Librería Portfolio

Creativity is like an iceberg - the resulting new idea, or novel solution is only 10% of the effort. The other 90% is the complex interplay of thinking skills and strategies, personal and motivational properties that activate these skills and strategies, and the social and organizational factors of the environment that influence the creative process. Creativity in Engineering focuses on the Process, Person, Product, and Place to understand when and why creativity happens in the engineering environment and how it can be further encouraged.

Special Features:

Applies findings in creativity research to the engineering arena
Defines engineering creativity and differentiates it from innovation
Discusses personality and motivational factors that impact creativity
Clarifies the role of creativity in the design process
Details the impact of thinking skills and strategies in creativity
Identifies the role the organization and environment plays in encouraging creativity

Key Features

Discusses the 4P´s of Creativity: Person, Product, Process, and Place
Provides tactics and tools that will help users foster creativity in engineering environments
Identifies how creativity results in innovative new solutions to problems
Applies creativity research and knowledge to the engineering space




Table of Contents

Dedication
List of Figures
List of Tables
Foreword
Preface
The Approach of This Book
Why is This Book Different?
Outline of Chapters
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. Introduction
The Sputnik Shock
The Link between Creativity and Engineering
What is Creativity?
The Definition of Creativity
The Four Ps of Creativity
The Fifth P
Paradoxes of Creativity
Summary
Chapter 2. The Importance of Creativity in Engineering
The Economics of Creativity
Engineering and Engineers
Change
The Need for Creativity
Creative Engineering Problem Solving
The Oil Crisis of 1973
Case Study: Creativity and Innovation in Aerospace
Chapter 3. Phases: Creativity and the Design Process
Problem Solving and Creativity
Knowledge and Problem Solving
Problem Recognition
Idea Generation
Idea Evaluation
Solution Validation
General Models of Creative Problem Solving
Engineering Problem Solving: Design
Engineering Models of Design
Chapter 4. Product: The Creativity of Things
What are Products?
The Fundamental Criteria of the Creativity of Products
The Hierarchical Organization of Creative Products
Product Creativity as a System
Latent Functional Creativity
Measuring the Creativity of Products
Industrial Design and Engineering
Summary
Chapter 5. Process: Generating Creative Ideas
Unsystematic Creativity
Systematic Production of Novelty
Thinking Tactics That Generate Variability
Using Creativity-Facilitating Cognitive Styles
Meta-Cognition
Measuring Divergent Thinking
Convergent Thinking: The Prepared Mind
Knowledge and Creativity
The Interaction Between Divergent and Convergent Thinking
Models of Convergent and Divergent Interaction
Summary
Chapter 6. Person: The Who of Creativity
The Search for the Creative Personality
Creativity and Mental Illness
Studying Personality and Creativity: Methods
Studying Creativity and Personality: Results
Personality-Facilitating Traits
The Dynamics of Personality and Creativity
The Paradoxical Personality
A Dynamic System
Diagnosing the Creativity of People
Psychological Dimensions of Creative Potential
Summary
Chapter 7. Press: Creativity and the Role of the Environment
The Social Environment
The Social Definition of What is Creative
Motivation: The Social Nature of the Creative Impulse
The Institutional Environment and Creativity
Creativity and Gender
Groups and Creativity
Assessing the Organizational Climate
Summary
Chapter 8. Innovation: Exploiting Creativity
Defining Innovation
Competition and Innovation
Understanding Innovation
The Innovation Phase Assessment Instrument (IPAI)
Summary
Chapter 9. Creativity Training
Can Creativity Be Taught?
The Effectiveness of Creativity Training
Why Do We Need to Teach Creativity?
What Abilities Need to Be Trained?
Domain-Specificity and Creativity Training
General Approaches to Creativity Training
Fostering Creativity in Individual People
Specific Creativity-Facilitating Techniques
Chapter 10. Embedding Creativity in Engineering Education
The Problem
Stakeholder Perspectives
Benefits of Creativity in Education
Fixing the Problem
Designing a Curriculum for Engineering Creativity
Summary
Concluding Remarks
References
Index