'Supporting' Creativity : Suppose Creativity is a They Not an It, 60 Models of Creativity from 8000 People from 41 Nations & 63 Professions

This paper challenges 11 fundamentals in current models of creating, and current systems for “supporting” creating. It also questions the importance and amount of creativity needed and produced in industry. A model of 60 models of creativity is presented along with mention of 4 pilot studies underway with it. The kind of challenges to usual research on computer supports of creativity made here are illustrated by the following points. 1) There is little evidence that creativity is one process and solid evidence that it is myriad related processes 2) Systems, therefore, that “support” one of those myriad models well, will possibly, if there are negative trade-off relations among models, shut down and eliminate more creativity in collateral models than they “support” in their one intended model 3) In several areas of mental performance what makes generation and access easy hinders recall and application -- by making “creating” faster or easier involving less of the brain less strenuously, we may be reducing later processing, imagining, elaboration, and recall, hence, reducing later creativity achieved. 4) Vendors push technologies on everyone and today push more connectedness. At first more connections join isolated entities, fostering idea blends and creation, however, familiarity grows rapidly till people tire of pawing through reams of the same old same old = involvement plummets. Pulsed systems, with alternating rhythms of engagement/detachment, connection/isolation, reason/emotion may outperform mere “more connectedness” systems for attaining many kinds of creativity. These and related fundamental omissions in current norms and cultures in computational support for creativity are examined and pilot study results of countering them with particular tools in major corporation creativity efforts are described. Among such tools one stands out, a model of 60 models of creativity, presented