The Case for Creativity
Introduction
1.1 In a society where the economy, education and leisure are all based on information flows, the capacity to create is a vital ingredient in the digital ecology.
1.2 As the power and scope of machine processing increases and as this enables individual consumers to interact with the providers of goods and services without an intermediary, employment opportunities for those who access and process information will decrease. The emphasis in the digital economy will shift ever more towards the creation of information products.
1.3 In this context creativity is broadly defined as the ability to:
- Extend the application of existing material into new products (the new symphony; jazz);
- Combine existing materials into new products (fusion);
- Transfer techniques from original environments and platforms into new applications (podcasting);
- Develop totally new products concepts (SMS).
1.4 The three major factors in enabling creativity are:
- The skills and attitude of the creator
- The available tools; and
- Mentoring and facilitation.
1.5 While there is a copious literature on learning and creativity theory, we know very little about why creative enterprises succeed or fail, particularly in respect of the relative importance of the three fundamental factors.
1.6 Much research is naturally focused on creative success but to understand the barriers to more efficient, productive and ubiquitous creativity it is vital to study failure alongside success; to see in one creative environment (such as an incubator) why certain projects have succeeded and others failed.