"Creativity: Tools Not Light Bulbs" - A Workshop with Warren Woytuck

By tschogibussi (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

I participated in the excellent “Creativity: Tools, not Light Bulbs” interactive session delivered by Warren Woytuck, the Executive Director of the Calgary Regional Consortium on January 16, 2014.  Warren is actively researching ways of enhancing creativity in the school and workplace.  Warren also hosts CRC sessions that address the Curriculum REDESIGN .  See http://www.crcpd.ab.ca/index.php/site/register/2786 to register for the February 7th session.

The Competencies for 21st Century Living are “the attitudes, skills, and knowledge that contribute to students becoming engaged thinkers and ethical citizens with an entrepreneurial spirit.”   Creativity is a key aspect of being an engaged thinker.  Creativity is also a key aspect of the entrepreneurial spirit--after all, the phrase “creates value” is often used in an entrepreneurial context.  There’s also an ethical dimension to “value.”  (Though when I hear of the much-lauded “entrepreneurial spirit,” Jacob Marley comes to mind.  "Humanity was my business.")

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The following are a few of the many questions explored in the “Creativity: Tools, not Light Bulbs” session.

What is creativity and creative thinking? 

Warren specifically pointed out that creativity is a key competency in the Curriculum REDESIGN.  I mentioned that it is widely recognized that structured response items (multiple-choice and numerical-response items) cannot evaluate creativity, but this topic was beyond the scope of this particular session.

The word ‘creative,’ according to Warren, is often used almost synonymously with ‘productive’ in business and industry.  Creativity is so much more than mere productivity.  

Keith Sawyer (see http://keithsawyer.wordpress.com/about/) was quoted:  “ ‘Creative,’ ‘Creation,’ and ‘Creativity’ are some of the most overused and ultimately debased words… stripped of any special significance… the word ‘creative’ has become almost unusable.”

However, Warren provided a useful working definition of creativity:  “Creativity is combining ideas to develop something that has purpose or value.”  Perhaps this definition can help rescue this word from insipidity.

My thoughts:

Even cows, automatons, and oil fields can be productive, but surely these are not creative.  Creativity has something still of the human spirit.

Perhaps the word “create” can restore its noble state if it divorces its base husband, “produce.”  Perhaps this could be done by inspecting their etymologies.  A word’s etymology sometimes betrays its unconscious, unadorned motivation.  

Here is the etymology of  CREATE according to Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged dictionary:

CREATE
Etymology: from Latin creatus, past participle of creare to create ‒ more at CRESCENT

CRESCENT
Etymology: Middle English cressant, cressent,
Etymology: from Middle French creissant,croissant crescent, time between the new and fullmoon, from present participle of creistre, croistre to increase, grow,from Latin crescere; akin to Old English hersewæstm millet grain, Old Saxon hirsi millet, Old High German hirsi, hirso millet, Latin creare to create, produce, beget, bring forth, Greek koros boy, puppet, korē girl, virgin, pupil of the eye, Lithuanian šerti to feed, Albanian thjer acorn; basic meaning: growing, feeding

PRODUCE has the following etymology:

PRODUCE
Etymology: Middle English(Scots dialect) producen,
Etymology: from Latin producere, from pro- forward + ducere to lead ‒more at PRO-, TOW

TOW
Etymology: from Old English togian; akin to Old High German zogōn to tow, Old Norse toga; akin to Old English tēon to draw, pull,Old High German ziohan,Gothic tiuhan to draw, pull, Latin ducere to lead, draw, Greek daidussesthai to drag, Albanian nduk to pull out, pluck

"Creative" seems to have a nobler provenance than "produce."

Consider also that the words Il Duce and Duke are derived from Latin ducere.  Surprisingly, “educate” is also derived from ducere.

What’s the relationship between creative and critical thinking? 

There is a symbiotic relationship between creative and critical thinking, says Warren.  Creative constraint theory says that constraints can actually drive creativity.  Warren demonstrated this principle by having us gather into groups of three and design a prototype of a flood-mitigation device using only two paper plates, a paper cup, some ribbon, tape, straws, and a few other items.  Many of the prototypes were quite ingenious, considering the limitations.  

How can creativity be taught? 

Creativity is not, Warren asserts, a sudden revelation or light bulb moment.  Much thinking and research are required.  Reflection is essential.  Creativity is not limited to the arts, and is not a single skill.  Creativity is not a muscle that can be strengthened and is not just right-brained.  Creative intelligence is about tools, not light bulbs.  It’s something we do, not something that happens to us.

My thoughts:

Creations do not spring as Athena from the head of Zeus, fully grown and fully armoured.  The process of creating is a hard, focussed work--though leisure and play can also manure the process.  Nevertheless, I like the drama of the classical image because breakthroughs often feel magical and unexpected.

How can I create learning opportunities that encourage more creative thinking and creativity?

The SCAMPER method can be used to aid in the generation of new ideas:

S = substitute

C = combine

A = adapt

M = magnify or modify

P = put to other uses

E = eliminate

R = rearrange or reverse

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Warren also mentioned that introverts, as well as extroverts, can be creative.  Steve Jobs was a highly creative introvert.  I agree that it is not only the loud and the proud who create, although our culture sometimes seems to value braggadocio in all things.

Warren provided more insights and techniques than can be listed in this blog.  If you ever have the opportunity to attend one of his sessions, I highly recommend them.

Regards,

Michael

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