Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Hungarian, has written many books about creativity and happiness. Some of the center core of his arguments come from the notion of motivation, and happiness. When we are happy our "flow" increases.
Flow- a state of concentration or complete absorption with the activity at hand and the situation.
Edward de Bono
He came up with the concept of
Lateral Thinking which stands for changing the way we think.
Six Thinking Hats- each hat is a different style of thinking. This method helps us understand problems by changing our "hat" and see the problem with different view of professionals.
Teresa Amabile
She studies how life in a corporation/ organization can influence people and their overall performance. In her book
"The Progress Principle" she explains the confluence of emotions, perceptions, and motivations that people experience as they react to their jobs.
Roger von Oech
He is an innovator, inventor and a creative thinker. His work tries to stimulate creativity and innovate business. Has written the following books "A Whack on the Side of the Head", "A Kick in the Seat of the Pants", "Expect the Unexpected" and his most famous work
"Creative Whack Pack"
Graham Wallas
Famous for the
Wallas Model of the Process of Creativity which consists in:
Preparation (definition of issue, observation and study)
Incubation (laying the issue aside for a time)
Illumination( the moment when a new idea finally emerges)
Verification (checking it out)
His model explains the notion that creative thinking is a subconscious process, and cannot be directed. It must left alone, and it will come naturally.
Sigmund Freud
Founding father of Psychoanalysis. He developed different techniques such as
"Free Association" which stands for the importance of patients speaking for themselves, rather than the analyst doing all the talking, "transference", and was big on the study of dreams and their representation. Another big discovery was his theory of the
"unconscious mind"- processes int he mind that occur automatically and are not available to introspection, and include thought process, memory affect and motivation.
Ellis Paul Torrance
Known for the
Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) and as the "Father of Modern Creativity". "courageous risk-taking is essential for creativity".
J. P. Guilford
American psychologist whose work emphasized the idea that scores on intelligence tests cannot sustain the superiority of a person, or groups of people. He believed that
most creative people scored low on standard IQ exams because they take a different approach to resolve the problem. "Intelligence consists of numerous intellectual abilities"
Alex Osborn
He was the
"Father of the Brainstorming". He believed that if judgement was suspended, then the imagination could produce ideas.
John Cleese/Monthy Python
English writer, comedian, and film producer. He co-funded
"Monty Python's Flying Circus" a comedy.
John Lennon/ Beatles
English musician, singer and sonwriter and founder member of the rock band the Beatles. Political and peace activist, he was big on anti-war movements.
Steve Jobs
He was an
American entrepreneur, futurist, visionary, marketer and inventor. He was the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Apple and Pixar Animation Studios. Often referred to as the "Father of the Digital Revolution" and a "Design perfectionist".
Marcel Duchamp
French American painter, sculptor, writer and chess player. His work is associated with the Dadaist movement- which was born pout of negative reaction to the horrors of WWI. Duchamp wanted to put art back in the service of the mind.
The Fountain 1917
(Readymades) L.H.O.O.Q 1919
Ted Talk on Creativity
Erik Johansson: Impossible Photography
"All the tools are out there, the only thing that limits us is our imagination"
Erik is an avid photographer and photoshop master. He captures images and mixes them together to create impossible scenes which are his pre-meditated works of art. He believes that everyone can be a photographer, and that the process of taking a photograph ends when the photo is taken... but he is a visionary and he likes to do things differently. Instead of ending his route after pressing the shooter, he actually commences his journey.
He starts his creative process by planning, sketching, and combining different images to create a manipulated elaborated realist image. This is fascinating because he uses different images to create a personal visual, a personal work of art. I admire this because as he said, photography ends when you take the photograph, yet his work starts there, transforming his images into a bigger, stronger creative, elaborate work of art.
"I use images as a way of collecting material to realize the ideas in my mind."
Let's leave
Drifting away