Purposeful Fulfillment of Creative Potential

Abstract

Creativity is a skill that many consider essential for success in school, career, and life (Florida, The rise of the creative class. Basic Books, New York, 2002; Florida, The flight of the creative class: the new global competition for talent. HarperBusiness, New York, 2005; Guilford, Am Psychol 5:444–454, 1950). For this reason, creativity has become an imperative. Companies want employees who can create the next popular app or who can shake up the industry with an innovative product, process, or idea. Teachers want creative students who can take knowledge that they are taught and apply it in new ways. And parents want creative teachers who can deliver ideas in interesting and engaging ways to their students. Although creativity can have a dark side (Cropley, The dark side of creativity: what is it? In: Cropley DH, Cropley AJ, Kaufman JC, Runco MA (eds) The dark side of creativity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 1–14, 2010), it is generally seen in a positive light—that creativity is beneficial. It is therefore no surprise that many attempts have been made to promote and nurture creativity (e.g., De Bono, Serious creativity: using the power of lateral thinking to create new ideas. HarperCollins, New York, 1992; Renzulli, The three-ring conception of giftedness: a developmental model for promoting creative productivity. In: Sternberg RJ, Davidson JE (eds) Conceptions of giftedness. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 217–245, 2005). Although many resources have been expended on such creativity training, the results have been mixed (Plucker, Beghetto, Dow, Educ Psychol 39:83–96, 2004). This is partly because creative behaviors that really make an impact within genuine contexts, such as schools and workplaces, are difficult to teach (e.g., Nickerson, Enhancing creativity. In: Sternberg RJ (ed) Handbook of creativity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 392–430, 1999).