Applied imagination; principles and procedures of creative think

344 Pages·2016·33.57 MB·English

by  Alex F. Osborn

APPLIED IMAGINATION

By Alex F. Osborn

Your Creative Power

Wake Up Your Mind

Applied Imagination

APPLIED
IMAGINATION

PRINCIPLES

AND

PROCEDURES

OF CREATIVE THINKING

By

ALEX
F. OSBORN, Ph.M.

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

NEW YORK

CoPYmGHT,
1953, BY Charlfs Scribner's Sons

All rights reserved. No part of
this book may he reproduced

in any form without the permission of Charles Scribner's Sons

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Dedicated to

the chancellor of the university of buffalo

Dr.
T. Raymond McConnell

of whom I am proud to be a colleague

A. F. O.

First printing October, 1953
.

Second printing April, 1954
.
.

Third printing June, 1954
.
.
.

Fourth printing October, 1954

Fifth printing June, 1955
.
.
.

Sixth printing October, 1955
.

Seventh printing February, 1956

Eighth
printing
April,
1956
.
.

.
5,000 copies

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Preface

The purpose of this book
is
to present the principles and pro-

cedures of creative thinking. The need for such a text has long
been recognized
educationally,
since
all
agree
that
intelligent

imaginative thinking
is of paramount importance.

This book presents workable methods which
utilize what
is

known about the creative imagination. The principles and pro-

cedures
set forth are
in no way revolutionary; they have been

known and used by creative thinkers, both artists and scientists,

for many centuries.

The revolutionary
aspect,
if such there
is,
is the
eflEect of a

formal and systematized approach to a
fuller utihzation of the

creative imagination. The primary
function
of
this book
is
to

enable the student the better to understand and to apply his own

innate creativity to all aspects of his personal and vocational life.

All human beings, to a greater or lesser degree, possess the

imaginative faculty. Whether this talent can be enlarged by train-

ing is questionable. The point
is that the student can be trained

to use more productively the talent which he innately possesses.
This training is subject to disciplines similar to those applicable

to the mastery of any subject. Incidentally, creative imagination

is itself a basic tool in the acquisition of knowledge;
for, knowl-

edge becomes more usable when imaginatively synthesized and
dynamically extended.

The history
of
civilization
is
essentially the record
of man's

creative
ability.
Imagination
is
the
cornerstone
of human
en-

deavor;
it
is, without doubt, responsible for man's survival as an

animal, and it has caused him, as a human being, to conquer the

world. It may well lead him to subdue the universe. The harness-

ing of atomic energy
is a recent spectacular triumph of the hu-

man imagination over almost insuperable odds. Modern society,
with its emphasis upon the progressive synthesis of technological

vn

viii
Preface

and pure science,
is admittedly dependent upon imagination
as

its life-blood. It
is axiomatic that to think intelligently
is to think

creatively.

An academic authority has asked this question, "Even though

students may learn a lot about creativity, can they thus actually

help themselves to become more creative?" A definite "yes" is the
answer of those who have specialized in creative pursuits. When

it comes to developing specific
skills of the mind, the value of

training
is
fairly provable.
Adults,
for
example, by
practicing

mental arithmetic for 20 minutes a day for 20 days, have more

than doubled their ability to calculate. While mathematics
is per-

haps more teachable than creativity,
it
is obvious that imagina-

tive ability can be improved through practice—enough, certainly,

to justify the time a student might devote to that end.

The most profound study of creativity ever undertaken
is the

Federally financed project which has been conducted for the last

four years
at the
University
of Southern
California under the

direction of Dr.
J. P. Guilford. In a recent summary of findings.

Dr. Guilford concluded:

"Like most behavior, creativity probablv represents to some ex-

tent many learned
skills. There mav be limitations
set on these

skills by heredity, but
I am convinced
that, through
learning,

one can extend the
skills within those limitations. The
least we

can do
is to remove the blocks that are often in the way."

One of those blocks
is student unawareness
of the fact that

everyone is gifted with a creati\^e potential. Other blocks include

lack
of understandino;
of how
creativitv
works, and
failure
to

realize that all of us can keep ourselves from becoming less crea-

tive, and can do much to make ourselves more creati\'e.

Is
creativity
"too
inexact"
to
teach?
Surely
this
subject can

qualify und^r the broad definition of scientia as "organized knowl-
ledge"—as opposed to the narrower definition of science as
"nj/-

merically organized" knowledge. As an
art, applied imagination

is of the same empirical character as music,
painting,
writing,

speaking, philosophy, ethics, religion and other such subjects which

are offered by many colleges and universities, and rightlv so.

"Is thcic
^.i(jeigii SUUStulicc
LO
Icacll.'
..^LiivL^aiy
all iou
..ulc

Preface
ix

is known about creativity; but why shouldn't students be exposed

to the amount that is known? We are
Jtill somewhat in the dark

about
colds,
cancer, and poHo;
yet
these
diseases
are not
ex-

cluded from medical education.

Known facts and tentative theories about creative imasfination

provide plenty of teachable substance. The principles are
fairly

clear. Some techniques, although unprecise,
are workable. But

even greater than such pedagogical material
is the limitless sub-

jective substance. For
if and when a student
is "introduced" to

his ov^oi creative power, he will find his own mind an ever-widen-

ing source of self-revelation.

"Let us suppose," said Professor HaiTy Overstreet, "that crea-

tive power is possessed by everybody; and that there are ways of

stimulating and of training
it which are capable of increasing
it

far bevond
its latent condition. Education would be revolution-

ized.
Its major energies would be directed toward the arousing

and training of the inventive powers. A society alive with inven-

tive power would, on the whole, be the most powerfully progres-

sive society."

Although we cannot count on education to prepare our minds

for every demand of later years, a higher order of resourcefulness
would enable us to
live better with ourselves and with
others.

Nothing can brighten our lives as much as a well-directed imagi-

nation. Then, too, education in creativity could help compensate

for our
loss
of those environmental
influences which formerly

forced us
to develop our imaginations. Thus
it could help pre-

serve our nation. Our very destiny may involve a race between

education and our ability to keep ahead creatively.

"The challenge confronts us as educators," said Dr. Paul Eaton,

"to develop ingenuity,
initiative, and resourcefulness. This chal-

lenge becomes the more important when we are brought to the

realization that the economic supremacv of our country may soon

rest upon the creative ability of our citizens rather than upon the

rich natural resources we once possessed."

My experience with experimental courses in creativitv has con-

vinced me that lesson-learning should be subordinated to prob-

lem-solving,
so that the students
will
learn by doing.
For
that

X
Preface

reason, each chapter in this book carries a hst of suggested "Exer-

cises," as well as "Topics." Although the latter will help in lesson-

learning, the students will probably profit far more from what-

ever exercises are assigned in and out of class.

It would take too much space to acknowledge properly and to

express my deep gratitude to the many people who have in one
way or another helped make
this book possible.
I should hke,

however,
to mention
particularly my indebtedness
to DeWitt

Wallace, Editor and Pubhsher of The Readers Digest, who, 14

years ago, started me on my major interest in creativity; to Bruce

Barton, my partner for 34 years, who has done much to clarify
my thinking on
this
subject; and
to Dr. Harry W. Hepner,
of

Syracuse University, who has guided me in the preparation
of

this volume, and of the accompanying Manual of Instruction.

Alex
F. Osborn

Contents

PREFACE
Vll

CHAPTER
I

1.
The all-importance of imagination
1

2.
Imagination made America
2

3.
Public problems need creativity
3

4.
Community problems
5

5.
America's domestic problems
6

6.
International salesmanship
7

7.
International statesmanship
9

TOPICS, EXERCISES, REFERENCES
11

CHAPTER
II

1.
Indispensability of creativity in science
13

2.
The essence of organized research
15

3.
Imagination in experimentation
18

4.
Imagination in scientific testing
20

TOPICS, EXERCISES, REFERENCES
21-22

CHAPTER
III

1.
Careers depend largely upon creativity
24

2.
Resourcefulness in seeking openings
25

3.
Creativity in presentation
28

4.
Imagination wins promotion
29

5.
The key to salesmanship
31

TOPICS, EXERCISES, REFERENCES
33

CHAPTER IV

1.
Creativity in leadership and in professions
35

2.
Successful leaders encourage creativity
35

xi