Problem Solving --- Creativity Can Be Learned

 

1.   Introduction

Ok. You believe that creativity is the domain of the genius or really smart folks. This is not so. Everyone can be creative if only they are allowed to try and then to become.

We claim that creativity can be learned. It’s a skill, but it takes practice. First, we begin with small ideas, such as variations on things we know well, and turn them into something new. It requires some internal thinking, along with an understanding of realistic ideas about what might be better or easier to do or use. It must be something within your vision.

Abstract thinking is another matter altogether to be discussed later. All require steady thought, usually manipulating ideas you already know into something new. That this is so, that creativity can be learned and developed through practice rather than being merely an innate gift/talent, finds support in psychology, cognitive science, education, and the history of innovation. We offer a strong argument.

In §6, where we discuss creativity with children, there arises the need to distinguish between imagination and creativity. We summarize this as follows: The key difference between imagination and creativity can be boiled down to a single distinction: internal thought versus external action. While they are deeply intertwined parts of the same cognitive engine, imagination is the unconstrained mental sandbox, but creativity is the actual construction.

2.     Creativity as a Learned Skill

Many people regard creativity as a mysterious talent possessed only by artists, inventors, or geniuses. However, evidence from psychology and education suggests that creativity is largely a skill that can be cultivated through deliberate practice. Like learning mathematics, music, or athletics, creative thinking improves through repeated exercises that train the mind to see possibilities beyond the obvious. To be realistic, you can learn to be creative, but perhaps not achieve the highest level. For me, just this is fantastic.

The process often begins with small modifications of things already familiar. A novice writer learns creativity by altering stories they know. An engineer improves a machine by changing one component. A cook creates a new recipe by varying familiar ingredients. In each case, the individual is not creating from nothing but is rearranging existing knowledge into a new configuration. Creativity, therefore, emerges first from variation rather than from invention ex nihilo.

This principle reflects what psychologists call combinatorial creativity, the ability to combine existing ideas in novel ways. The mind already possesses a storehouse of experiences, facts, memories, and observations. Creative thought occurs when these elements are connected in ways not previously considered. The more one practices making such connections, the easier and more natural the process becomes. It is significant that, in all problem-solving venues, problem-solving has the constant companion of failure, perhaps the greatest of all teachers.

3.     The Role of Internal Reflection

Creativity also requires internal thinking. New ideas seldom appear fully formed. Rather, individuals mentally explore alternatives, imagine consequences, and evaluate possibilities. This reflective process asks questions such as:

• Could this be done more simply?
• Could this be done more efficiently?
• What would happen if one part were changed?
• What would make this more useful or attractive?

These questions train the mind to move beyond passive observation toward active improvement or construction. The creative person develops the habit of looking at ordinary objects and situations and imagining how they might be better. Such thinking can be practiced daily until it becomes second nature. You might consider that an early stage of creativity rests within the imagination.

Importantly, these improvements usually occur within one's existing sphere of knowledge or vision. A carpenter is most likely to create innovations in woodworking. A teacher discovers new classroom methods. A gardener develops better planting techniques. Creativity often begins where expertise already exists because familiarity provides the raw materials from which novel combinations can be made.

4.     Creativity and Abstract Thinking

Abstract creativity represents a more advanced stage. Whereas practical creativity focuses on improving tangible objects or procedures, abstract creativity involves manipulating concepts themselves. Philosophers, mathematicians, scientists, and theorists often engage in this form of thinking.

Yet even abstract thinking follows the same fundamental pattern. New theories rarely emerge from an empty mind. Instead, they arise from the recombination of existing concepts. For example, Isaac Newton built upon earlier work in mathematics and astronomy. Albert Einstein developed his theories by reconsidering established ideas about space, time, and motion. Their breakthroughs appeared revolutionary, but they were constructed from knowledge already available.

Abstract creativity, therefore, requires sustained attention and the mental manipulation of known ideas. The thinker compares concepts, explores relationships, imagines alternatives, and tests logical consequences. Over time, this practice strengthens the ability to form novel conceptual structures. Nonetheless, and this is significant, abstract thinkers have brought their ideas to a level as real (to them) as a chef's modifying or creating a new dish.

5.     Practice Strengthens Creative Ability

Modern research on expertise suggests that repeated engagement in creative tasks strengthens the cognitive processes involved in creativity. The brain becomes more adept at pattern recognition, analogy formation, flexible thinking, and problem solving. Just as muscles develop through exercise, creative capacities develop through use.

Although none of the following are easy, simple exercises can foster this growth in several ways.

• Finding multiple uses for common objects.
• Reimagining familiar procedures.
• Combining ideas from different fields. (difficult)
• Asking "What if?" questions. (requires open-ended imagination)
• Looking for simpler or more efficient/cheaper solutions.

Each exercise encourages the mind to move beyond routine thinking. Over months and years, such habits create a more creative thinker. More generally, you train your brain to be more aware of what you want to do, and what are better decisions to make. Even if you create nothing new, you benefit from a better understanding of why you may already be on the best available track. Just as exercise has the byproduct of making you healthier, creative thinking makes you more alert and, all around, more intelligent.

Remember, creativity is one of the most elusive of human abilities. Don’t expect miracles right away.

6.     Creativity in Children Is Different

Young children are among the most naturally creative members of society. Their creativity is evident in imaginative play, storytelling, experimentation, and unconventional problem-solving. A cardboard box can become a castle, a spaceship, or a pirate ship, and simple objects are routinely transformed into something entirely new through the child's imagination. Because they have not yet learned many of the rules and assumptions that guide adult thinking, children are often willing to explore possibilities that adults might dismiss.

In an important sense, children are continually "creating their world." Developmental psychologists have argued that children do not merely absorb information; they actively construct their understanding of reality. As they encounter new experiences, they build and revise mental models of how the world works. Every new discovery requires them to reorganize and expand their understanding.

However, children do not create from nothing. Their imagination draws upon the people, stories, language, and experiences available to them. Creativity is therefore not the invention of entirely new ideas but the novel combination and transformation of existing ones. A child's fantasy world is built from pieces of the real world rearranged in fresh and surprising ways.

The remarkable creativity of childhood suggests that human beings are born with a strong capacity for imaginative thinking. The challenge of adulthood is not to become creative directly but to retain the curiosity, flexibility, and willingness to explore that characterize childhood while adding the knowledge, discipline, and judgment that come with experience. In this sense, creativity is the lifelong partnership between the imagination of the child and the wisdom of the adult.

7.     Where Creativity Is Least

Creativity is delimited by environmental conditions. Creativity is minimized in societies (or sub-societies) that prioritize conformity, obedience, hierarchy, and tight social norms over individual deviation, experimentation, or dissent. We offer four examples, two of which are specific.

A.    “Tight” cultures with strong social norms and low tolerance for deviance may punish creativity. Societies characterized by cultural “tightness” (e.g., historical or contemporary examples influenced by strong Confucian traditions, or places like Singapore, Malaysia, or parts of traditional East Asia) enforce obedience, respect for hierarchy/age, and harmony. Originality is actively suppressed because it implies dissent. Studies show these environments produce fewer radical breakthroughs and penalize uniqueness in favor of usefulness and group cohesion.

B.    Authoritarian or totalitarian regimes also show delimitations on creativity. Whether historical (Stalin-era Soviet Union) or contemporary, these systems treat innovation as a potential threat to security and control. Bureaucratic and institutional objectives explicitly suppress creativity and innovation; creative individuals’ risk being labeled “dangerous.” Dissent is repressed. Technical or incremental creativity may be tolerated (or even encouraged) if it serves state goals, but broader social, artistic, or abstract creativity is minimized. Such machine-like regimes can make great strides for a few decades, but their rigidity is not to their advantage for continued success.

C.    Military regiments are textbook cases. The core structure is authoritarian and bureaucratic. The chain of command, uniformity, groupthink, and intolerance for deviation. Research on military creativity explicitly identifies the “hierarchical command structure” and its emphasis on conformity, dogmatism, and anti-intellectualism as the primary obstacles. Creativity here is channeled narrowly (e.g., tactical adaptations in combat) but is actively discouraged when it challenges doctrine or protocol. This environment rewards following orders, not questioning or varying them.

D.    Monasteries (and similar religious orders) operate on vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity, plus rigid daily routines (prayer, work, silence). Individual expression is subordinated to collective discipline and tradition. While medieval monasteries did produce real creative outputs (illuminated manuscripts, early brewing techniques, land-reclamation innovations, musical notation, and the preservation of classical knowledge), this creativity was strictly bound, tradition-preserving, and devotional rather than radical or disruptive. The structure itself minimizes the kind of free-wheeling, abstract recombination notions described above. Cults have similar restrictions.

Bringing this closer to home, we conclude that families with rigid rules and relationships have similar conditions for the lack of creativity. If there is no safe space for trial and error, punishment for failure or deviation, strong pressure toward conformity and obedience, low psychological safety, and a high emphasis on hierarchy/tradition, divergent thinking is replaced by convergent thinking; the very essence of creativity is stultified. Children must be given space to explore life, which may lead to genuine creativity later on. Rigidity in all its forms is anathema to creativity.

8.     Conclusion

Creativity is not merely a gift bestowed upon a fortunate few. It is a learned capability that grows through practice. It begins with small variations on familiar things, develops through reflective consideration of improvements and alternatives, and eventually expands into sophisticated forms of abstract thought. Whether in practical tasks or theoretical endeavors, creativity consists largely of rearranging existing knowledge into new and useful forms. The more frequently individuals engage in this process, the more creative they become. Thus, creativity is best understood not as a fixed trait but as a skill that can be cultivated through deliberate effort, thoughtful observation, and continual practice. Creativity is within the realm of almost all of us. It remains to try. And mind you, this does not imply allowing more creative answers in math class!

Addressing AI, we note that it is imperative that humans pay more heed to their rather unique talent for creativity. Every school and college should openly encourage it, whether in specific courses or in the everyday classroom. While there are hundreds of courses on this topic now offered here and there, it should be covered universally across all grades and schools.

References

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3.     Koestler, A. (1964). The Act of Creation. New York, NY: Macmillan.

4.     Boden, M. A. (2004). The Creative Mind: Myths and Mechanisms (2nd ed.). London, England: Routledge.

5.     Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Römer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100(3), 363–406. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.100.3.363

6.     Simonton, D. K. (1999). Origins of Genius: Darwinian Perspectives on Creativity. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

7.     Sternberg, R. J. (2006). The nature of creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 18(1), 87–98. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1801_10

8.     Amabile, T. M. (1996). Creativity in Context. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

9.     Schön, D. A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York, NY: Basic Books.

10.  Dewey, J. (1933). How We Think. Boston, MA: D.C. Heath.

11.  Jean Piaget (1952). The Origins of Intelligence in Children.

12.  Vygotsky, Lev (2004). Imagination and Creativity in Childhood.

13.  Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1996). Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention.

14.  Robinson, Ken (2011). Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative.

 

 

©2026 G Donald Allen