Creativity: A Very Short Introduction by Vlad Glăveanu

Author:Vlad Glăveanu [Glăveanu, Vlad]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780198842996
Google: IRUuEAAAQBAJ
Amazon: 0198842996
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2021-05-26T23:00:00+00:00

Social processes of creativity

All the processes mentioned above are highly individual in nature. Even when our thoughts and emotions are conceived as coming out of interactions with the environment, these interactions are placed in the background rather than at the centre of creativity. One particular process that is crucially important for creative expression, though, is represented by exchanging ideas with other people. It is not only the case that we often create in collaboration with others, for instance when we work in teams, but we need their knowledge and skills most of the time to turn initial ideas into concrete outcomes. In the end, creative achievement comes out of division of labour within society in which different groups of people contribute to different parts of a broader, collective creative process.

Moreover, the social dimension of creativity is at play even when creating in solitude. This might be a harder notion to grasp but think, for example, about how the views of other people influence us beyond our immediate encounters with them. We all ‘carry’ with us the perspectives of family, friends, mentors, and even critics and competitors. How these come to shape creative work, done alone or with others, is of concern for us in this section.

Let’s first have a closer look at how people create together. Groupwork should normally benefit creative production as different people will most certainly have different types of knowledge, skills, and perspectives on a given problem or situation. In this regard, one would expect that the more heterogeneous the group, the higher the likelihood of reaching a creative outcome. And yet, this is not guaranteed. As we all know from our own experiences of groupwork, sometimes things go smoothly and sometimes there is tension, even conflict between group members.

In other words, beside the psychological dynamic of each person, we need to take into account the social dimension of the relations between them. When harmonious, these relations can generate a feeling of flow conducive for creativity. But they might also lead to groupthink or the tendency to agree with each other and enforce a common, group identity. Tension can be positive or negative. Disagreement is actually one of the main engines of creativity given that it forces group members to consider the perspectives of others and see their own perspective through their eyes. And yet, when it turns into conflict, this openness towards the other is compromised.

Alex Osborn created brainstorming in the 1950s based on the assumption that receiving criticism from others, even when it is well intentioned, is counterproductive. It makes people get into an evaluative mode rather than a generative one. Or, according to the BVSR model, it reduces the chances of highly original, blind variations of ideas by focusing us too much on selective retention. In order to remove the pressure of evaluation, Osborn imposed a ‘no criticisms’ rule in brainstorming based on the assumption that ‘quantity will lead to quality’. In essence, the more ideas people produce together, the higher the chances that at least some of them will be valuable (when evaluated at a later stage).

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.