Creativity — Meaning, Definition, and How This Core Value Shapes Your Life
What Is Creativity as a Core Value?
Creativity values original thinking, recombination, and novel expression. Those high in Creativity challenge assumptions and generate fresh possibilities.
Why Creativity Matters
Honoring Creativity helps you:
- solve problems in unconventional ways,
- adapt when old methods stall,
- differentiate products or messages,
- discover hidden opportunities.
How Creativity Shows Up (High vs. Low Expression)
High Expression
- experiments with alternative approaches,
- iterates rapidly on drafts,
- challenges limiting constraints,
- blends influences across domains.
Low Expression
- sticks rigidly to precedent,
- fears deviating from norms,
- avoids blank‑page exploration,
- copies without synthesis.
Common Challenges of High Creativity
- difficulty finishing and shipping,
- scope creep through experimentation,
- resistance to needed structure,
- misalignment with linear planners.
Creativity in Conflict With Other Values
Creativity vs. Tradition
Tradition preserves the established forms; Creativity alters or discards them.
Tension: continuity of legacy vs. inventive evolution.
Creativity vs. Discipline
Discipline enforces routines and repeatable efficiency; Creativity disrupts patterns to explore variety.
Tension: dependable cadence vs. exploratory divergence.
Examples of Creativity in Daily Life
- Prototyping multiple solutions before committing.
- Remixing ideas from unrelated fields.
- Reframing a stale problem with a new metaphor.
- Iterating visuals or wording to improve resonance.