Customer Reviews

Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention

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"Creativity" provided an outstanding analysis of how Creativity occurs, and how creative individuals have influenced their respective fields and domains of knowledge and arts through the analysis of over ninety creative individuals of note. This book provides an outline of the process that is useful to any person who is attempting to enhance organizational or personal creativity, and details the components of Creativity (which can influence the overall culture) and creativity (for an individual.) I read my copy twice, and found certain topics so useful, I violated my own rule of never marking in a book. This book is now heavily annotated and underlined, and has been shared with friends. Following is a very brief summary.

The components of creativity include domains, fields, and persons. A domain is defined as, "a set of symbolic rules and procedures," such as mathematics. A field "includes all the individuals who act as gatekeepers to the domain." This can be summarized as, "Creativity occurs when a person, using the symbols of a given domain such as music, engineering, business, or mathematics, has a new idea or sees a new pattern, and when this novelty is selected by the appropriate field for inclusion into the relevant domain."

The book presents an analysis of the impact of creativity by taking a systems approach with the following major components: Creative individuals, through understanding of their field, hard work, and inspiration can produce novel work. This work may or may not impact the overall field and domain, depending upon a variety of interrelated factors. For instance, a talented but relatively unknown painter in a rural area may have less chance of recognition by the field than the same painter living in Manhattan, in proximity to galleries and noted critics. Recognition and acceptance by the field is necessary for contribution to the field and domain. (such as physics, or art).

The book has an excellent, though smaller, section on enhancing personal creativity. To those who seek to be more creative, a series of suggestions on how to implement these suggestions into everyday life is presented, with the note; "Even though personal creativity may not lead to fame and fortune, it can do something that from the individual's point of view is even more important: make day-to-day experiences more vivid, more enjoyable, more rewarding. When we live creatively, boredom is banished and every moment holds the promise of a fresh discovery."

The exercise of these elements of personal creativity can be delightful. Some of them are:

"Try to surprise at least one person every day."

"Try to be surprised by something every day."

"When something strikes a spark of interest, follow it."

"If you do anything well, it becomes enjoyable."

For the rest, you will just have to buy the book.

Few activities are a misunderstood by the general public as inventing and creativity. Sadly, Hollywood and television often portray the great inventor, scientist or musician as some sort of "mad genius". This book seeks to put the study of creativity on a rational basis.

For the purposes of this book, creativity is defined as "... to bring into existence something genuinely new that is valued enough to be added to the culture". Ninety-one noted contemporary people have been systematically interviewed. While only two -- Jacob Rabinow and Frank Offner -- are full-blown inventors, their creative processes have a fascinating similarity to the composers, architects, astronomers, biologists and others interviewed.

The book does not just quote the people interviewed, but cites their views regarding various facets of the creativity process.

Jacob Rabinow (200 patents in diverse areas) believes most original thinkers share three common traits -- 1) their curiosity, from early childhood, results in acquiring a great deal of information, 2) they enjoy thinking up and combining ideas, and 3) they recognize their "good" ideas and don't hesitate to discard "junk" ideas.

Frank Offner (first electronic controls for jet engines and developer of the only successful heat-homing missiles in World War II) notes that while a "solid grounding in physical sciences" is an asset, knowledge from other fields may trigger a creative person's mind to override what is assumed to be true in one field. He also feels the love or joy of solving problems is a key to finding solutions. This fun aspect is so strong that Rabinow is quoted as saying that, given a choice between money-making and fun, he would go for the fun.

Creative people are sometimes thought to be arrogant. However, this often stems from the need for self-assurance or, simply, overriding modesty. As Rabinow notes, "... I always assume that not only it can be done, but I can do it".

Robert Galvin (head of Motorola for 30 years) is reported as saying two traits are essential: 1) anticipation, i.e., having a vision of the future, and 2) commitment, which keeps you going when you or others have doubts. He also practices a mental exercise worth considering -- flip the problem by asking, "What if the opposite were true?".

Freeman Dyson, the physicist, observes, "... it is easy when you have a problem to work on. The hardest part is finding your problem".

The book cites how being in the right place at the right time contributes to being recognized. In Florence, Italy, between 1401 and 1425, an explosion of creativity took place. For example, for eighty years the cathedral of Florence lacked a dome, and yet the Pantheon of Rome had a dome (142 feet in diameter!) for a thousand years. Suddenly, Brunelleschi, who had analyzed the structure of the Pantheon, applied it to the problem at hand. The social, economic and political factors that made Florence the "right place at the right time" are detailed in the book.

Are we, today, providing incentives for creativity to flourish? One aspect of this is what we can do as a society. The author notes children who suffer from hunger or discrimination are less likely to be curious or interested in novelty. Another aspect is what as individuals can we do to promote our own creativity. The author offers various ways to cultivate creativity. For example, preserve the awe of childhood, "be surprised by something every day". Write down some of your observations and follow-up with some research. Don't think certain things are not your business -- life is your business.

While the author is a professor and former chairman of the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago, the book is free from pompous phraseology and is readable by just about anyone who is interested in understanding creativity. If you want to dispel myths, such as "creative people are hyperactive", "have very high IQs" and "lack humor", then read this book and find out the real facts about creative people. A big book -- 456 pages -- but a delightful book. Read it and donate it to your local library -- the truth is there, so get it out there.

AN INTERESTING, IMPORTANT SUBJECT
When you think about it, creativity is a key driver for personal fulfillment and world events- yet most people's understanding consists merely of stereotypes, assumptions, and clichés. There is a lot to know about creativity: what it is (and how it differs from talent and brilliance), conditions that encourage its emergence, creative people's complex personality traits, and what a creative experience looks and feels like. I would not rate `Creativity' as high as Csikszentmihalyi's `Flow'- which is an even more important concept to understand- yet it is certainly an informative, well-written, and recommended book.

BOOK IN A NUTSHELL
Research in psychology has traditionally learned about healthy individuals by focusing on pathological cases; this study examines the other end of the continuum- looking at extraordinary people to find out what might be missing from our lives. Trends in the personal histories and habits are taken from interviews with 91 leading contributors (Noble Prize winners, world renown artists, etc.) who have created or dominated their fields. Mainstream creative people (e.g. most creative person in an office or community) and uncreative people are not really discussed in the book- although the insights gained from the interviews may be applicable. Part 3 was not as strong as the rest of the book: the in-depth illustrations of the creative process were somewhat redundant, and some sections (Ch. 12 & 13) seemed to drift into assumptions of political philosophies.

An absolutely incredible book! Mr. Mihaly has compiled an amazing work on creativity, profiles of creative people, how creativity comes about (or doesn't) in certain people or domains, as well as common characteristics of successful creative people.

As the saying goes, if a tree falls in the woods, and nobody is around to hear it, does it really make a noise? If a person is brilliantly smart or creative but they do not make the right connections, or the opportunities are not there in a particular domain for contributions to be made, does it really matter? Will the person achieve anywhere near their potential? Probably not.

This book is no road map to achieve success or fulfillment in ones life or career. It does however illustrate many factors (that if in place) may help immensely in reaching ones goals. When embarking on, or pursuing a new career this is a must read for insight as to what environmental factors may facilitate success and achievement in a chosen creative pursuit.

Found this book very useful and ordering another copy for my daughter who is in architecture. As for me, I am a computer science professor. The good thing about the coverage is its realism where the individual creativity is not the whole story. The social context in terms of domain and field is espccially important since it is not always up to the individual to be recognized as "creative." in a certain field. The social context as the ultimate arbiter of who is creative and who is not is an important one especially in our promo peer-review survey-count oriented times..

A few caveats to those who are generally interested in creativity studies: Csikszentmihalyi's analysis and discussion of creativity does not directly relate to those who are personally creative. People who enjoy engaging in creative activities are not demoted, in his terms, but are simply not a part of the study. It is unfortunate that his language makes it seem this way; he distinguishes between the two by saying that Creativity has the power to shape a domain or the world, while creativity applies to those who enjoy coming up with new recipes, who are engaged in research that may not change a domain, but may "tweak" it, etc.

What he is trying to discover are the underlying principles and traits of creativity in those whose work has made a significant change. Think Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mark Strand: people who are either widely known for their influence, or who have been influential within their area or domain.

This book provides an interesting view into the minds and work habits of Creative individuals, and concludes by offering general advice to those who wish to make their own lives and work more creative. It is a useful book, but one which requires a great deal of supplemental reading, in order to truly engage in creativity studies.

Like all C's work, this book is stimulating and easy to read, in parts inspiring, in parts depressing. C says that no one can be Creative with a capital C, unless he masters all that went before him in his field. Accordingly, children, no matter how original, cannot, by definition be creative. A paradoxical and, I guess, creative observation.. C is especially intriguing when he discusses creativity as the result of interaction between the individual, the field, and the domain. Creativity is not a private enterprise but occurs only when an individual, who has mastered his subject matter is acknowleged by the gatekeepers of his field of endeavor or if, like Freud or the Wright brothers, creates his own field. The social aspect of creativity is nowhere better discussed. Unfortunately, C articulates no clear thesis, and with the exception of long quotes from notably creative people, the last third of his book degenerates into platitude and truism

The description posted here doesn't do the book justice - I own a copy and still made 8 pages of notes for myself. Typed pages! Dr. Csikszentmihalyi distills and highlights the creative moments in life and how to create more creative moments in your own. It is not dry reading - the interviews and comments from his pool of world-class 'creative' people was very enjoyable and I liked that portion the least! Here's one of my favorite quotes: 'Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives for several reasons.. First, most of the things that are interesting, important, and human are the results of creativity.

We share 98 percent of our genetic makeup with chimpanzees. What makes us different - our language, values, artistic expression, scientific understanding, and technology - is the result of individual ingenuity that was recognized, rewarded, and transmitted through learning. Without creativity, it would be difficult indeed to distinguish humans from apes.'

I consider myself one who is inclined towards creative solutions when dealing with life. I enjoy representing my reality through various mental images that others often consider absurd, odd, etc.; often those mental images lead to a creative solution to a problem. Up until now I thought that this process was simply "my style" of representing and dealing with the world around me. I knew that others had similar tendencies (With differing fields of specialty, interests, hobbies, etc.), but I never thought that such a seemingly chaotic process (Creative thinking) could be broken down into such easy to understand terms (With a minimal amount of psycho-babble). This book does just that.
As a result of reading this book (And I'm just about finished with the other book "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience"), I have learned more about how and why I think the way I do. It is a wonderful feeling.

If you're interested in any aspect of psychology then this is not only an informative book to read, but a fun one as well. As a psychology major, I enjoyed learning about how creative people live and work. Not only are the individual stories in the book interesting, but they also teach us ways of how to become more creative. The way Csikszentmihalyi describes the ways to enhance creativity makes us really believe we can do it. No, you don't need to come up with some incredibly brilliant invention. Just simply by waking up, setting a goal to achieve that day, enjoying your success, and increasing the complexity of the goal each day, you can develop the creative "flow" of everyday life.

In addition to helping people who lack creative qualities, Csikszentmihalyi also describes many ways to stay creative. For example, he suggests making time for reflection and relaxation. Also, he says to start doing more of what you love, and less of what you hate. These are just a few of the simple ways to help sustain your creative "flow" and again we feel confident that we can do these things. It's not brain science.

Even more importantly, Csikszentmihalyi does a great job of informing us about the so-called myths of creative people. These mostly deal with certain psychological traits that are given to the stereotypical creative person. We learn that creative people aren't as selfish, fanatical, crazy, and single-minded as we may assume. Psychologically, creative people tend to be very much a mixture of different levels of these stereotypes and the opposite of those stereotypes.

If I had to pick one downside of this book, it would be that there isn't a lot of detail on each creative person being interviewed by Csikszentmihalyi. For some of the people, we are given enough information to understand their creative story fairly well. However, for others it felt like not enough background information was given. A psychologist is interested in all perspectives of assessment: disease, dimension, behavior, and life-story. Thus, it would have been better to learn more about each person's life outside the creative world in order to see if creativity derives from psychological aspects of the person as a child or adolescent. Furthermore, the book could have contained more about the person's family, upbringing, hobbies, past achievements, IQ, etc. Again this is a bit of a personal preference and not necessarily a substantial flaw of the book.

This book "flowed", that's for sure. I enjoyed it!