Understanding Creativity

by Jane Piirto

This reader-friendly book is used as a college textbook for courses in creativity. However, it is also interesting just as a nonfiction book with its sections on creativity, information about well-known creative individuals, and the different domains within creativity-artists, writers, musicians, scientists, mathematician, comedians, and more. Learn how the definition of creativity has changed through the years, and view the author's own depiction of creativity, called the "Piirto Pyramid of Creativity." Read about how Bill Gates embodied the classic traits of an underachieving gifted boy, how Van Gogh's artwork was brushed off by art galleries of his time, and how jazz extraordinaire Ella Fitzgerald was denied a job with a Harlem band because she didn't have the looks. The real-life examples described in this book will help parents and teachers learn to spot talent through children's behaviors and know how to encourage them so that their creativity can shine.

Genres: Nonfiction, Research

544 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Katrina Sark · Rating 3 out of 5]

p.6 – The root of the words, “create” and “creativity” comes from the Latin creâtus and creâre, meaning “to make or produce,” or literally “to grow.”
“Creativity” is a relatively new noun that first appeared in dictionaries since 1964 and in journals of psychology since the 1950s.

p.33 – Can a person be creative without a product? – Logic suggests that without judging the creativeness of the product, we cannot conclude that a person is creative. But that is essentially what we do when we talk about creativity or creative potential as a type of giftedness. We often identify children with what is called creative potential without any reference to the products they have produced or will produce. However, if the creative product is a person’s life, then no concrete thing is necessary – a composition, a poem, a pot, or a theorem.

p.38-39 – Summary: Creativity has come to be considered either a form of giftedness or to be synonymous with giftedness, or to be a form of genius.
Developing a talent requires both generic and environmental factors, certain attributes of personality, enough intelligence to function in the domain, and the will to persist.
Everyone is creative. Those who are more creative have learned to be so.

p.45 – Flow was coined in 1990 by psychologist Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi. It occurs “when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” Nine elements make up flow:

1. There are clear goals every step of the way
2. There is immediate feedback to one’s actions
3. There is balance between challenges and skills
4. Actions and awareness are merged
5. Distractions are excluded from consciousness
6. There is no worry of failure
7. Self-consciousness disappears
8. The sense of time becomes distorted
9. The activity becomes an end in itself

p.46 – 4 Core Attitudes in the Creative Process:
• Openness, acceptance, curiosity and attention to details
• Self-discipline that leads to great productivity
• Risk-taking enables one to try new things
• Group trust in collaborative activities (like dance)

p.49 – The Seven I’s:
• Inspiration (literally it is “taking in of breath,” OED: breathing or infusion into the mind or soul of an exaltation) In terms of creativity, inspiration provides the motivation to create.
• Imagery is the ability to mentally represent imagined or previously perceived objects
• Imagination is a mental faculty whereby one can create concepts or representations of objects not immediately present or seen
• Intuition is having a hunch or gut feeling
• Insight is the ability to see and understand clearly the inner nature of things, especially by intuition
• Incubation is the mind and body at rest and the solution is sifting down
• Improvisation is playfulness

p.67 – Other Aspects of the Creative Process
• Need for solitude
• Creative rituals (repetitive practice)
• Meditation
• Creativity as the process of a life

p.100 – Setting a creative tone and valuing creative expression are both essential in enhancing creativity.

Creating a feeling of escape, of adventure, of play and fun are important in enhancing creativity.

Creative expression comes from the need to express emotion and from an inner drive.

p.101 – How to Enhance Creativity in Children
• Provide a private place for creative work to be done
• Provide material (musical instruments, sketchbooks, fabric, paper, clay)
• Encourage and display the child’s creative work but avoid overly evaluating it
• Do your own creative work, and let the child see you doing it
• Set a creative tone
• Value the creative work of others
• Incorporate creative values into your family
• Avoid reinforcing gender-role stereotypes
• Provide private lessons and special classes
• Use hardship to teach the child expression through metaphor
• Discipline and practice are important
• Allow the child to be odd, avoid emphasizing socialization at the expense of creative expression
• Use humour

[Peaches · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the first half of the book really useful in Piirto's passion for creativity, connection of creativity and emotions, and the 7 I's. I'll definitely refer to it in my research despite it being a dated text. The second half with creative inventors, etc. seemed more dated and was less useful for me since I do creative work with students.

[Michelle Smart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had some good information, but there was some bad logic and pompous language that turned new off.