The Four Ps of Creativity

The study of Creativity is broken down into a framework that consists of 4 Ps. Person, Process, Product & Press.

In studying Creative People we attempt to identify the traits of these individuals. We try to assess different styles of creativity (adaptive vs. innovative (Kirton)). We also try and understand different learning styles of people, because we believe everyone is creative. Applications for this type of learning can be used in Team Building or fostering creativity in an individual or an organization.

There are many Creative Processes. Perhaps, the most intuative and natural is CPS or Creative Problem Solving. There are many other processes as well, however I believe the common element amongst all of them is the seperation of generating ideas and judging them. Most of us simultaneously ideate and evaluate, which can hinder creativity. Infact, most people believe that creativity comes through an "AHA moment" when the perfect idea presents itself, as opposed to creativity being the outcome of a very deliberate process. In fact, companies like IDEO use these processes to consistently and deliberatly innovate.

Creative Products are probably the least studied in the field of Creativity. They are generally looked at as the artifacts of the creative process, however more work is being performed on analyzing what makes a product creative. Consesus at the moment dictates that it has to be both novel and useful. Applications of understanding creative products can include new product development and also the development of new processes.

Press, from the Latin, refers to the Psychological Climate. Ekvall has performed extensive study in this area and has identified 10 Dimensions of Creative Climate. The 9 dimensions that support creativity are Challenge, Freedom, Idea Support, Trust / Openess, Dynamism / Liveliness, Playfulness / Humor, Debate, Risk-Taking, & Idea Time. The dimension of Conflict can hinder creativity in an environment. An understanding of these dimensions can be applied at the office, at home, or in the class room to foster creativity.

By understanding this framework we can evaluate, recognize and change our situations to have more deliberate innovation and actually feel happier and more fulfilled in life. It is my belief that being creative is our natural state and a quick look at history and human progress demonstrates this point quite well. Often times we feel unhappy and stressed when we are not being creative, see no progress and our options are limited. Understanding how to return to our natural state may be part of the key to our happiness.

from a distance...

We usually think of distance in terms of physical space, but it can often be length of time or even emotional separation. We have all experienced moments of clarity when we manage to get an objective perspective of our situation, but all too often we get caught up, or too involved in our own situation to see the whole picture, identify all the opportunities and make the best decisions. So what's stopping us?



Judgment. All too often, we are judging ourselves, judging others, judging the situation. We blame ourselves for being sad and thus pile anger on top of the sadness to make the situation worse, or we think someone is a little strange and thus lose out on making a great friend. This judgment is catastrophic for creativity and change. After all, our judgments are based on what we already know, creativity and change (by definition) are both outside of the realm of what we already know.



So, in order to create a climate which fosters creativity, be it for ourselves or for an organisation, we must learn the first rule of creativity, "defer judgment," at least for a while. Eventually, we will need to make a decision and good judgment will be crucial, but we will have given ourselves the distance to maybe learn something new about ourselves, our organization or the world.



When has judgement cost you an opportunity or made life harder?

When have you been able to succesfully defer judgment? What was the result?

Have you ever noticed someone else too involved in their own situation to see the big picture?

Relevancy of this Blog

The purpose of this blog is to share thoughts on the topic of creativity in relation to innovation and change leadership; both on a personal level and within organizations. Please participate by sending me questions, starting discussions and sharing your thoughts. As always, I look forward to learning with you.