons for companies that are committed to innovation and want to retain creativity from this example.

Always develop. The attention of innovative organizations is more riveted to the search for a new one than to maintaining past achievements at the proper level. At Osteria Francescana, every dish is perfected, but no recipe is final. Bottura believes that dishes should get even better over time.

Consider, as an example, the signature dish "Le cinque stagionature del Parmigiano Reggiano", or "Parmesan in five different ages and textures, served at five different temperatures." The idea was born twenty years ago when Bottura simply decided to experiment with different textures and temperatures of the cheese. Initially, he used three ages of cheese. Then there were four cheeses, and then five. The dish clearly demonstrates the process of ripening parmesan. 24-month-old cheese is used to make a hot soufflé, 30-month-old cheese is made into a warm sauce, 36-month-old cheese is made into chilled mousse, 40-month-old cheese is made into crispy chips, and 50-month-old cheese is turned into an incredibly light mousse, which the chefs themselves call "air" . Bottura has observed how cheese changes under different conditions, and has created an amazingly tasty dish that also leaves room for creativity.

Encourage innovation, not predictability. Bottura makes sure that his team members are open to creative thinking and play. For example, he sometimes asks employees to create a dish inspired by a piece of music, a painting, or a poem. Chef de party Jessica Roswaal from Canada says: “I've only been here for a couple of months and I was just starting to get used to his communication style. One day he burst into the kitchen and said: “So, the new task for today: Lou Reed, the song “Take a Walk on the Wild Side”. Get everything ready." I couldn't even imagine where to start."

But panic soon gave way to excitement. “We created a lot of different dishes, Someone was inspired by the bass line. Someone - the words of the song. Others are the spirit of that time. A lot of different dishes were born thanks to the fact that Massimo listened to the song in his car,” says Jessica.

Innovation at work increases satisfaction, as well as creativity and overall productivity. In addition, it is a guarantee of greater self-confidence. Psychologists Brent Mattingly from Ashland College and Gary Lewandowski from the University of Monmouth conducted a study: some participants read a list of facts, among which there were quite curious (“Butterflies taste with their paws”), others received lists with less surprising facts (“Caterpillars turn into butterflies” ). The researchers observed that after the task, participants in the first group felt that they had acquired new knowledge and became more confident. They worked harder on the next tasks.

Many of the companies I've studied make it their top priority to bring uniformity to the work of their employees. In fact, innovation should be a priority. In a survey of 300 new hires at a variety of American companies across a variety of industries, I found that the more people experience something fundamentally new in their first weeks at a new job (learning new skills, interacting with new co-workers, performing challenging tasks), the more enthusiastic they become. they will work in the future and the longer they will remain in the company. In contrast, employees who said they did roughly the same thing every day were less satisfied with their jobs and wanted to quit.

Bottura is a charismatic leader who began his career as a chef by breaking the strictest rules of traditional Italian cuisine: long pastas are served with seafood sauces, short pastas with meat sauces, and time-honored recipes cannot be questioned or changed. Bottura reinvented traditional Italian dishes and brought success to the company. And this is not his only merit. Over the years, he manages to maintain a rebellious spirit in his restaurant. He forces subordinates to look at dishes and ingredients from a different angle, and they are all open to new things and constantly improve their skills. The menu is constantly changing, and the chefs are developing as professionals.

When development is the overall goal, there is no place for arrogance in the organization, and fresh ideas are born again and again.

About the author. Francesca Gino is a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School and author of Rebel Talent: Why It Pays To Break The Rules At Work And In Life and Sidetracked: Why Our Decisions Get Derailed, and How We Can Stick to the Plan.