Thank you Gunar and others for your replies.

In this study by Lars Penke in 2003 from the Department of Psychology of the
Faculty for Psychology at the University of Bielefeld

http://www.larspenke.eu/pdfs/Penke_2003_-_Creativity.pdf

The author concludes on page 81 that:

"What makes a person creative? ...., the superficial answer for everyday
creativity in normal people that has emerged is: To over 60% his or her
genes and to less than 40% his or her non-shared environment."

The author also concludes that there is no correlation between personality
and creativity except the two traits of openness and extroversion.

Some problems have been created in Industrial design by the superficial
concentration of design media on 20 or so international design heroes whilst
almost ignoring the realities of the 200,000 or so non-famous designers.

My greater interest rather than being in creative genius is the balance
between a corporation selecting designers with an established high level of
creative output and/or providing an environment for people of average output
which stimulates creativity. Should the selection, environment and
management of people with established high creativity be the same as the
environment for people of average creative output. Companies like Apple and
seem to follow the direction of carefully selecting people with established
high level of creative output. Has anyone seen a study of techniques for
selecting and managing designers who have a relatively high level of
creative skill such as those at Apple or other companies that combine
business success with a recognized high level of quality of creative output?
What is different about Apple's design management approach?

Rob

On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 4:37 PM, Swanson, Gunnar <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Rob,
>
> I second Carma's suggestion that Gladwell's -Outliers- has some good
> insights.
>
> > Would you conclude that social class, race, sex, educational level have
> more
> > to do with general intelligence than genetic inheritance?
>
> He makes a good case that
> 1) general intelligence is less important than many people think; while
> being smart enough is important, being much smarter than smart enough
> doesn't pay out in the form of real world accomplishment
> 2) social class has a lot to do with the capability to move up in the world
> (not in the sense of external barriers to movement but in the sense of the
> development of the world view that allows personal achievement)
> 3) luck--in the sense of being born at the right time in the right social
> and physical situation--has a bigger role in "genius" than we realize.
>
> He does seem to imply that some sorts of "creativity" (I agree with people
> who caution against using the term broadly as a singular trait) are as
> innate as intelligence (in the "IQ" sense.)
>
> On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 2:13 PM, Carma R. Gorman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> [snip]
> >> Despite the many fascinating genetic explanations/revelations that have
> >> been in the news in the last five years, I still find explanatory models
> >> like the one in Malcolm Gladwell's book *Outliers* to be a lot more
> >> persuasive: I suspect that social class, race, sex, educational level,
> etc.
> >> (and the opportunities these characteristics offer or preclude) have a
> lot
> >> more to do with individual and familial creativity than genetic
> inheritance.
>
> I hope Topanga isn't washing down around you.
>
> Gunnar
> ----------
> Gunnar Swanson Design Office
> 1901 East 6th Street
> Greenville, North Carolina 27858
>
> [log in to unmask]
> +1 252 258 7006
>
> at East Carolina University:
> +1 252 328 2839
> [log in to unmask]
>



--
Rob Curedale | President | Curedale Inc | 22148 Monte Vista Drive Topanga
Canyon CA 90290 USA | tel: +1 310.455.2636 studio | cell: +1 616.455.7025 |
www.curedale.com | [log in to unmask] |



--
Rob Curedale | President | Curedale Inc | 22148 Monte Vista Drive Topanga
Canyon CA 90290 USA | tel: +1 310.455.2636 studio | cell: +1 616.455.7025 |
www.curedale.com | [log in to unmask] |