CREATIVITY DEFINITIONS



ADAMS: "Creativity has sometimes been called the combination of

seemingly disparate parts into a functioning and useful whole."

...Innovation is applied creativity--the practical, working

solution. * AMABILE: "A response will be judged as creative to the extent

that (a) it is both a novel and appropriate, useful, or valuable

response to the task at hand and (b) the task is heuristic rather

than algorithmic." (A heuristic is an incomplete guideline or

rule of thumb that can lead to learning or discovery, i.e. no

clear path. An algorithm is a complete mechanical rule for

solving a problem or dealing with a situation.)  **



PICASSO: "Every act of creation is first of all an act of

destruction."   



EINSTEIN: "Imagination is more important than knowledge."  



* Adams, J.L., Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide To Better Ideas

(3rd ed.), Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 1986.



** Amabile, T.M., The Social Psychology of Creativity,

Springer-Verlag, New York, 1983.