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11 - Opening up Creativity: The Lenses of Axis and Focus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2010

By
Mia Keinänen ,
Kimberly Sheridan  and
Howard Gardner
Edited by
James C. Kaufman  and
John Baer
Mia Keinänen
Affiliation:
Department of Physical Education, Norges idrettshøgskole, Norwegian School of Sports Sciences, Oslo, Norway
Kimberly Sheridan
Affiliation:
Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Howard Gardner
Affiliation:
Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
California State University, San Bernardino
John Baer
Affiliation:
Rider University, New Jersey
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Summary

For a long time, creativity was viewed within psychology as a single undifferentiated capacity. A new mathematical formulation, an arresting work of visual art, and an innovative business strategy were all seen as undergirded by a common creative capacity. More recently, scholars investigating creativity have focused on the variability among creative individuals and among the circumstances that foster creative accomplishment (Csikszentmihalyi 1996; Feldman, 1999; Gardner, 1993). On this account creativity emerges in an interactive system involving the individual (the creator), the symbol system she or he is engaged in (the domain) and the surrounding social system (the field) (Feldman, Csikszentmihalyi, & Gardner, 1994). Creative breakthroughs in one domain may thus be distinguished from breakthroughs in other domains.

The issue becomes yet more complex when we look within domains. Compare, for example, two species of lawyers: (1) a small-town lawyer who works on fairly routine legal tasks, but at the same time needs to understand the dynamics of his local community and address the gamut of personal, legal, and financial issues presented by each of his clients; and (2) a mergers-and-acquisitions (M&A) lawyer who collaborates with dozens of associates in developing specialized and innovative strategies for high-stakes business negotiations. These two subdomains of law draw on different types of creativity and expertise.

In this chapter we introduce a new way of looking at this intersection of creativity and expertise. Donning two lenses of “axis” and “focus,” we characterize differences and similarities in the nature of creative work within and across domains.

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Chapter
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Creativity and Reason in Cognitive Development , pp. 202 - 218
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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References

Connell, M., Sheridan, K., & Gardner, H. (2003). On abilities and domains. In Sternberg, R. & Grigerenko, E. (Eds.), Perspectives on the psychology of abilities, competencies, and expertise (pp. 126–155). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Keinänen, M., & Gardner, H. (2004). Vertical and horizontal mentoring for creativity. In Sternberg, R. J., Grigorenko, E. L., & Singer, J. L. (Eds.), Creativity: From potential to realization (pp. 169–193). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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