2 Creativity
2.1 Introduction
Entrepreneurship is about creativity, right? Why then, as a teacher, do you sometimes revert to writing business plans and do less to stimulate creative thinking in your pupils and students? After a short brainstorm in class, you sometimes go into step-by-step plan mode, without really exploring the problem and looking for alternatives. What is creative thinking and can it be used at all in education? What is the truth of popular statements that school kills creativity? To start with the latter, the reality is that schools are very important learning environments for the development of creative thinking, and that it helps if you delve a little deeper into the role of creativity in business and how you, as a school, can make a valuable contribution to that. Research is quite clear about this [1]. The importance of creativity in schools has recently been reaffirmed by the scientists involved in PISA - the Programme for International Student Assessment. In addition to the focus on mathematics, in 2022/2023 PISA will also include creative thinking in its test battery. In short, it is therefore important to gain a better understanding of what exactly is meant by creative thinking in business, and how you can contribute to this in school environments.
2.2 Insights
It was Joseph Schumpeter, the famous Austrian economist, who in the first half of the twentieth century put entrepreneurship at the centre, and who saw creative thinking as an important task of the entrepreneur. After all, the entrepreneur was the one who had to come up with 'neue Kombinationen'. Although not all opportunities have a creative origin [see: Spotting opportunities], opportunities in their most rudimentary form are often new ideas [2]. Creative thinking and opportunity-seeking are therefore closely related. Creativity is often seen in the perspective of new and original. This does not necessarily mean new for the world, but can also be new for a specific group of users, region, community, market, sector, industry, and so on. This newness and originality also relates to another term that is often associated with entrepreneurship: innovation. After all, innovative entrepreneurship is not just about more of the same, but also about new directions being explored. This is important because modern challenges sometimes require completely new approaches. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), the worldwide thermometer for entrepreneurship, the proportion of (starting) entrepreneurs in the Netherlands who say they are working on a really new product or service has decreased over the last ten years [3]. There is work to be done!
Novelty and appropriateness
In the first place, creative thinking in entrepreneurship is about novelty, thinking 'out of the box', in order to achieve innovation, for example. However, creative thinking in entrepreneurship is also about concreteness and applicability of ideas [see also: Valuing ideas]. These elements of creative thinking are important because ideas only have entrepreneurial value at the moment they add something to an existing situation [see: Spotting opportunities].
Creative thinking also remains important in the subsequent steps of entrepreneurship. Creative thinking, and creativity in general, is linked by many researchers directly to other competences such as problem-solving ability, social skills and school success in general [4]. In short, you can say that creative thinking in entrepreneurship is about originality/newness, concreteness and the degree of appropriateness, and thus also the usefulness of ideas for further business.
Using creative thinking
Part of the teachers' reluctance to get to grips with creative thinking lies in the misconception that creativity is primarily the exclusive domain of the arts subjects. Only a minority of teachers see creative thinking in relation to processes such as choosing solutions, figuring out how something works, looking at things from different angles, or connecting different ideas [5]. That there is a lot you can do as a teacher to stimulate creative thinking becomes clear in a nice experiment by Dawn DeTienne and Gaylen Chandler [6]. In that experiment, they used the SEEC (Securing, Expanding, Exposing, Challenging) model, which states that creative thinking can be fostered by paying attention to 1) documenting ideas; 2) deepening and expanding opportunities to access new ideas; and 3) challenging ideas. Students who received these elements in training came up with more ideas and more original ideas. Moreover, the influence of training was greater than that of having a creative personality. Indeed, the study showed that both the 'creative' and the 'non-creative' benefited equally from this training. It is an important additional indication that entrepreneurship is much more a matter of learning than of character. The explanation is not so complicated since we know from cognitive psychology that generating ideas requires retrieving domain- or problem-related knowledge and combining different types of knowledge. Both processes are important in order to generate not only many ideas but also new, original ideas. The SEEC model makes good use of this. At the same time, too much expertise can also lead to what psychology calls the 'fixation effect' in creativity, because examples, mental associations or previously acquired knowledge prevent alternatives from being thought up.
Role of the group
Another interesting question that often arises in typical idea generation sessions such as brainstorming is what the role of a group is. Often those kinds of sessions are held in interactive, preferably interdisciplinary groups. However, research shows that groups are far from being ideal environments for idea generation. Despite the sacred belief in teams for brainstorming, it is sometimes better to let individuals come up with ideas on their own first. The main reason why individuals generate fewer ideas in groups than they would first do individually is the so-called blocking effect. This effect occurs because in a group discussion individuals tend to block or prevent other people from contributing ideas. There are currently researchers who suggest using online learning environments for brainstorming. In online learning environments, it is much easier to alternate between synchronous and asynchronous work and to use scripts and prompts to prevent both fixation and blocking effects.
Finally, as far as testing is concerned, there is a great risk that testing creativity in a measurable and summative way will drastically narrow the concept. After all, students are used to working towards a good answer, whereas the emphasis in creativity should be on how you are going to approach something: an open learning process with room for different strategies. In promoting progress and making it visible, it is therefore an obvious step to use formative assessment (e.g. rubrics) and to collect portfolios of student work (see exercises below).
Novelty and appropriateness
In the first place, creative thinking in entrepreneurship is about novelty, thinking 'out of the box', in order to achieve innovation, for example. However, creative thinking in entrepreneurship is also about concreteness and applicability of ideas [see also: Valuing ideas]. These elements of creative thinking are important because ideas only have entrepreneurial value at the moment they add something to an existing situation [see: Spotting opportunities].
Creative thinking also remains important in the subsequent steps of entrepreneurship. Creative thinking, and creativity in general, is linked by many researchers directly to other competences such as problem-solving ability, social skills and school success in general [4]. In short, you can say that creative thinking in entrepreneurship is about originality/newness, concreteness and the degree of appropriateness, and thus also the usefulness of ideas for further business.
Using creative thinking
Part of the teachers' reluctance to get to grips with creative thinking lies in the misconception that creativity is primarily the exclusive domain of the arts subjects. Only a minority of teachers see creative thinking in relation to processes such as choosing solutions, figuring out how something works, looking at things from different angles, or connecting different ideas [5]. That there is a lot you can do as a teacher to stimulate creative thinking becomes clear in a nice experiment by Dawn DeTienne and Gaylen Chandler [6]. In that experiment, they used the SEEC (Securing, Expanding, Exposing, Challenging) model, which states that creative thinking can be fostered by paying attention to 1) documenting ideas; 2) deepening and expanding opportunities to access new ideas; and 3) challenging ideas. Students who received these elements in training came up with more ideas and more original ideas. Moreover, the influence of training was greater than that of having a creative personality. Indeed, the study showed that both the 'creative' and the 'non-creative' benefited equally from this training. It is an important additional indication that entrepreneurship is much more a matter of learning than of character. The explanation is not so complicated since we know from cognitive psychology that generating ideas requires retrieving domain- or problem-related knowledge and combining different types of knowledge. Both processes are important in order to generate not only many ideas but also new, original ideas. The SEEC model makes good use of this. At the same time, too much expertise can also lead to what psychology calls the 'fixation effect' in creativity, because examples, mental associations or previously acquired knowledge prevent alternatives from being thought up.
Role of the group
Another interesting question that often arises in typical idea generation sessions such as brainstorming is what the role of a group is. Often those kinds of sessions are held in interactive, preferably interdisciplinary groups. However, research shows that groups are far from being ideal environments for idea generation. Despite the sacred belief in teams for brainstorming, it is sometimes better to let individuals come up with ideas on their own first. The main reason why individuals generate fewer ideas in groups than they would first do individually is the so-called blocking effect. This effect occurs because in a group discussion individuals tend to block or prevent other people from contributing ideas. There are currently researchers who suggest using online learning environments for brainstorming. In online learning environments, it is much easier to alternate between synchronous and asynchronous work and to use scripts and prompts to prevent both fixation and blocking effects.
Finally, as far as testing is concerned, there is a great risk that testing creativity in a measurable and summative way will drastically narrow the concept. After all, students are used to working towards a good answer, whereas the emphasis in creativity should be on how you are going to approach something: an open learning process with room for different strategies. In promoting progress and making it visible, it is therefore an obvious step to use formative assessment (e.g. rubrics) and to collect portfolios of student work (see exercises below).
2.3 Further reading
[1] In his 2006 article, Keith Sawyer convincingly argued why, particularly in a knowledge economy, stimulating creativity should play an important central role in education, regardless of the domain or subject. Sawyer, R.K. (2006). Educating for innovation. Thinking skills and creativity, 1(1), 41-48.
[2] In this conceptual article by Peter Vogel the process from idea to opportunity is very nicely depicted. Vogel also does a good job of showing the difference between an idea and opportunity, and why it makes sense to distinguish between them. Vogel, P. (2017). From venture idea to venture opportunity. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 41(6), 943-971.
[3] For decades the Global Entrepreneurship Consortium (GEM) has been collecting comparative data in numerous countries on how many people want to start a business or are in the process of doing so. https://www.gemconsortium.org/
[4] Aleksandra Gajda and her colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 120 studies to examine the relationship between creativity and academic learning performance. This relationship was found to be robust. Gajda, A., Karwowski, M., & Beghetto, R. (2017). Creativity and academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109, 269-299.
[5] Diana Dekelaita-Mullet and her colleagues examined how teachers view creativity by analysing studies published in this area between 1999 and 2015. Mullet, D.R., Willerson, A., Lamb, K.N., & Kettler, T. (2016). Examining teacher perceptions of creativity: A systematic review of the literature. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 21, 9-30.
[6] The scientific paper testing the described SEEC model by researchers Dawn DeTienne and Gaylan Chandler. DeTienne, D.R., & Chandler, G.N. (2004). Opportunity identification and its role in the entrepreneurial classroom: A pedagogical approach and empirical test. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 3(3), 242-257.
[7] A formative assessment tool that measures both divergent and convergent thinking is the Formative Assessment of Student Creativity in School by Bill Lucas and colleagues. Lucas, B., Claxton, G., & Spencer, E. (2013). Progression in student creativity in school: First steps towards new forms of formative assessments. Available for download at: https://www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplaydocumentpdf/?cote=EDU/WKP(2013)1&docLanguage=En
[2] In this conceptual article by Peter Vogel the process from idea to opportunity is very nicely depicted. Vogel also does a good job of showing the difference between an idea and opportunity, and why it makes sense to distinguish between them. Vogel, P. (2017). From venture idea to venture opportunity. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 41(6), 943-971.
[3] For decades the Global Entrepreneurship Consortium (GEM) has been collecting comparative data in numerous countries on how many people want to start a business or are in the process of doing so. https://www.gemconsortium.org/
[4] Aleksandra Gajda and her colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 120 studies to examine the relationship between creativity and academic learning performance. This relationship was found to be robust. Gajda, A., Karwowski, M., & Beghetto, R. (2017). Creativity and academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109, 269-299.
[5] Diana Dekelaita-Mullet and her colleagues examined how teachers view creativity by analysing studies published in this area between 1999 and 2015. Mullet, D.R., Willerson, A., Lamb, K.N., & Kettler, T. (2016). Examining teacher perceptions of creativity: A systematic review of the literature. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 21, 9-30.
[6] The scientific paper testing the described SEEC model by researchers Dawn DeTienne and Gaylan Chandler. DeTienne, D.R., & Chandler, G.N. (2004). Opportunity identification and its role in the entrepreneurial classroom: A pedagogical approach and empirical test. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 3(3), 242-257.
[7] A formative assessment tool that measures both divergent and convergent thinking is the Formative Assessment of Student Creativity in School by Bill Lucas and colleagues. Lucas, B., Claxton, G., & Spencer, E. (2013). Progression in student creativity in school: First steps towards new forms of formative assessments. Available for download at: https://www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplaydocumentpdf/?cote=EDU/WKP(2013)1&docLanguage=En
2.4 Exercises for students
1) Photo assignment
Students are tasked with taking photos of their daily lives for an entire week in which they encounter problems or marvel at solutions or the lack of solutions. These photos can be taken in different environments that students find themselves in during their week: at home, at work, at school, and in leisure activities. The pictures taken are presented during the lesson and the insight is explained.
Explanation: Ideas often arise spontaneously, but are often just as spontaneously forgotten again. Encouraging and learning to document ideas is therefore a simple intervention for a teacher to stimulate creative thinking.
2) Beer mats assignment
An idea is drawn on a piece of paper (beer mat or napkin) by the student and then presented to five students from other disciplines who are asked to expand the idea based on their own experiences. Expanding means that something is added to the drawing which makes the idea expand.
Note: By offering specific exercises, such as these or, more generally, brainstorming, you as a teacher can further stimulate and strengthen divergent thinking. How you involve others is crucial. The fact that people have different disciplines or backgrounds does not mean that they will automatically share and combine them. That requires additional processes. When you start working in groups right away, these groups can very easily shoot off ideas too early, block them or divert attention because social processes come into play and the lack of a common language makes sharing ideas difficult.
3) The 5 euro challenge
A well-known assignment in which ideas are invented and immediately tested for their value. Students receive 5 euros from the teacher in an envelope. Students can use the 5 euros to create value for a target group (user/customer). This value can be economic, but also social or environmental. When the envelope is opened, the idea must be implemented within one hour. The process from idea to implementation must be documented by the student in a vlog. Any profit can be put back into the project for the next participants in the challenge.
Clarification: By critically evaluating ideas in and with practice, it quickly becomes clear whether ideas are worth developing further. The so-called window of opportunity also plays an important role in testing out ideas. Cheaply buying and selling ponchos only makes sense in the 5 euro challenge if students have investigated whether it will actually rain that day. Students who evaluate their ideas in the light of their own strengths, ambitions and networks will also find it quicker and easier to test their idea than if ideas remain stuck in dreams [see: Valuing ideas].
Students are tasked with taking photos of their daily lives for an entire week in which they encounter problems or marvel at solutions or the lack of solutions. These photos can be taken in different environments that students find themselves in during their week: at home, at work, at school, and in leisure activities. The pictures taken are presented during the lesson and the insight is explained.
Explanation: Ideas often arise spontaneously, but are often just as spontaneously forgotten again. Encouraging and learning to document ideas is therefore a simple intervention for a teacher to stimulate creative thinking.
2) Beer mats assignment
An idea is drawn on a piece of paper (beer mat or napkin) by the student and then presented to five students from other disciplines who are asked to expand the idea based on their own experiences. Expanding means that something is added to the drawing which makes the idea expand.
Note: By offering specific exercises, such as these or, more generally, brainstorming, you as a teacher can further stimulate and strengthen divergent thinking. How you involve others is crucial. The fact that people have different disciplines or backgrounds does not mean that they will automatically share and combine them. That requires additional processes. When you start working in groups right away, these groups can very easily shoot off ideas too early, block them or divert attention because social processes come into play and the lack of a common language makes sharing ideas difficult.
3) The 5 euro challenge
A well-known assignment in which ideas are invented and immediately tested for their value. Students receive 5 euros from the teacher in an envelope. Students can use the 5 euros to create value for a target group (user/customer). This value can be economic, but also social or environmental. When the envelope is opened, the idea must be implemented within one hour. The process from idea to implementation must be documented by the student in a vlog. Any profit can be put back into the project for the next participants in the challenge.
Clarification: By critically evaluating ideas in and with practice, it quickly becomes clear whether ideas are worth developing further. The so-called window of opportunity also plays an important role in testing out ideas. Cheaply buying and selling ponchos only makes sense in the 5 euro challenge if students have investigated whether it will actually rain that day. Students who evaluate their ideas in the light of their own strengths, ambitions and networks will also find it quicker and easier to test their idea than if ideas remain stuck in dreams [see: Valuing ideas].