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I. PURPOSE AND APPROACH OF STUDY
A. The purpose of this study is to (1) describe
conditions and attitudes conducive to the development of creativeness,
(2) both in the highly creative Individual and the less creative
Individual (3) and the leadership techniques for its' development,
B. The conditions and attitudes Investigated
are those of the leader's role, society in general, the immediate
environment, the individual's internal state, and the Individual's
mental state.
C. The approach will be to describe
characteristics both found in and needed for creativeness and then
present the general implications for the leader. In addition specific
suggestions of creativity specialists will be included.
II. THE LEADER'S ROLE
A. The leader must acknowledge the universal
nature of creativeness and his role in its' development. Kilby states
that creativity is "tied closely to the whole nature of man."
(6-l6) Anderson recognizes creativity as a "characteristic of
development" and is therefore in everyone. (2-124.)
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A leader may then ask, if creativeness in Inherent, why then be
concerned with its' development? Won't it develop naturally?
Unfortunately the answer is no. As Torrance states, creative
behavior is not likely to flourish in an environment which is hostile or
Indifferent to creative achievement." (17-l6) His studies further
reveal that "... pupils of teachers with high creative motivations
made greater .gains in creative growth than those • . . whose teachers
had weak creative motivations." (17-254) The attitude of the leader
concerning the value of creativity is therefore of extreme importance in
the development of creativeness.
B. Variations of the creative need must be
understood by the leader for it becomes his problem to help the
repressed individual to relieve the psychological estrangement of the
highly creative individual.
| The fundamental problem of the
highly creative individual in maintaining his creativity is in
learning how to cope with the discomfort which arises from
individuality/ divergence - of so often, being a minority of
one. Of the problems which arise in this process some of the
more important ones include: coping with the sanctions of
society against individuality/divergence, the alienation of
one's friends through the expression of a talent, pressures to
be a well-rounded personality, divergence from sex-role norms,
desires to learn on one's own, attempts at tasks which are too
^difficult, searching for a purpose, having different values and
being motivated by different rewards, and searching for one's
uniqueness. Running throughout all of these problems, of course,
are factors which lead to psychological estrangement from others
-parents, teachers, and peers. (l6-l24) |
C. Pro-longed, enforced repression of the
creative need of the highly creative individual may result in many
psychological problems. Torrance points out that serious learning
disabilities, behavior problems,
delinquency, neurotic conflicts, psychoses and other
types of personality disorganization may result.
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Techniques which the leader may use to help the highly creative
individual are suggested through the successful strategies used by
creative individuals to achieve effectiveness.
"These include such things as:
1. translating one's ideas into the idiom of the group,
2. stating criticisms in positive and constructive ways,
3. making it evident that one is trying to accomplish something
important,
4. minimizing personal threat to others,
5. building up a "credit rating,"
6. focusing upon the job to be done,
7. timing actions appropriately,
8. camouflaging one's talents so that they are not noticeable."
(l6-l4l)
How does the leader recognize this Individual? Torrance has compiled a
list of characteristics found in one or more studies to differentiate
highly creative persons from less creative ones. The following is his
complete list:
1. Accepts disorder
2. Adventurous
3. Strong affection
4. Altruistic
5. Awareness of others
6. Always baffled by something
7. Attracted to disorder
8. Attracted to mysterious
9. Attempts difficult jobs (sometimes too difficult)
10. Bashful outwardly
11. Constructive in criticism
12. Courageous
13. Deep and conscientious conventions
14. Defies conventions of courtesy
15. Defies conventions of health
16. Desires to excel
17. Determination
18. Differentiated value-hierachy
19. Discontented
20. Disturbs organization
21. Dominant (not in power sense)
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22. Emotional
23. Emotionally sensitive
24. Energetic
25. A fault-finder
26. Doesn't fear being thought "different"
27. Feels whole parade is out of step
28. Full of curiosity
29. Appears haughty and self-satisfied at times
30. Likes solitude
31. Independence in judgment
32. Independent in thinking
33. Individualistic
34. Intuitive
35. Industrious
36. Introversive
37. Keeps unusual hours
38. Lacks business ability
39. Makes mistakes
40. Never bored
41. Nonconforming
42. Not hostile or negativstic
43. Not popular
44. Oddities of habit
45. Persistent
46. Becomes preoccupied with a problem
47.Preference for complex ideas
48. Questioning
49. Radical
50. Receptive to external stimuli
51. Receptive to ideas of others
52. Regresses occasionally
53. Rejection of suppression as a mechanism of impulse control
54. Rejection of repression
55. Reserved
56. Resolute
57. Self-assertive
58. Self-starter
59. Self-aware
60. Self-confident
61. Self-sufficient
62. Senses of destiny
63. Sense of humor
64. Sensitive to beauty
65. Shuns power
66. Sincere
67. Not interested in small details
68. Speculative
69. Spirited in disagreement
70. Strives for distant goals
71. Stubborn
72. Temperamental
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73. Tenacious
74. Tender emotions
75. Timid
76. Thorough
77. Unconcerned about power
78. Somewhat uncultured, primitive
79. Unsophisticated, naive
80. Unwilling to accept anything on mere say-so
81. Visionary
82. Versatile
83. Willing to take risks
84. Somewhat withdrawn and quiescent (16-66,67)
D. The leader of creativity must accept a
different approach to leading than has been the practice. Learning
through the workings of the subconscious mind and intuitive faculties
are now recognized as a valid approach. In discussing the creative arts,
Taylor refers to the experience as one "which quickens the human
consciousness to a greater sensitivity of feeling a a higher level of
discrimination among ideas and emotions." (15-60) Kubie makes a
comparison between the conscious level as a relatively slow
vehicle of mentation (7-24) whereas on the preconscious (root of
intuitive thinking) level of dealing with ideas and realities there is a
"swift condensations of their multiple allegorical and emotional
import." (7-33) Professor Ulich warns,
. . if our colleges and universities forget about this
intuitive center of the human mind, their instruction, however accurate
and diligent, may bury creativeness. (2-192)
The leader can encourage the activity of the Intuitive mind by
recognizing its' sometime illogical, way-out, and unrelated expression.
The leader can reward creative behavior through respect for questions
and unusual ideas, thus showing that these ideas and questions have
value.
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Professor Munk recognized the need for Individual encouragement of
creative expression.
This attempt to understand the
nature of creativity is not complete without some consideration,
of two factors to which it is very closely related, namely
intuition and the unconscious. The reson why creativity seems to
be vitally related to these two factors - in some mysterious
manner - is that often without any warning whatsoever, it
flashes forth astonishing the individual himself. (9-l45)
Nothing has been more destructive of real creative ness than the
attitudes of some philosophers who, in their mania for analysis
and precision, have treated Intuition with contempt. (9-146)
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III. SOCIETY IN GENERAL
A. The general social conditions which the
leader should foster for the development of creativeness are those
attitude which encourage self-respect, self-confidence, self-reliance,
and self-motivation. A situation in which the individual can learn to
know himself deeply and accept his person.
B. The atmosphere must be one which encourages
individuals to search through "new realms of experience"
(10-329) and not through "extrapolation of the present."
(10-329). There must be courageousness in allowing the different
to blossom into maturity rather than pulling it quickly out by the roots
because it varies from the accepted and safe. Fromm viewed
society's fear of the different as a threat to supposed equality
expressing further, "I am sure that only if this point of view is
overcome, if sameness is replaced again by true equality (individual
worth) can creativity develop." (2-53) Munk lists this
tendency to conformity and its' lack of social vision as one of five
major defects of American education. (9-236)
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The Implication for the leader is to encourage explorations into new
arid unknown areas. He must show more than just tolerance for his
divergent followers, he must show respect.
The Overstreets advocate that each Individual allow every other
Individual psychic space.
| We need to give room for what is
individually unique and constructively human in one
another:curiosity about the make-up of things, zest in.
experimentation, pride in accomplishment, creative imagination,
appreciation of the beautiful, admiration, gratitude, and love.
For all of these provide psychic space; for they make up the
spaciousness of life. (11-9) |
The leader should encourage this relationship among those within his
sphere of Influence. The Overstreets warn that there are constrictive
Influences within society:
1. forces of sheer inertia
2. force of limited imagination
3. entrenched prejudice
4 vested interest
5. fear
6. over-reaction
7. deliberate exploitation of fear (ll-6l) |
The leader should be cognizant of these negative Influences and
use his position to counteract them.
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IV. IMMEDIATE ENVIRONMENT
A. The immediate environment should, be
stimulating, free, peaceful, and cooperative.
B. A stimulating
environment would be one that presents challenges and recognizes that
differences do not necessarily lead to conflict but can lead rather to
growth. As Pingarette points out, even such inner conflicts as
estrangement from environment or depersonalization are positive because
it is a "feeling that something is absent," (4-312) thus
presenting a challenge, "Tension is maintained rather than
reduced."(1-49)
The leader must not be discouraged by individual or group tension. He
should point out to his followers the positive value of tension and look
for good to come from it.
C. The leader should encourage
experimentation, "When a teacher, parent, therapist, or other
facilitating person permits the individual a complete freedom of
symbolic expression, creativity is fostered." (2-80) Thus Rogers
stresses a need for environmental freedom of expression. The individual
must feel free and secure in expressing so that he will "Do
something, even if it is wrong. "(3-21) "It is only through
riak-taking and variation that growth can occur." (1-66)
D. The leader should work towards achieving a
sense of harmony within the group. The individual needs to be at peace
and not defensive or uncooperative. It is this state which' facilitates
an openness to all experience and the individual's "behavior will
be creative," (2-66) and flexible. Anderson believes that
defense mechanisms are only called into play when the environment has
interfered with positive creative growth processes. (2-127)
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V. THE INDIVIDUAL'S INTERNAL STATE
A. The internal (below consciousness)
conditions which are conducive to the cultivation of creativity are a
purpose, goal or idea and a striving for self-knowledge and personality
integration.
B. The purpose or goal
must be one of intense passion, rising to the state of being a
need. Novelist Priestly recognized this. When asked how he
had achieved his superior ability above contemporary writers of an
ability apparently equal to his own, he answered,
| Whatever difference there was, lay simply in the
fact that at hteart they didn't care much about being outgoing
and creative. They merely toyed with the fascinating idea
of writing. I cared like blazes. The very passion of
the heart, gentlemen, draws power. (8-32) |
The intensity of purpose is not sufficient however, there mist be an
intellectual clarity concerning the means to fulfilling the need.
Kopf states that ". . by de-emotionalizing intellectuality . . we
suffocate creativity ." (13-410) It appears that there must
be a purposeful, balanced combination of intellect and emotion.
Concerning the purpose, shahn says with "certainty that the form
which does emerge cannot be greater than the content which went into
it." (14-83). It seems to imply that the content (purpose
or goal) must be one of a higher order. Dow refers to these goals as
Truth and Principle.
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| If we are going to grow into the
creative people we must become in order to maintain our standard
of living, we must actively express our beliefs in truth and
principle. (2-33) |
It is of extreme importance for the leader to help his
followers to set high goals and standards, to believe in them
intensely and to care.
C. The striving for self-knowledge and
personality integration is believed by many psychologists as a healthy
inherent need, usually referred to as self-actualizing. It is in the act
of self-actualizing that man strives to bring order where there is
disorder and find meaning where there is none, W. H. Auden recognized
the inner nature: "Disorder, lack of meaning are spiritual, not
physical discomforts; order and sense are spiritual and not physical
satisfactions." (1^-27) This search for inner satisfaction leads
man into creative activity. Rank prophesied that when men give up
artistic expression in favor of tho formation of personality, they would
enjoy a greater happiness. (2-110) The reasoning seems tfo suggest that
man will then be satisfying the need for self-actualizing directly.
The leader should encourage his followers to seek self-understanding tod
to work toward greater maturity. This increased maturity and inner
balance will lead to a greater development of creative expression.
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VI. THE INDIVIDUAL'S MENTAL STATE
A. Mental attitudes which foster the
development of creativeness are "faith in the wonderful
potentialities of the individual human being, " (2-76) courage and
self-acceptance. The leader must encourage these three attitudes as
related because it is thus that the individual can fulfill what Rogers
believes to be the most fundamental condition of creativity, "that
the source or locus of evaluative judgment is Internal." (2-76)
The Individual must emotionally believe that man has unlimited
potential, that he therefore and all others have this potential-
accepting himself and being tolerant of the ideas of others.
As Coleridge wrote in 1801 ". . deep thinking is attainable only
by a man of deep feeling . . " 12-196). Individuals must be
encouraged to think individually with courage and self-respect.
Torrance has synthesized the findings of various investigators and
lists the following as necessary conditions for the healthy functioning
of the preconscious mental processes which produce creativity. They
include both an internal state and a mental state condition.
1. The absence of serious threat
to the self, the willingness to risk.
2. Self-awareness - in touch with one's feelings.
3. Self-differentiation - sees self as being different from
others.
4. Both openness to the ideps of others and confidence in one's
own perceptions of reality or one's own ideas.
5. Mutuality in inter-ersonal relations - balance between
excessive quest for social relations and pathological rejection
of them. (l6-144,l45) |
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B. Getzel and Jackson in their study of gifted
adolescents found a correlation with those creatively oriented in
thinking and high morals in contrast to those with an intellectual
approach in problem solving and their preference for immediate social
adjustment regardless of their concepts of right and wrong.
(5-158) It would seem from these results that the creative
adolescent is indeed deforming his own behavior based on his own
evaluation of right and wrong. He is the "outsider" (5-158)
but is morally true to himself, allying himself with his highest ideals
for himself and mankind.
The leaders should help his followers to recognize that there are
absolutes. Mink's criticism of both the Pragmatic and Progressive
schools of thought is that they do not recognize absolutes. This lack of
some absolutes in life leaves man in a state of suspension. (9)
C. Specific mental approaches for the leader
to help develop are a relaxed concentration, quiet contemplation,
inquiring nature, flexibility, and aesthetic appreciation.
1. The concept of
relaxed concentration is a difficult one for the western mind. As Rugg
explains:
| The truly quiet mind is passive,
but only In an active sense. Relaxation is not merely
"letting go." It is relaxation with control that we
seek. It is truly dynamic and purposcive, marked by an intense
condition of peace through designed tension; its "repose is
the result of stress." (12-191) |
2. In summarizing
methods for enhancing functional intelligence. Murphy listed the
necessity for quiet contemplation as his third condition. He explains
that:
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| . . . by the art of withdrawl from
the pressures of immediate external tasks in order to let the
mind work at its own pace and in its own congenial way. We have
already stepped over the threshold into the room where
creativeness lives. (10-128) |
3. In his
study of creative adults, Maslow found' an inquiring mind characteristic
of these individuals, He found them "unfrighten by the unknown, the
mysterious, the ..puzzling" (2-88) and that they were often
"positively attracted by it." (2-88) The development of
creativeness. Murphy supports as his second condition for enhancing
functional intelligence. (10-128)
4. The quality
of flexibility seems to be generally accepted as one of the most
important mental states for the development of creativeness. Without the
open, receptive mind, new concepts and ideas find no resting place.
Hilgard believes "We lose flexibility because we have-course of
action that is plausible, and no longer look around." (2-l68) Shahn
discloses this also in his suggestion to the artist that "he must
never fail to be involved in the pleasures and the desperations of
mankind, for in them lies the very source of feeling upon which the work
of art is registered."(14-93).
5. Gough's
studies of the personality and motivational factors that predispose to
originality resulted in a list of five factors which include aesthetic
sensitivity. (2-173) The importance of the fulfillment of the need
to reach for and be sensitive to beauty Stoddard believes of extreme
importance for:
| In the long run, whatever man
accomplishes along enduring lines will be a by-produce of his
devotion to the beautiful. (2-197) |
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Surely all leaders who possess the necessary love of man, God, and
his surroundings will find it easy to encourage and appreciation of
beauty, both timeless and temporal.
VII. SPECIFIC LEADERSHIP TECHNIQUES
Having discussed the conditions and attitudes conducive to the
development of creativeness and some general leadership techniques, the
following are addition techniques for the leader as suggested by
Torrance.
A. "The creative relationship requires
a willingness on the part of the guidance worker to embark over
un-traveled pathways. As in creative thinking, he must be willing to
permit one thing to lead to another, be ready to get off the beaten
track or break out of the mold - rather than look upon the Individual in
traditional ways and thus fail to relate to him as a real person."
(l6-l65)
B. In order to establish creative relationships
leaders will have to change from their ordinary strategies of power
positions to one of experiencing genuine joy or pride in the creative
powers of its followers. (16-167). The position of
power usually creates in others a sense of helplessness which is
antagonistic to the very atmosphere of self-confidence, harmony and
freedom which should be the intent of the leader of creative
development,
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C. The leader should play the role of
"Being a guide, not a God." (2-170) If the leader succumbs to
the temptations of the strategies of omnipotence and omniscience, he
robs the creative followers. He should endeavor to offer a state of
stability where the Individual can initiate, pr&pose, and test with
safety.
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