ABSTRACT:
People tend to think of creativity as a trait -- a single attribute that people are born with or something that only very gifted people possess. This book challenges such notions, arguing that there are multiple kinds of creativity and that everyone can develop at least some of them. Central to the authors' argument is the idea that creative contributions "propel" a field forward in some way -- they are the result of creative leadership (sometimes unintended) on the part of their creators. This way of thinking led to the development of the "Propulsion Model" of creativity, a descriptive taxonomy of eight different kinds of creative contributions. These contributions vary in how creative they are, depending on the novelty and quality of the proposed ideas. They also vary in the reaction they provoke: those that are paradigm-preserving in nature will receive a more positive response than will those that are paradigm-defying. The most radical contributions are "redirections," which move a field forward from where it is in a new and different direction, and "reinitiations," which take a new starting point from which to move the field in a new direction. The Creativity Conundrum provides original and fascinating insights into the eight different kinds of creative contributions, how they relate to each other, and the reactions they produce. It is illustrated with applied examples from domains such as science, literature, the arts, government, business and sports. Anyone who reads this book will no longer think of creativity as a single, unidimensional "thing."
