Creativity, Innovation, and Change | 创意，创新 , 与 变革The Pennsylvania State University

29 August 2014

By Lynda RoyA SURVEY

Q: Can Creativity Be Taught?

A: Ask People I Know.

How this survey came about. Shorter Version.

How this survey came about. Longer Version.

Can creativity be taught?

I never thought about it until I enrolled in a Coursera class this summer called, “Creativity, Innovation, and Change”. I think of myself as creative and no one ever taught me, so it caused me to wonder. Could creativity actually be taught? My professors thought so, but I was skeptical. I read the course materials, watched quite a few TED talks, and did what everyone does when wrestling with an important issue – I Googled it!

But I wasn’t satisfied. Then it occurred to me. I should ask the people I know! And that’s how this survey came about. I wanted a little help from my friends.

You can see the mechanics of how the survey was put together at the back of this document. Basically, the survey instrument developed out of a surveying project I had been involved in at work. Then I reached out to my Facebook Friends, LinkedIn Connections, and a handful of my email contacts. The response rate was just okay.

But, for me, the quality of the responses was eye opening. And maybe for you, too!

Take a look and let me know – do you think creativity can be taught? And just what the heck is creativity anyway?

Thanks everyone who took the survey! You are the best!

Thanks also to Dr. Kathryn Jablokow, Dr. Darrell Velegol, Dr. Jack Matson, and Elizabeth Kisenwether of the University of Pennsylvania. Great class!

Creativity has Four E’s

• Everyone is creative!

• Everything is creative!

• Creativity is Everywhere!

• Creativity is Encouraged rather than Taught!

What I learned. Shorter Version.

Each one of the survey respondents said they were to some degree creative! And most said they were ‘Always’ and ‘Very Often’ creative!

Respondents resoundingly disagree that creativity is just for the arts. Creativity is in Everyone, Everything, and Everywhere. All fields of human endeavor are creative. Where thought exists there is creativity. Wherever there is a problem to solve, a challenge to meet or an obstacle to overcome you will find creativity. Yes, creativity is on display in the arts, but it is also integral to science, medicine, engineering, research, relationships, raising kids, cooking, gardening, teaching, diving, sailing, exploring, traveling, adventure and even in organizing a closet. Wherever you must think out of the box – which for humans is frequently – you will find creativity.

Many respondents felt that creativity could be “tapped into” rather than taught. Others said that what could be taught were strategies, techniques, or methods to bring out whatever creativity was inherent in the individual. The word “encouraged” showed up many times in the Comments as did “predisposition”, “innate”, “genetic” and “creative by nature”. Many expressed that everyone has varying degrees of creativity and it wasn’t so much teaching as sparking what creativity was already there. A few comments were made about the importance giving permission to people to be creative and especially early on with children that we take care to protect their confidence in their creativity because this will serve them well all throughout their lives.

What I learned. Longer Version.

Recap of the Survey Questions

1. Do you think you are creative?

2. What do you think about this statement? “Creativity applies only to the arts.”

3. What do you think of this statement?“Creativity can be taught.”

4. When were you born?

5. How do you identify your gender?

6. What is your highest level of schooling?

7. Where do you live?

8. What kind of work do you do?

9. What question about creativity were you expecting that wasn’t asked?

Q1. Do you think you are creative?

Always Very Often Sometimes Rarely Never

25%

45%

28%

2%0%

The largest number of Respondents said they were creative ‘Very Often’!

No Respondent said ‘Never’!

core question

Creativity by Gender

Q1. Do you think you are creative?

Total Male FemalePrefer Not To

Answer Self Describe Always 25% 13% 10% 2%

Very Often 45% 21% 21% 3% 1%

Sometimes 28% 13% 16%

Rarely 2% 2%

Never

100% 46% 49% 3% 3%

(totals effected by decimal rounding)

Equal Numbers of Men and Women Responded ‘Very Often’!

Women responded ‘Rarely' or 'Sometimes' slightly more often than men.

core question

Q1. Do you think you are creative?

Creativity by Gender by Generation

Total Silents & Greats Baby Boomers Generation X Millennials Not GivenM F S M F S M F S M F S PNTA*

Always 25 4 1 1 4 8 5 0 1 1 1Very Often 46 2 1 10 15 5 4 4 1 3Sometimes 29 1 8 10 2 4 2 2Rarely 2 2Never

102 7 1 2 22 35 0 12 8 1 7 4 0 36/10 25/57 9/21 5/1160% 44% 43% 45%

(totals effected by decimal rounding)

60% of Silents & Greats - especially men - were most often ‘Always’ creative.

Under 50% of all other generations were most often ‘Very Often’ creative.

*Prefer Not To Answer

core question

Q2. What do you think about this statement? “Creativity applies only to the arts.”

Disagree94%

Not Given3%

Neither agree or disagree2%

Agree1%

RespondentsDisagreedResoundingly!

core question

Q2. What do you think about this statement? “Creativity applies only to the arts.”

Word Cloud by Wordle: http://www.wordle.net/

62% of Respondents Commented. This Word Cloud sums up what they wrote!

core question

Q3. What do you think about this statement? “Creativity can be taught.”

Agree43%

Neither agree or disagree24%

Disagree18%

Undecided13%

Not Given3%

Respondentswere Less Uniform

with these Answers

core question

Q3. What do you think about this statement? “Creativity can be taught.”

Word Cloud by Wordle: http://www.wordle.net/

56% of Respondents Commented. This Word Cloud sums up what they wrote!

core question

Q4. When were you born?

1945 or earlier 1946 - 1964 1965 - 1981 1982 - 2005 Prefer Not To Answer Not Given

9%

57%

21%

11%

1% 3%

The greatest number of Respondents were born between 1946 and 1964.

demographics

Q4. When were you born?

More Baby Boomers took the survey than any other generational category.

Date Range Generation% of PopulationCNN Infographic Creativity Survey

% DifferenceInfographic to

Survey 1945 or earlier Silents & Greats 17% 9% -47% 1946 – 1964 Baby Boomers 33% 57% 73% 1965 – 1981 Generation X 28% 21% -25% 1982 - 2005 Millennials 22% 11% -50%

Generations in the Survey Compared to the Experts

Date ranges for generations are based on the 2011 CNN Infographic:“American generations through the years”

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2011/05/living/infographic.boomer/Sources given in the Infographic are:

“Millennials: A portrait of Generation Next”, Pew Research“Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069”, Strauss & Howe

U.S. Census

demographics

Q5. How do you identify your gender?

Equal numbers of men and women responded to the survey.

Female48%

Prefer Not To Answer3%

Self Describe3%

Male46%

Three terrific responses here! Human Spiritual Being An Old Fart

demographics

Q5. How do you identify your gender?

Most women who responded were Baby Boomers.

Generation Date Range Male Female PNTA* Self Describe Totals Silents & Greats 1945 or earlier 6 1 2 2 11 Boomers 1946 - 1964 22 36 58 Generation X 1965 - 1981 12 8 1 1 22 Millennials 1982 - 2005 7 4 11

47 49 3 3 102

Gender by Generation

*Prefer Not To Answer

demographics

Q6. What is your highest level of schooling?

Most Respondents had a 4-year college degree or more.

Not Given

Prefer not to answer

Schooling not in list

Doctoral degree

Professional degree

Master's degree

Bachelor's degree

Associate degree

Trade/technical/vocational training

Some college credit, no degree

High school graduate with diploma or equivalent such as GED

Some high school, no diploma

Schooling to the 8th grade

No schooling completed

3%

1%

4%

6%

4%

30%

25%4%

11%

7%

5%

2%

0%

0%

demographics

Q7. Where do you live?

Respondents were predominantly from the United States.

World10%

Not Give

n4%

United

States

86%

demographics

88% 10%

20%

Q7. Where do you live?

State % Total Respondents Connecticut* 25% New York 16% Massachusetts 7% Florida 6% Minnesota 5% New Jersey 5% California 4% Texas 3% Colorado 2% Maryland 2% Missouri 2% Virginia 2% Washington 2% DC 1% Illinois 1% Kansas 1% Michigan 1% North Carolina 1% South Carolina 1% Wisconsin 1%

Country % Total Respondents Canada 1% China 1% England 1% France 1% India 1% Indonesia 1% Ireland 1% Italy 1% Spain 1% Switzerland 1%

City/Town % Total Respondents New York, NY~ 11% Minneapolis, MN 3% San Antonio, TX 3% South Windsor, CT* 3%

*home state & town~home base

Not Given = 4%

demographics

Q8. What kind of work do you do?

Respondents worked across a diverse range of areas.

Unemployed

Trucking

Television

Space

Fitness

Real Estate

Not Given

Human Resources

Education Management

Social/Spiritual Impact

Sales/Marketing

Research

Exploration

Executive/Leadership Coaching

Non Profit Management

Education Services

Creative Field

Health/Medicine

Teaching

Information Technology

Retired

Business/For Profit Firm

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

2%

2%

2%

2%

3%

3%

3%

3%

3%

4%

4%

5%

8%

10%

10%

12%

21%

Nice surprise?The number of Respondents who are teaching, both in Higher Ed and K-12!

demographics

What is creativity?Why is creativity important?

Is everyone creative?Is creativity a state of “being”?

Is creativity more prevalent in women than in men?How do you recognize creativity?

Would someone else say you were creative?Does your creativity in one area influence your creativity in other areas?

Is creativity inspiration or perspiration or both?Why is the question “what is creativity” so hard to answer?

Q9. What question about creativity were you expecting that wasn’t asked?

Even though this question was optional, 74% of Respondents wrote Comments.

Here are the top 10:

exit question

Q9. What question about creativity were you expecting that wasn’t asked?

Among the Comments these are fun to think about:

“Why do you think the [U.S.] Congress and Senate don’t have an ounce of creativity between them?”

“I think creativity is the adult word for imagination. As kids we imagined all the time. Call it daydreaming, imagining, creativity, it all comes from the same source and is framed in two questions: ‘What if … ?’ and the follow-up question ‘If it could how would I … ?’”

“Is creativity necessarily a function of a definition?”

“Is creativity ‘genius’ or vice versa? Sometimes that brilliant insight or innovation is maybe a little of each?”

exit question

SURVEY Provider: Survey Monkey Dates: 8/8/14 - 8/15/14 Duration: 8 days – Two 72 hour cycles Total Responses: 102

POPULATION Social Sites Target Audience Population Size Responses Response Rate Facebook Friends 526 74 14% LinkedIn Connections 1,176 7 1% Personal Email Subset Address Book Select Contacts 30 21 70%

Survey Mechanics

Questions?Comments?

Reach me through LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/lyndaroy/

© Lynda Roy 2014 No part of this survey or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied, modified or adapted

without the prior written consent of the author. Thanks for your consideration.