Creativity in engineering: novel solutions to complex problems

348 Pages·2015·2.037 MB·English

by  Cropley, David H

CREATIVITY IN ENGINEERING
EXPLORATIONS
IN CREATIVITY
RESEARCH
Series Editor
James C. Kaufman
CREATIVITY IN
ENGINEERING
Novel Solutions to Complex
Problems
David H. Cropley
UniversityofSouthAustralia
MawsonLakes,SA,Australia
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Dedication
“Invention, strictly speaking, is little more than a new combination of those
images which have been previously gathered and deposited in the memory.
Nothing can come of nothing. He who has laid up no materials can produce no
combinations.”
SirJoshuaReynolds,11723(cid:1)1792
“... innovation is the only mechanism that can actually change things in sub-
stantiveways.Innovationiswherecreativethinkingandpracticalknow-howmeet
todonewthingsinnewways,andoldthingsinnewways.”
Dr.CharlesVest,21941(cid:1)2013
1ADiscourseDeliveredtotheStudentsoftheRoyalAcademy,ontheDistributionofthe
Prizes,December11,1769,bythePresident.(Seehttp://www.gutenberg.org/files/2176/
2176-h/2176-h.htm).
2President,U.S.NationalAcademyofEngineering,2007(cid:1)2013.
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Contents
ListofFigures xi
ListofTables xiii
Foreword xv
Preface xvii
1. Introduction 1
TheSputnikShock 1
TheLinkbetweenCreativityandEngineering 5
WhatIsCreativity? 6
TheDefinitionofCreativity 7
TheFourPsofCreativity 8
TheFifthP 9
ParadoxesofCreativity 11
Summary 11
2. The Importance of Creativity in Engineering 13
TheEconomicsofCreativity 13
EngineeringandEngineers 15
Change 16
TheNeedforCreativity 19
CreativeEngineeringProblemSolving 22
TheOilCrisisof1973 24
CaseStudy:CreativityandInnovationinAerospace 27
3. Phases: Creativity and the Design Process 35
ProblemSolvingandCreativity 35
KnowledgeandProblemSolving 36
ProblemRecognition 37
IdeaGeneration 40
IdeaEvaluation 41
SolutionValidation 42
GeneralModelsofCreativeProblemSolving 43
EngineeringProblemSolving:Design 49
EngineeringModelsofDesign 56
vii
viii
CONTENTS
4. Product: The Creativity of Things 63
WhatAreProducts? 64
TheFundamentalCriteriaoftheCreativityofProducts 66
TheHierarchicalOrganizationofCreativeProducts 68
ProductCreativityasaSystem 71
LatentFunctionalCreativity 73
MeasuringtheCreativityofProducts 74
IndustrialDesignandEngineering 85
Summary 85
5. Process: Generating Creative Ideas 87
UnsystematicCreativity 88
SystematicProductionofNovelty 92
ThinkingTacticsThatGenerateVariability 96
UsingCreativity-FacilitatingCognitiveStyles 101
Meta-Cognition 103
MeasuringDivergentThinking 105
ConvergentThinking:ThePreparedMind 116
KnowledgeandCreativity 120
TheInteractionbetweenDivergentandConvergentThinking 123
ModelsofConvergentandDivergentInteraction 125
Summary 129
6. Person: The Who of Creativity 131
TheSearchfortheCreativePersonality 132
CreativityandMentalIllness 133
StudyingPersonalityandCreativity:Methods 137
StudyingCreativityandPersonality:Results 140
Personality-FacilitatingTraits 141
TheDynamicsofPersonalityandCreativity 149
TheParadoxicalPersonality 153
ADynamicSystem 154
DiagnosingtheCreativityofPeople 155
PsychologicalDimensionsofCreativePotential 156
Summary 167
7. Press: Creativity and the Role of the Environment 169
TheSocialEnvironment 170
TheSocialDefinitionofWhatisCreative 174
Motivation:TheSocialNatureoftheCreativeImpulse 182
TheInstitutionalEnvironmentandCreativity 193
CreativityandGender 201
ix
CONTENTS
GroupsandCreativity 207
AssessingtheOrganizationalClimate 210
Summary 215
8. Innovation: Exploiting Creativity 217
DefiningInnovation 218
CompetitionandInnovation 220
UnderstandingInnovation 220
TheInnovationPhaseAssessmentInstrument(IPAI) 221
Summary 226
9. Creativity Training 227
CanCreativityBeTaught? 228
TheEffectivenessofCreativityTraining 229
WhyDoWeNeedtoTeachCreativity? 232
WhatAbilitiesNeedtoBeTrained? 233
Domain-SpecificityandCreativityTraining 236
GeneralApproachestoCreativityTraining 238
FosteringCreativityinIndividualPeople 239
SpecificCreativity-FacilitatingTechniques 244
10. Embedding Creativity in Engineering Education 257
TheProblem 258
StakeholderPerspectives 260
BenefitsofCreativityinEducation 267
FixingtheProblem 268
DesigningaCurriculumforEngineeringCreativity 273
Summary 291
ConcludingRemarks 292
References 295
Index 315