Creative Ability

Creative people are typically at least above average in intelligence, but not necessarily extraordinarily so; other factors are as important as their IQ—especially the ability to visualize, imagine, and make mental transformations. A creative person looks at one thing, and sees modifications, new combination, or new applications. For example, a creative product developer for a candy company, wandering through a supermarket's fruit aisle, will visualize new candy flavors, sizes, shapes and even audiences. A designer of educational software strolling through a video arcade might imagine combining two or three games into an effective drill-and-practice spelling game.

Analogical thinking is central to creativity. The creative person "makes connections" between one situation and another, between the problem at hand and similar situations.

Another important talent for creative problem solving is the ability to think logically while evaluating facts and implementing decisions. Sometimes it is even necessary to “find order in chaos.” For example, a creative supervisor grappling with high absenteeism and turnover might go beyond employees' superficial excuses to discover that the true problem is repetitious, meaningless work, and that the best cure is job rotations, modest profit-sharing, or giving workers a greater understanding of how the task fits into the company and the community.

By,
Dr. Davis, professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is author of Creativity is Forever (3rd ed., 1992), Kendall/Hunt Publishers, Dubuque, Iowa.