This document outlines Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's systems model of creativity. The model views creativity as occurring at the intersection of individuals, domains, and fields. It argues that external variables like culture, society, and the reactions of others must be considered to fully understand creativity. The model describes how culture influences creativity through domains, how society judges new ideas, and how individuals develop talents within a specific personal background. Overall, the systems model presents creativity as a social process that depends on interactions within and between the different systems involved.

1. Chapter 16: Implications of a Systems Perspective for the Study of Creativity Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Handbook of Creativity: edited by Robert J. Sternberg Samantha Rugani Catherine Cacheris AVD 6383 Creativity as Problem Solving

4. Why is the systems approach necessary / important?

5. Structure of the Systems Model

6. Culture

7. Culture as a set of domains

8. Role of the domain in the creative process

9. Society

10. How society is relevant to creativity

11. Role of the field within the Systems Model

12. Personal Background

13. The role of individuals in the creative process

15. SYSTEMS MODEL OF CREATIVITY: Source: http://www.cultural-science.org/journal/index.php/culturalscience/article/view/11/48 “Creativity is a process that can be observed only at the intersection where individuals, domains, and fields interact” (Sternberg, 314).

17. Accessibility

18. Differentiation: Number of Separate Domains

19. Integration of the culture

21. Tightly integrated information versus too loosely organized

22. Centrality of domain to culture (religion in the middle ages)

23. Accessibility (innovation is more difficult in elite domains)

24. How autonomous is the domain from the rest of the culture? (More difficult to produce variations in a subordinate domain)

30. One must be confident in ideas

31. Creativity must be recognized as it operates within a social system-must be supported by society “Instead of focusing exclusively on individuals, it will make more sense to focus on communities that may or may not nurture genius. In the last analysis, it is the community and not the individual who makes creativity manifest” (Sternberg, 333).

32. Connection: What's Behind Viral Success? Great Meme Marketing “Memes are the ideas, symbols or practices that naturally spread throughout a culture. These thoughts are the things that just seem to "catch on," whether it's coffee houses… or tight-rolling your jeans back in the '80s. The concept of measuring these "units of thought" is nothing new… the new opportunity marketers have now is to apply this study of memes (or, memetics) to how they create messages for their clients.” http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=139609

33. Memes: Social Media is the new flint blade “I can take a video clip and replicate the entire viewing experience on my blog or Facebook or MySpace. And in doing so, I've validated that meme, because the people watching it on my blog know ME. If they want to pass on the meme in the same way, all they have to do is copy-paste. Simply put, great memes are easy for consumers to reproduce.” -Eric Swayne, What’s Behind Viral Success? Great Meme Marketing

34. “ What’s the most resilient parasite? An Idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules. Which is why I have to steal it.” -Cobb, Inception

35. Connection 2: ADVERTISING Tropicana Discovers Some Buyers Are Passionate About Packaging New York Times, February 2009 New York Times, February 2009 Adage, April 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/business/media/23adcol.html?pagewanted=all http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ4yF4F74vc

36. Discussion Questions: 1. Do you think that any one of the three parts of the systems model is more important to the creativity process than others? 2. Can you think of ways in which the ideals of the systems model could negatively influence creativity? More specifically, how can the three areas of culture, society, and personal background have a negative impact on creativity? 3. What are, if any, the flaws of the systems model? 4. What are some examples of domains within our culture today that are particularly attractive and thus may result / have resulted in creative expansion? 5. How do you think the systems model study of creativity compares to the psychological study of creativity? Do you think the two should be examined separately or in conjunction with each other?

37. Discussion Questions: 6. Csikszentmihalyi states that “Original thought does not exist in a vacuum. It must operate on a set of already existing objects, rules, representation, or notions (315). If this is true, then how do we know if something is original and can be defined as creative if it is always based on something from the past? 7. What is the relationship between a culture and a domain? How does this relationship play out in the systems model? 8. Society today has an extremely large influence on the success or failure of a product. With new technological advances such as social media, it has become increasing easier for the public to express their opinions. Do you think that social media is changing the role that both society and culture play in the systems model and how is this influence affecting the success of products? 9. What is an example of a meme that is used in today’s society? How can this meme contribute to other creative innovations? 10. What are some of the ways that US culture affects creativity both positively and negatively? http://prezi.com/jcyppt0lrir5/discussion-questions/