Being more creative in everyday life is simple, says author of ‘Group Genius’

Collaboration is key to creativityIsaac Newton’s “a-ha” moment may have come while he was sitting alone under an apple tree, but that big idea might never had happened if he hadn’t spent so many hours discussing the laws of physics with fellow scientists and philosophers. In his latest book, Keith Sawyer, Ph.D., one of the country’s leading scientific experts on creativity in everyday life, argues that collaboration is essential in helping all of us harness the power of our own creative genius. More…

You too can be creative; it just takes hard work

No one is born highly creative; creativity takes hard work.Do you desire to be a more creative person but don’t think you have the “creative” gene? You may have some hard work ahead, but it’s possible to become the next Walt Disney or Martha Stewart, says an expert on creativity at Washington University in St. Louis. “No one is born highly creative,” says R. Keith Sawyer, Ph.D., associate professor of education and of psychology, both in Arts & Sciences. “Psychologists studying creativity have discovered that it is based on cognitive processes we all share. Creativity is not the result of some magic brain region that some people have and others don’t.” Oxford Press has just released Sawyer’s latest book, “Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation,” a seminal overview of the history of creativity and of research into traits that highly creative people all share.