How Creativity Works: The Dynamic Interplay of Novelty and Routine

By Michael C. Patterson

Creative expression is intimately tied to the human need for self-exploration and self-actualization. The creative impulse generates all that is good and glorious in human culture. It is the prime driver of economic growth and cultural development. The potential for future prosperity, happiness, justice and human fulfillment is dependent upon life affirming manifestations of human imagination. Our future depends on the creative and artistic aspects of the human mind.

Creativity is critical to us all. But, there’s a problem. Creativity is a mysterious entity. We don’t really understand how it works. What is creativity, anyway? Just what do we mean by creativity? Is it being artistic? Yes. But non-artists can be creative as well. Scientists are creative. Inventors are creative. Business people are creative. Cooks and carpenters are creative.
It is our firm belief that creativity is a thinking skill, like any other, that can be learned and improved. The goal of this book, and of the entire “Exploring Human Creativity” series of books, is to take a fresh look at creativity. We review much of the past and current research on creativity, but caution that much of the research misses the mark, defining creativity too narrowly. We argue that creative thinking requires the brain to generate new ideas and to reconcile them with stable habits and routines. Creativity is a dynamic interplay between stability and change. The better we understand how this dynamic works, the easier it will be to improve creative performance and productivity. Ultimately, our goal is to provide practical advice on how to improve creative thinking and productivity. Subsequent books in this series will focus on the various stages of the creative process and on creative talent, what it is and how to nurture it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael C. Patterson
• Release date: Oct 27, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301927258

Michael C. Patterson

Michael C. Patterson and Roger Anunsen are brain health strategists. They are co-founders of MINDRAMP CONSULTING which provides clients with dynamic educational programs, presentations, training workshops and consultation designed promote brain health and enhance mental development through creativity and the arts. Michael is an author, educator, writer, speaker and gerontologist specializing in brain health, creativity, the arts and longevity. Patterson is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University where he has taught courses on the prevention and treatment of dementia, and the creative arts and brain health. He is an executive board member for the National Center for Creative Aging and serves on numerous advisory boards including the Research Center for Arts & Culture. Patterson ran the award-winning Staying Sharp brain health program at AARP developed numerous projects for PBS and was a founding member, actor and director with the Bear Republic Theater. Roger Anunsen hosts the cable TV series “Your mindRAMP to Brain Health,” is the creator of MemAerobics©, Animal Congregations© Cards and Memory Mining© and teaches a college gerontology course in Portland, Oregon entitled: “The Mature Mind.” He was appointed as a voting delegate to the 2005 White House Conference on Aging, has designed brain wellness programs as a consultant for AARP and is a multiple-year presenter at the ASA-NCoA and McGinty Alzheimer’s Conferences. Anunsen’s educational methods were presented at the inaugural Global Conference on Aging at Oxford, UK.

Book preview

How Creativity Works

The Dynamic Interplay of Novelty and Routine

By Michael C. Patterson

With Roger Anunsen

Published by MINDRAMP CONSULTING at Smashwords

Copyright 2012 Michael C. Patterson

Smashword Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold or shared. Please purchase an individual copy for each reader of this book at Smashwords.com. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author and for helping us maintain the low cost of the ebooks.

Discover other titles from MINDRAMP at Smashwords.com

The Exploring Brain Health Series

Brain Health Basics: How Lifestyle Decisions Can Change our Brain

Healthy Habits for Brain Health: The Essential CogWheels

Creative Aging: The Power & Potential of the Mature Mind

Brain Health Made Simple: Your Do-It-Yourself Brain Health Plan

The Exploring Creativity Series

How Creativity Works: The dynamic Interplay of Novelty & Routine

Managing The Creative Process: Tools for Individuals and Organizations

Brains for Business: Enhancing Mental Capacity, Creativity and Innovation

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Introduction: What is Creativity, Anyway?

Chapter 2 - Defining Creativity

Chapter 3 – Balancing Novelty and Routine

Chapter 4 - Creativity is a Whole-Brain Activity

Chapter 5 - Betty Edwards: Thinking Like an Artist

Chapter 6 - Jill Bolte Taylor

End Notes

About the Authors

References

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Chapter 1 – Introduction: What Is Creativity Anyway?

Creativity is a hot topic, as well it should be.

Creative expression is intimately tied to the human need for self-exploration and self-actualization. The creative impulse generates all that is good and glorious in human culture. It is the prime driver of economic growth and cultural development. The potential for future prosperity, happiness, justice and human fulfillment is dependent upon life affirming manifestations of human imagination. Our future depends on the creative and artistic aspects of the human mind.

The urban development theorist Richard Florida suggests that we are now living in the creative age and that the creative class i –artists, inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs -- is the norm-setting class of our time, leading the world toward social and cultural progress as well as towards economic growth.

As Florida notes, Human creativity is the ultimate economic resource. The business world understands that the only way to remain competitive in a constantly expanding and changing global environment is to create nimble organizations that generate innovative products and services on a regular basis. As the fundamental source of creativity, says Florida, people are the critical resource of the new age.

The most valuable employees are those who can use their creative intelligence to drive innovation, creating services that solve our most pressing problems and providing outlets for the exploration of meaning, purpose and fulfillment. It has been said that a Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) is the new MBA, recognizing that training in the arts often does a better job of nurturing creative thinkers than do classes in accounting and systems management. ii

Preparing students for today’s environment requires not only filling young people’s heads with facts and figures, but also giving them the skills needed to think beyond the information given and to develop positive values. Tomorrow’s workforce must be able to imagine better worlds and figure out how to make them real. Our mature workers must be able to leverage their valuable years of experience and learning while embracing the need for constant change and adaptation.

Creativity is critical to us all. But, there’s a problem. Creativity is a mysterious entity. We don’t really understand how it works. What is creativity, anyway? Just what do we mean by creativity? Is it being artistic? Yes. But non-artists can be creative as well. Scientists are creative. Inventors are creative. Business people are creative. Cooks and carpenters are creative.

We believe that all human beings are creative. In fact, we believe that Homo sapiens have evolved to be