creativity

/ˈkrieɪˌtɪvədi/

/krieɪˈtɪvɪti/

Creativity is the ability to transcend the ordinary. It's the critical thinking skill that allows you to "think outside the box" to come up with original solutions to problems.

We often think of creativity as limited to the arts, but it is a necessary element in all areas of life. Without creativity we would not have the mathematical theories that presented us with fractals, or the technological imagination that could foresee people walking on the moon. It was creativity that harnessed lightning into electricity and later used that electricity to send messages through wires. Without creativity, we probably would never have invented the wheel or domesticated fire!

Definitions of creativity

1. noun

   the ability to create
   synonyms: creative thinking, creativeness

   types:

   fecundity, fruitfulness

   the intellectual productivity of a creative imagination

   flight

   passing above and beyond ordinary bounds

   genius, wizardry

   exceptional creative ability

   imagination, imaginativeness, vision

   the formation of a mental image of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses

   conception, design, excogitation, innovation, invention

   the creation of something in the mind

   cleverness, ingeniousness, ingenuity, inventiveness

   the power of creative imagination

   fictitious place, imaginary place, mythical place

   a place that exists only in imagination; a place said to exist in fictional or religious writings

   fancy

   a kind of imagination that was held by Coleridge to be more casual and superficial than true imagination

   fantasy, phantasy

   imagination unrestricted by reality

   imagination, resource, resourcefulness

   the ability to deal resourcefully with unusual problems

   concoction

   the invention of a scheme or story to suit some purpose

   contrivance

   the faculty of contriving; inventive skill

   dream, dreaming

   imaginative thoughts indulged in while awake

   imaginary being, imaginary creature

   a creature of the imagination; a person that exists only in legends or myths or fiction

   type of:

   ability, power

   possession of the qualities (especially mental qualities) required to do something or get something done