Let's Just See What Happens: A Qualitative Case Study of Risk and Uncertainty in the Creative Process

Abstract

Research in creativity often measures creative potential: the number of ideas which can be generated, or the way a novel thought appears in the mind of the thinker. There is much less emphasis on creative thought during the realization of this potential. This paper uses focused cognitive ethnography to explore how creativity is manifest in a complex environment. We report four main findings: that creativity involves a form of “knowing through doing,” that creativity requires risk on different levels, that an embodied material sensitivity is required to make ideas appear in the world and that the form of the creative product is often unstable. We end with some reflections on the importance of detailed microgenetic work to expand our understanding of the embodied and responsive skills which are necessary for creativity.

Enactychism: Enacting chance in creative material engagement

“…Understanding the temporality of accident is essential for understanding the situated agency that it has and, crucially, the skill to realise its creative potential (Ross & Vallée-Tourangeau, 2021; 2022; Ross & Grove, 2023). Two preconditions: (a) we choose carefully the time window that we hypothesise best encapsulates the accident we want to describe (different chance phenomena and creative processes may take place over different time scales) and (b) we situate the chosen time window within the broader creative process to see if it constitutes a meaningful event in the larger entanglement of forces and transformations that make up the creative activity we seek to explain (bearing in mind that the perception and experience of time is practice based and culturally variable).…”

The Dynamic Componential Model of Creativity: A Theoretical Framework for Fostering Creative Teaching in Higher Education

“…Since creativity entails a type of "knowing through doing" (Ross & Groves, 2023), it is inherently a risky activity. The development of new ideas to full implementation depends in part on the willingness of senior leadership to take reasonable risks and the mechanisms to support the development of new ideas (Amabile & Pratt, 2016).…”

“…And for ideas to be manifested in the world, a concrete material sensitivity is needed. Ross and Groves (2023) utilized findings from their extensive observational research to support the notion that creativity not only encompass the internal skills to generate novel ideas but also the ability to manifest creativity externally by effectively working with tangible materials. This implies that teachers need to be able to translate their ideas into concrete actions and demonstrate these creative ideas through practical manipulation or utilization of tangible materials.…”