I'm still trying to get my head around Csikszentmihalyi and have just read his book on Creativity - title as this page.  These are my notes and thoughts on what I've read.

The book itself is based on a research study involving interviews with 91 individuals aged 60+ (but with flexibility over the age so actually 50+).  Each of them is somebody who had made a difference to a 'major domain of culture'. The sample was formed using the 'snowball sample' method - basically consulting a number of knowledgeable people ans asking about names that could be included.  Initial list had 245 names, but a third declined to take part in the research (mainly because they were too busy being creative to be involved in study on creativity) and 25% were either untraceable or did not respond to attempts to contact them.  The final sample was biased towards natural sciences (over 50% accepted the invitation to participate compared with less than a third of writers and musicians) and males (gender split was 70/30).  Nothing is said about the cultural mix, but the list of interviewees suggests that the majority of subjects were US citizens, though some had been born elsewhere.  Csikszentmihalyi makes it clear that the sample is not meant to be representative and the book will not draw generalisations on what makes an individual creative, but will seek to disprove some widespread assumptions.  (The justification for this approach is that just one contrary case can disprove a generalisation). 

Data gathering was undertaken by semi-structured video interviews, which were transcribed verbatim, and use of the paper trail associated with each of the subjects.

The book defines what is meant by creativity in the sense Csikszentmihalyi is using it, identifies 5 steps of the creative process, relates the flow concept to creativity, and concludes with the application to everyday life.  The main part of the book is a description of the main cultural domains (relevant in understanding Csikszentmihalyi's definition of creativity) and three narratives describing early years, later years, and creative aging of the subjects, drawing on the transcriptions and other documentation.

What is creativity?

According to Csikszentmihalyi, "Creativity results from the interaction of a system composed of three elements: a culture that contains symbolic rules, a person who brings novelty into the symbolic domain, and a field of experts who recognise and validate the innovation." He goes on to say that "all three conditions are necessary for a creative idea, product or discovery to take place." (p6) Csikszentmihalyi appears to suggest that creativity, in the sense he is using the term, amounts to a shift in paradigm: "Creativity is a process by which a symbolic domain in the culture is changed." (p 8)  Later in the book, he identifies four such domains: the Word (literature), Life (biological sciences), the Future (science and technology) and Culture (which seems to bring the other three together and includes the arts and social development of the species).

Csikszentmihalyi points out that 'as culture evolves, specialised knowledge will be favoured over generalised knowledge' and suggests that is unlikely that anybody since Leonardo da Vinci has had a wide understanding of both arts and sciences.  In fact, knowledge has become more and more specialised so that a mathematician specialising in algebra may have limited understanding, if any, of other branches of his/her discipline. Similarly, instead of painting, sculpting, etc, artists have tended to become specialists in specific art forms.

Creative people are defined as:

• people with unusual thoughts; they are interesting and stimulating individuals
• people who experience the world in novel and original ways; they are personally creative
• people who change culture in some important respect; they are paradigm shifters

These three aspects are not different degrees of each other, but distinct facets.  Creativity is not being talented, not having innate ability, and not about being a genius. In discussing these facets, and elsewhere in the book, Csikszentmihalyi makes it clear that this definition does not necessarily stand examination (perhaps an example of generalising) as there are creative people in his sample who are not 'interesting and stimulating individuals' and who do not consider themselves 'personally creative'.

A further definition of creativity is offered: "Creativity is any act, idea or product that changes an existing domain, or that transforms an existing domain into a new one." (p28)

Csikszentmihalyi points out that creativity is not about personal creative traits - what is described as creative in the vernacular.  In order to make a difference, the creative ideas have to be accepted by the gatekeepers of the domain, that is they have to be accepted by those who are knowledgable in that area of understanding or activity.  To complicate things, views on creativity can change over time.  Van Gogh, Shakespeare, Donne, Bach and Raphael are cited as creative individuals who have not always been recognised.

Five steps of the creative process (p 79-80)

1. Getting immersed in the domain and the problematic
2. Incubation - a time of not conciously considering the problem but letting mind play with it
3. Insight - a Eureka moment
4. Evaluation; deciding whether this is worth pursuing any further
5. Ellaboration - developing the idea and communicating it within the domain.

This is not a linear progress but iterative.

Nine main elements of Flow (p 110-113)

Csikszentmihalyi summarises the basis of the flow concept and applies it to creativity, making the point that being in flow is not being happy, but happiness follows the flow.

1. There are clear goals every step of the way.
2. There is immediate feedback to one's actions.
3. There is a balance between challenges and skills.
4. Action and awareness are merged; concentration is focused on a single action (not multi-tasking).
5. Distractions are excluded from consciousness; concentration is on the present.
6. There is no worry of failure; failure is not an issue as the goals are clear and skills are adequate for the task.
7. Self-consciousness disappears; the ego is irrelevant.
8. The sense of time becomes distorted.
9. The activity becomes autotelic; it is an end in itself.

Following the narrative drawn from the case studies and interviews, Csikszentmihalyi turns to applying his thinking. 

Application: enhancing personal creativity

"Personal creativity consists in changing the domain of personal life" (p370)

This final chapter does not offer a summary of findings or pointers to further work, but instead becomes more of a personal growth manual making the following points, apparently addressed to the lay reader:

• cultivate curiosity and interest
  • try to be surprised by something every day
  • try to surprise at least one person every day
  • keep a record or journal and follow up anything that sparks interest
• cultivate flow in everyday life
  • wake up with a specific goal to look forward to
  • all things, even the mundane like stacking the dishwasher, are enjoyable if done well
  • if tasks are to continue to be enjoyable they have to become more complex
• develop strengthening habits
  • take charge of schedule and live according to natural rhythm (eg eat when hungry not when clock says it is time to eat)
  • make time for reflection and relaxation
  • control and create personal space
  • know likes and dislikes
  • do more of what is liked and less of what is disliked (not sure who ends up stacking the dishwasher!)
• Internal traits - natural aptitudes
  • internalise and aim for complexity
• Application of creative energy
  • problem finding
    • find way to express what moves you
    • look at problems from as many viewpoints as possible
    • consider implications of problem and look for alternative solutions
    • implement solution
  • divergent thinking
    • produce as many ideas as possible - brainstorm
    • have as many ideas as possible (seems to suggest some filtering of the initial brainstorm)
    • try to produce unlikely ideas