Description of creativity's study

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Contents

Ideas or Potential Areas of Study

Some places we might want to start:

  • Creativity from the military (weapons)
  • Creativity within religion
  • Creativity with gaming
  • Creativity with artificial intelligence
  • Creativity within business
  • Creativity in music and visual arts
  • Creativity with modern college students
  • Creativity with language
  • Creativity in association to psychoticism (J. Philippe Rushton)
  1. Schizophrena
  2. Bipolar disorder
  3. Drug use
  • Types of Creativity

Creativity in Business

What is business creativity?

  • It is generating new ideas and products, while simultaneously solving problems. By examining the inner-workings of a company, the productivity and efficiency can work from the inside out. It also challenges copetitors with customer service. In the corporate world, business creativity is an essential feature that keeps many companies sustained.

Today, companies spend more and more to invent new and better products or ways of doing business. In the article below, Cisco Systems sponsored a study with 635 businesses and IT decision makers. They ranked innovation as more important than: education, lower wages, or even reductions in corporate taxes! Cisco Systems Study The importance of reaching maximum efficiency has changed to finding the most innovative ways to manage a company, the most inventive products and the most creative ways to market those products. Because much of the playing ground for companies has leveled out in terms of who has access to knowledge and who does not, technology simply is not enough to separate the “good” from the “great” companies. Currently, businesses are looking to innovative strategies not only within the company (such as with the management and procedures), but are also thinking of more creative products and means of advertising for those products. Because much of the playing field has been leveled out in regards to the access of knowledge, creativity has become the essential drive for successful business.

Creativity and innovation are currently seen as the most important aspects of a business, and a whole new industry of creativity consultants has risen out of the high demand for companies to actively compete in the market. However, this industry of consultants who help companies manage their business seems ironic or even counter-intuitive since creativity is often seen as only limited to things such as visual arts, music, theater, and the like.

Creativity consulting has been a booming industry recently. There are companies that will help struggling businesses who need to become more "innovative". Access these are not limited however. Many of these companies are accessible online. An example is Innovation Tools. They identify that "a growing number of business leaders and entrepreneurs are recognizing that innovation must be embedded into the very DNA of a company's operations and culture, a part of normal, day-to-day operations." Under their "Resource Center", there are various links that companies can use to gain better ideas in brainstorming, past innovation research, innovation and idea management, mind mapping, and problem solving. Under the link "Enterprise Innovation", Dr. Robert Karlsberg & Dr. Jane Adler describe seven steps to sustaining innovation:

  1. Establish A clear sense of direction
  2. Open communication
  3. Reduce bureaucracy
  4. Instill a sense of ownership
  5. Make sure recognition and rewards are consistent
  6. A tolerance for risk and failure
  7. Eliminate projects and processes that don’t work

Although we seem to have just entered this new Creative Economy, it appears as if companies will continue to look for more innovative ways to manage their businesses, while coming up with constantly more creative products. Companies such as Apple and McDonald's will continue to strive in constantly being a step ahead of their counterparts, and based on their performance thus far, they will do so successfully. The creativity consulting industry will also continue to grow, as creativity is continuously becoming more and more valued in the corporate world. Although creativity is in its prime, it is similar to knowledge. Once creativity is pushed to the threshold where it is accessible to everyone, something new will dominate what businesses value. Who knows what that be.

For more specific information on this topic, see A Knowledge Economy to a Creativity Economy.

Taylor Whitmer 23:18, 17 May 2006 (PDT)

Doblin Inc.

Doblin was founded in 1981 in Chicago, IL. It is a creative or innovative strategy firm that aids other companies in becoming more creative. It is a more specific example from the description above. They have worked with McDonald's, Hallmark,Xerox, Alamo Rent a Car, Lenscrafters, and Xerox. These are only a few of the many companies they have worked with. Doblin has been very successful because the company has the agility to work with companies in any type of industry.


The Doblin Inc. logo


Doblin has utilized the same strategies over the past twenty-five years, and that is why they have seen success and reward in their particular type of business. They first analyze the company that needs help. By discovering the company's DNA, Doblin Inc. can determine the the innovative capability of the company, and this is known as the "innovation diagnostic". Moreover, the use of innovation landscapes are particularly helpful in the analysis of the company, as well as the specific industry as a whole. Doblin can see what the company's competitors are doing, and then they can find the most innovative ways to change things both within the company as well as the company's products, in order for the company to become more competitive.

Doblin's Innovation Discipline Model is a visual description of what they do:


Their work has led to a boom in the creativity industry. Many similar types of busniesses such as Landor Associates and others perform the same work. There has even been an extension in this industry on the internet. Now, almost anyone can access "innovative" ideas for their company.


For more specific information about Doblin, see Fortune Smiles on the Disciplined Innovator.

Taylor Whitmer 11:04, 11 June 2006 (PDT)

Psychology about Creativity

Creativity as defined through Psychology:

Creativity can be defined as a particular type of thinking which involves originality. It is viewed as a thought process which brings about a new, original idea. Creativity can be associated to problem solving; it is necessary in problems which may hold a variety of solutions. Additionally, creativity can be seen in the process of creating. Creativity is central to the process of creating through the recognition of a "held vision". This is to say that the process of creativity implies a sense of a realization of something that is already known. Creativity is emphasized as the reasoning behind this realization. Moreover, creativity is evidently a daily occurance.
  • Mental illnesses provide much information in regards to the association between creativity and psychology: Research has gone into the following mental illnesses in hope of associating them to creativity: epilespy, ADD/ADHD, austism, bipolar disorder, and dementia.
    • Bipolar disorder: Bipolar disorder and creativity are associated through the idea that their may be a genetic link between this particular mental disorder and creativity. However, since there is no exact link, researchers believe that there must be another factor which links creativity and the disorder.
    • ADD/ADHD: Although it is difficult to understand the relationship between ADD/ADHD and creativity, since both are extremely complicated and not all is known about either, there are possibilities that have been looked over:
      1. There is no relationship. However, this is unlikely.
      2. both creativity and ADD/ADHD are one in the same. This is to say that creativity and ADD/ADHD as a combined force would characterize those with ADD/ADHD as one side of the spectrum and inventive individuals as the other side. This is additionally highly unlikely since there are many cases in which creative people do not have ADD/ADHD and those with ADD/ADHD who are not creative.
      3. There is an overlap between the two entities. Although this idea is widely agreed upon, the way in which and where the overlap occurs is controversial. There is evidence that both could have psychological, temperament, and/or cognitive bases.
    • Epilepsy: There is another possible relationship between creativity and epilepsy, other than the mere association between affected disorders and epilepsy; Norman Geschwind found that patients who suffered from complex partial seizures, all seemed to write extensive notes and expressed emotions on a deeper level than those without the seizures. These reactions to epilepsy may describe how a patient may become more creative. Although this reaction is seen within many patients, the reasoning for such circumstances is currently unknown.
    • Dementia: The explanation for the continued artistic skills is that the dementia’s location on the brain may have a particular effect. Although dementia's effect on the brain describes the maintenance of painting and other visual spatial artistic abilities, it does not explain why dementia seems to enhance these same abilities.
    • Autism: The "idiot savants" (a type of autistic individual) have a controversial relationship with creativity. Some believe that because these "idiot savants" are not creative since their specialty resides in one specific are, making their talent mechanical rather. Others believe that these individuals are creative since they have special abilities and can seemingly reorganize limited information.


For more specific information on this topic, see Relationship Between Mental Disorders and Creativity: Research Report

Brooke Birrenkott 19:13, 27 April 2006 (Pacific Daylight Time)

Creativity and Weaponry

The most current type of weaponry is that of the autonomous weapon. This weapon and the history of weapons that have led up to it, demonstrate the necessity of creativity within the battlefield. The development of weapons is essential because of competition and the “relentless escalation of computer competence.” When one side of the battle develops antiaircraft missiles, for example, the other side must formulate an attempt to destroy these missiles. Therefore, in response, they develop antimissile missiles. Then, the other side will have to react to the latter missiles. This succession exemplifies a seemingly endless process of out-doing the other side through the use of new developments. These endless attempts can be described as a “never-ending upward spiral.” The exponential increase in the use of automated weaponry places intelligence and training for war on a higher level; in order to win, one must not only have self-aiming guns and self-flying bombs, but one also must be armed with intelligent sensors and weapons and also must be skilled for the difficult weapons.

The idea of an autonomous system involves a machine that can make executive decisions. These systems are self-directing and self-controlling. In turn, they must have the ability to perceive, think and accomplish particular actions. An example of the autonomous system is seen within a factory; when a robot arm of the factory finds a deformed product within the assembly line, the arm must follow a few steps which seem to mimic cognitive thought. Primarily, the robot arm must have the ability to detect the product, then realize that the object is defective, continue by formulating a way to dispense of the defective object, and finally must accomplish the plan. It is pertinent that the robot has some sort of vision, a means of detecting particular shapes, and a predetermined way to dispose of deformed items in order to perform the latter task autonomously.

Examples:



For more specific information on this topic, see Autonomous Weaponry

Brooke Birrenkott 22:23, 8 June 2006 (PDT)

Creative Shifts to Involve the Audience

Long story short, the 20th Century has been witness to a change in the way artists make art, regardless of the medium. Visual arts broke out of only having a place in the gallery setting. The literary theory of New Criticism was a markedly different sort of idea than the world of books had yet seen,
where the reader became as important as the writer in deriving meaning. This trend continues into the present and the future as artificially intelligent programs and machines create art free from having artistic meaning attached to its very creation. This leaves 100% of the creativity and interpretation of the art in the mind of the viewer, indicative of an exciting and promising future for all artforms.

See Also



Daley Tocher 00:14, 12 June 2006 (PDT)

New Creative Paradigm Dominates the Net

Web 2.0 is a term used to describe the new direction internet design has taken to include more people in content creation. It was first used by Tim O'Reilly in late 2004 as the name of a conference he was hosting to discuss the new direction the web was moving in. The conference mostly discussed the idea by providing examples of Web 1.0 services and their Web 2.0 counterparts and what about them was different. A prime example is Britannica Online vs. Wikipedia.

To some, Web 2.0 is just a buzzword. To others, a way of life and business. Regardless of how one feels about the term itself, it is now necessary to understand, witness, and participate in a paradigm shift that the World Wide Web is undergoing. As form and content are being separated, more and more individual minds are being invited to take part in internet usage. This new era of the internet arranges applications to be designed and organized by a very technologically savvy few. The average user is freed from the shackles of learning the tech aspects of web design which allows many more authorial voices to take part in the content creation. A truly egalitarian online society may be the result.

See Also

Daley Tocher 00:14, 12 June 2006 (PDT)

Hyperconsciousness: Creative Mode: Research Report

Consciousness is defined as being “an alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and
your situation.” Sentient cognition remains largely restricted to the immediate “reality” of an experienced/observed environment. In Consciousness and Creativity, Sumita Roy notes that: “Creativity…begins with the insistent urge to organize and channel, coordinate and control nature to become tractable to the different levels of consciousness” (58). Creativity, as Roy suggests, requires a departure from conventional notions of consciousness. Creative cognition recognizes and explores the possibilities of hyperconsciousness as an appropriate catalyst for creation. Roy continues: “The study of the creative mind yields rich dividends because the creative manifestation of consciousness is a much higher and more comprehensive level than the ordinary state of consciousness” (VI). Creative manifestation, as an expression beyond normal consciousness, shares an affinity with hyperconsciousness and cognitive manipulations/alterations.


To read a more in-depth analysis on this subject, see Hyperconsciousness: Creative Mode: Research Report.

Creativity: A New Social Class

In The Rise of the Creative Class, Richard Florida notes: “The economic need for creativity has registered itself in the rise of a new class…the Creative Class. Some 38 million Americans, 30 percent of all employed people belong to this new class” (8). Notably, Florida associates the “creative” advent with monetary incentive rather than the workings of an artist’s creative cognition. “I define the core of the Creative Class to include people in science and
engineering, architecture and design, education, arts, music and entertainment, whose economic function is to create new ideas, new technology and/or new creative content” (8). Florida’s definition of the new, emerging social class implicitly reduces the individualism of intellectual property and, for economic purposes, objectifies creativeness for the betterment of an elite, intellectual society.

To read a more in-depth analysis on this subject, see Creativity: A New Social Class.


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