Artists have been rather successful in creating new frameworks of judgment through which their work can be appreciated. The Cubists could not be appreciated through the old frameworks, but once the new framework was established, by the critics, then hitherto rather ugly works now had value. The value grew larger and larger until the works were sold for several million dollars each. There are a few other fields, such as architecture, where the creators define the framework through which the work will be valued.
In most fields, however, the value has to be assessed within the normal and standard framework. The creativity of an engineer has to be assessed within the framework of good engineering. The creativity of an advertising executive may either be judged by the success of the advertisement in selling the goods or by success at winning advertising competitions.
Creativity sometimes seems to justify the complaint that there is difference just for the sake of difference. Instead of a door being rectangular, it's now triangular. In such cases there is always the value of novelty and of catching attention. These values apply to anything different or bizarre. On the whole, these values are not sufficient unless they are the primary values sought.
Any valuable creative idea will always be logical in hindsight. This is because the evaluation and appreciation of the idea depend on the logical application of existing values. The values may not all have been foreseen, but they can be recognised once they are present.
At this point a really difficult dilemma arises. It is a classic Catch 22 situation. If a creative idea is perfectly logical in hindsight, it may not be seen as a 'creative idea' at all. It will be presumed that the idea could well have been reached by logic - even if this was not the case at all. What is sought for under the term 'creative' is an idea which is very different and often bizarre. Such ideas are then seen to be creative - but are often perceived as 'impractical'.
VALUE MATTERS
So an idea which offers logical value is not seen as creative, and an idea which offers only 'difference' value is perceived as creative. This rather prevalent attitude has a very negative effect on creativity. People who wish to be seen as creative now strive towards rather bizarre ideas instead of ideas which seem very logical. The result is that creativity comes to be seen as a peripheral luxury rather than a key ingredient. It is not dissimilar from creative people having to wear strange clothes and strange haircuts in order to be seen as creative.
If getting to the top of a mountain is what matters then it does not matter whether you climbed up the hard way, or climbed up the easy way, or got there by helicopter. If logical effort has not produced the needed ideas and creative effort has produced them, then creativity has a value even if the final ideas are indistinguishable. To understand why creative ideas may be logical in hindsight but difficult to reach by logic in the first instance, you need to understand the asymmetric nature of self-organising patterning systems as described in several of my books.
VALUES IN ADVANCE
Creativity may be used to deliver certain defined values. This is no different from problem-solving or seeking improvement in a given direction. How do we achieve this? How do we get there? How do we deliver this value?
The use of creativity is to find a way of 'getting there'. If there is already a way of getting there, then creativity seeks to find a 'better' way of getting there. 'Better' may mean a simpler, more effective or cheaper way of getting there. It may also be that the 'creative' way actually delivers more of the value than the standard way of doing things.
VALUES IN HINDSIGHT
While a creative effort may seek to deliver certain values, there are times when the creative approach delivers new values that have not been foreseen. In a sense, the lateral thinking process of provocation involves 'moving forward' from a provocation in search of values which could not have been foreseen. This is where 'value sensitivity' comes in. In the process of movement, the mind is continually looking for glimmers of value. Once such a glimmer is seen, then it can be explored until a real value is revealed.
In such cases it is obvious that these values have not been seen in advance. This type of creative thinking is clearly very different from 'designing towards a goal'. The provocation 'Po cars have square wheels' leads to the idea of suspension that reacts in anticipation of need - rather than after the need. There is no way that value could have been seen in advance. The whole point about provocation is that you do not know where the provocation will take you.
DOMINANT VALUES
Not all values are equal. Price may be a major value, but convenience is also important. There are other times when convenience is the major value and price is secondary. You may aim for what you think is a dominant value and find that a secondary value is much stronger. The emphasis of acceptance may then switch to the secondary value: 'This is not what I aimed for - but it is in fact more important'. This does not mean being satisfied with secondary values, but being flexible enough to note that there is a new situation. Once again there is the fundamental difference in thinking between 'knowing what you are aiming for' and 'knowing what you have found'. It is very important in creative thinking to distinguish between the two.
Sports vehicles may have the dominant value that they are suitable for country living, with space for children, dogs, fishing equipment, etc. There is the secondary value of suggesting that the owner/driver lives in the country with a country estate. In urban living this may become the dominant value. Once the vehicle is in use, however, the convenience of carrying material around may become dominant. Being different from other car owners may also be a value until others start doing the same - as has already happened in some places.
It is possible to keep two or more values in mind from the start. You may want to design a cheap and robust ladder. You may also want it to be portable and safe.
VALUES FOR SELECTION
Values may be 'designed towards'. Values may be noticed as they arise. Values may also be used to select ideas as part of the selection screen. This is often necessary, but is the weakest use of values. Use of values for selection really implies turning up a number of ideas and just hoping that some of them have the values that are needed.
The 'challenge' process illustrates the relationship between 'difference' and 'value'. After the focus stage, a change or alternative is forced on the situation. This is followed by a search for value. If no value is found, then the creative effort has not been successful. Difference is only a stage towards value and never an end in itself (except perhaps to catch attention).
Part of the role of creativity might be to create new values which simply did not exist before. Mobile phones may allow a type of investing (for five minutes at a time) which could never be done before. Even so, these values should have a logical basis in order to be appreciated. Occasionally there might be a new value that does not fit in with existing ideas and might be rejected. If, however, this new value is tried out, it might turn out to be acceptable. That is the usual risk with really new ideas. Is it worth trying them out?
The purpose of creativity is to deliver old values in a new way (better way), or to deliver new combinations of values or values that are indeed new in themselves. The purpose of creativity is not just to be different for the sake of being different.
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