The Domains

Much of human knowledge is symbolic in nature, we understand the world through shared references, metaphors, cliches and other approximations. This symbolic knowledge is bundled into units called domains. There are millions of small and large domains, from Gregorian chanting to Accountancy, each with their own rules, notations, and intricacies. Shared domains add up to create culture, and as domains change so to does the culture.

We use domains as our primary means of making money, I will be an accountant, or a nurse, a social worker or an artist. For better or worse we structure our organisations around the domains, we have functional specialties in Accounting, Human Resources, Operations etc.

Domains are made of three dimensions

• Clarity of structure
  
• Centrality within the culture
• Accessibility to information / knowledge / symbols of the domain

Csikszentmihalyi gives an illustrative example of how domains can be used to predict the creativity of an organisation. Suppose we have two drug companies, each structured in similar ways and spending the same amount on research and development how might we predict which one will come up with a new drug first?

To answer the question we need to know three facts, Which has the most detailed data about pharmacology, effects etc? Which has the best way of disseminating information? Where is it easier to test hypotheses?

The organisation where knowledge is better structured, more central and more accessible will usually be he more creative and more likely to develop new drugs. The same is true for any domain within an organisation

A systems approach to creativity

So if individual creativity is only half the picture, what does the whole picture look like?

Csikszentmihalyi believes creativity can be seen in the relationship three interrelated parts, the domain, the field and the individual.

The domain is a set of symbolic rules and procedures, these can exist at more and more granular levels, for example biology is a domain, with genetics, molecular biology etc as domains within the broader domain. In business functional departments can be seen as domains, HR, Finance, projects etc.

The field are the gatekeepers of the domain, these are the "experts" who allow new information, ideas and products into the domain. In modern organisations the field/s could be senior managers, experts in a particular discipline, or even cohesive teams.

Individuals can be consideredcreative when he uses the symbols, rules and procedures of the domain to invent some new idea or product which is accepted by in it's field and becomes part of the domain. As new ideas become part of the domain new individuals use these innovations to make new creative discoveries and so the system moves on continually improving itself.

A systems definition of creativity then would be:

An act, idea or product which changes an existing domain into a new on. A creative individual is: someone whose thoughts or actions change a domain or establish a new domain.

What is creativity?

While the definition of creativity has changed over time, we tend -particularly as westerners, since the enlightenment - to view creativity as a process which happens inside peoples heads. Individuals are creative, and attracting and retaining these kinds of individuals builds creative institutions and organisations. A popular definition which most people would agree with would be:

'an idea or action which is new and valuable'

The problem with this definition is one of context, who decides what is new and valuable? The individual? Society? Institutions?

Organisations looking to attract creative individuals are only seeing half the picture, what if creativity is emergent from within the system? What if creativity is actually dependeant on the cultural boundaries of the organisation? What would the conditions for improving creativity be? How could organisations utilise these conditions to create more innovative structures and cultures?

The psychology of creativity

If like me you have attended or delivered creativity courses you have probably heard about brainstorming, goal setting, inductive and deductive reasoning, six thinking hats and the like. But none of the courses I have seen have much to say about creativity itself. How do we define it? What are the conditions under which creativity "appears"? Are some people born more creative? What can organisations do at a macro level to encourage creativity? What value does it actually add?

This is the start of a series of blog posts exploring the work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the University of Chicago psychologist and business lecturer, leader in the field of positive psychology and in possession of one of the most unpronounceable surnames in modern psychology. His defining contribution (to date) has been the idea of flow: a state of concentration and complete absorption in an activity which leads to a perfect state of happiness.

Csikszentmihalyi studied creativity by interviewing hundreds of people who are considered creative in their field, including poets, novelists, and Nobel prize winners in various disciplines. Among his more interesting observations on the psychology of creativity include:

• Creative people tend to be happy and positive people not suffering artists.
  
• It is much easier to change the system or culture to encourage creativity than to make individuals more creative.
• People cannot be considered creative unless they are recognised as such by peers in their particular domain or specialty.

Future posts will expand on these points and explore the applications for organisational learning.

About this blog

This blog is about new psychology research, particularly in cognition, social psychology and therapy and the applications for learning and training, in a corporate environment. My hope is that this will be a resource allowing those working in education or training to be able to incorporate new thinking and interesting material with existing management content. The blog will focus on theory, both old and new, exercises to use in seminars, videos, and online content, to promote a more scientific and modern take on management theory.