The Four Principle Characteristics of Creative Individuals

There is a common misconception that creativity is an innate skill. Many believe that people like Henry James and Leonardo da Vinci were simply born with the characteristics that have propelled them to success. As I conducted research on the minds of these creative individuals, I discovered that many of them share common traits that allow them to augment their creativity. One book chapter that thoroughly described these traits is Joseph G. Mason’s “How To Develop Ideas.” Mason is the author of the book, How to Build Your Management Skills, and has conducted research on the traits of creative individuals through the use of studies. Throughout his chapter, he perfectly illustrates the four primary characteristics of creative individuals and states that the traits can be acquired or developed by most people.

What Are The Four Primary Characteristics of Creative Individuals?

Problem Sensitivity

Problem sensitivity “is basically the ability to recognize that a problem exists…If you can learn to recognize problems as challenges to your own creative effort, you will be half-way to finding creative solutions to such opportunities” (Mason, 1987). In other words, in the order to improve our creativities, we must discover the problems that are present in many of our situations. Once we recognize the problems, we can view them as obstacles that we must use our creative efforts to overcome. Continual use of our creative efforts will gradually improve our creativities and thus allow us to eventually become creative individuals.

Problem sensitivity, in my opinion, is one of the most characteristics to have for the development of any skill. It is a characteristic that can help you enhance your problem-solving skills, communication skills, leadership skills, etc. I was aware of this prior to reading Mason’s chapter, which is one of the many reasons I’ve accelerated my development of this characteristic ever since my entrance to college. I knew that I had developed various poor characteristics within my high school career that hindered me in my educational and creative endeavors. In order to eliminate those traits, I had to develop great problem sensitivity. To do that, I kept a notebook that I updated on a daily basis that consisted of the problems that I noticed in my daily routines and habits. At the end of every week, I would try to solve the problems by thinking of a multitude of creative solutions and attempting to implement those solutions into my daily life.

Idea Fluency

Idea fluency directly connects to problem sensitivity. By this, I mean that it is a concept that can help us choose the ideal solution to a particular problem. Idea fluency “simply means that a person can pile up a large number of alternative solutions to a given problem in a given time. The value of this lies in the fact that the more ideas you have, the greater your chances of finding a usable one; the more plentiful your opportunities to get out of the same old ways of doing things” (Mason, 1987). In other words, the more potential solutions you have to a problem, the better. If a potential solution were to fail, you’d wouldn’t have to resort back to a blank page as you can simply test the next idea.

This is exactly what I did in my notebook that I mentioned in the “Problem Sensitivity” section. For the various problems that I recognized, I thought of multiple solutions to them and wrote them in my notebook. By doing that, I created lists of solutions to particular problems. This allowed me to simply run a plethora of trials and tribulation experiments in which each idea was tested and graded by an arbitrary metric that I thought of. The idea that had the highest grade was the idea that I would stick by as I knew it was the most beneficial during that time period.

Originality

The third characteristic that Mason mentions is originality. Originality within creative individuals is “that of finding new ways to vary existing conditions, or new ways to adapt existing ideas to new conditions, or a new modification of something that will fit in an existing condition” (Mason, 1987). In other words, originality doesn’t necessarily refer to thinking of completely new ideas. It includes modifying existing ideas or combining various existing ideas together to create new concepts to help us concoct solutions to the problems we possess.

This is one characteristic that I believe I do have but it can be significantly improved. With certain concepts that greatly interest me, my originality is at its peak as I am always trying to implement new ideas or modify existing ideas. A case in point would my studying patterns. I’m always looking for ideas to improve my efficiency when I study for exams or things of that nature. In fact, the question, “What is the best way to study?”, is still present in my notebook. I’m continually modifying and creating new concepts to find the ideal solution to that question. In areas that don’t interest me as much, I lack originality due to the fact that I am simply not motivated enough to construct original ideas. In order to solve that problem, Mason states that I should question aspects of those areas because a questioning nature can lead to an overwhelming curiosity which sparks original and creative ideas.

Flexibility

The final pervasive characteristic present within many creative individuals, according to Mason, is flexibility. He states that it revolves around the idea “of being willing to consider a wide variety of approaches to a problem…Rather than obstinately freezing onto one particular idea, or a single approach to a problem, the flexible person starts out by remembering that if one solution won’t work, he can always approach the problem from another angle” (1987). In other words, we should attempt to consider multiple ideas and angles rather than give in to our stubbornness and devote all of our time to one idea. An individual who is flexible considers multiples ideas in order to discover what idea(s) works best in certain situations.

Flexibility is one characteristic that I struggle with. With all the ideas and potential solutions that I have placed within my notebook, I tend to struggle with jumping from one idea to the other. My stubbornness leads me to stick to one idea and attempt to make it work regardless of how difficult it may be. According to Mason, my thought process is like this due to mental blocks that inhibit my creativity (1987). He states that I need to develop a healthy skepticism about the ideas that I have in order to continually test multiple ideas as opposed to firmly sticking to one (1987). This mindset will help me find the ideal idea(s) and heighten my creativity.

Conclusion

The only way to develop the characteristics mentioned in this blog post is through practice. I plan on attempting to implement these characteristics into my life and I intend on starting today! By constantly practicing our development of these characteristics, we can all evolve into the creative individuals we aspire to be.

References:

Mason, J.G. (1987). How to develop ideas. In A.D. Timpe (Ed.), Creativity (pp. 12–21). New York, NY: Facts on Life Publications.