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Rating: 
Summary: CREATIVITY -- Read 7 or more
Review: "Creativity" provided an outstanding analysis of how Creativity occurs, and how creative individuals have influenced their respective fields and domains of knowledge and arts through the analysis of over ninety creative individuals of note. This book provides an outline of the process that is useful to any person who is attempting to enhance organizational or personal creativity, and details the components of Creativity (which can influence the overall culture) and creativity (for an individual.) I read my copy twice, and found certain topics so useful, I violated my own rule of never marking in a book. This book is now heavily annotated and underlined, and has been shared with friends. Following is a very brief summary.The components of creativity include domains, fields, and persons. A domain is defined as, "a set of symbolic rules and procedures," such as mathematics. A field "includes all the individuals who act as gatekeepers to the domain." This can be summarized as, "Creativity occurs when a person, using the symbols of a given domain such as music, engineering, business, or mathematics, has a new idea or sees a new pattern, and when this novelty is selected by the appropriate field for inclusion into the relevant domain." The book presents an analysis of the impact of creativity by taking a systems approach with the following major components: Creative individuals, through understanding of their field, hard work, and inspiration can produce novel work. This work may or may not impact the overall field and domain, depending upon a variety of interrelated factors. For instance, a talented but relatively unknown painter in a rural area may have less chance of recognition by the field than the same painter living in Manhattan, in proximity to galleries and noted critics. Recognition and acceptance by the field is necessary for contribution to the field and domain. (such as physics, or art). The book has an excellent, though smaller, section on enhancing personal creativity. To those who seek to be more creative, a series of suggestions on how to implement these suggestions into everyday life is presented, with the note; "Even though personal creativity may not lead to fame and fortune, it can do something that from the individual's point of view is even more important: make day-to-day experiences more vivid, more enjoyable, more rewarding. When we live creatively, boredom is banished and every moment holds the promise of a fresh discovery." The exercise of these elements of personal creativity can be delightful. Some of them are: "Try to surprise at least one person every day." "Try to be surprised by something every day." "When something strikes a spark of interest, follow it." "If you do anything well, it becomes enjoyable." For the rest, you will just have to buy the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Creativity which has the power to change the world
Review: A few caveats to those who are generally interested in creativity studies: Csikszentmihalyi's analysis and discussion of creativity does not directly relate to those who are personally creative. People who enjoy engaging in creative activities are not demoted, in his terms, but are simply not a part of the study. It is unfortunate that his language makes it seem this way; he distinguishes between the two by saying that Creativity has the power to shape a domain or the world, while creativity applies to those who enjoy coming up with new recipes, who are engaged in research that may not change a domain, but may "tweak" it, etc. What he is trying to discover are the underlying principles and traits of creativity in those whose work has made a significant change. Think Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mark Strand: people who are either widely known for their influence, or who have been influential within their area or domain. This book provides an interesting view into the minds and work habits of Creative individuals, and concludes by offering general advice to those who wish to make their own lives and work more creative. It is a useful book, but one which requires a great deal of supplemental reading, in order to truly engage in creativity studies.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Fabulous!
Review: An absolutely incredible book! Mr. Mihaly has compiled an amazing work on creativity, profiles of creative people, how creativity comes about (or doesn't) in certain people or domains, as well as common characteristics of successful creative people. As the saying goes, if a tree falls in the woods, and nobody is around to hear it, does it really make a noise? If a person is brilliantly smart or creative but they do not make the right connections, or the opportunities are not there in a particular domain for contributions to be made, does it really matter? Will the person achieve anywhere near their potential? Probably not. This book is no road map to achieve success or fulfillment in ones life or career. It does however illustrate many factors (that if in place) may help immensely in reaching ones goals. When embarking on, or pursuing a new career this is a must read for insight as to what environmental factors may facilitate success and achievement in a chosen creative pursuit.
Rating:
Summary: Demystifying Creativity
Review: AN INTERESTING, IMPORTANT SUBJECT
When you think about it, creativity is a key driver for personal fulfillment and world events- yet most people's understanding consists merely of stereotypes, assumptions, and clichés. There is a lot to know about creativity: what it is (and how it differs from talent and brilliance), conditions that encourage its emergence, creative people's complex personality traits, and what a creative experience looks and feels like. I would not rate 'Creativity' as high as Csikszentmihalyi's 'Flow'- which is an even more important concept to understand- yet it is certainly an informative, well-written, and recommended book. BOOK IN A NUTSHELL
Research in psychology has traditionally learned about healthy individuals by focusing on pathological cases; this study examines the other end of the continuum- looking at extraordinary people to find out what might be missing from our lives. Trends in the personal histories and habits are taken from interviews with 91 leading contributors (Noble Prize winners, world renown artists, etc.) who have created or dominated their fields. Mainstream creative people (e.g. most creative person in an office or community) and uncreative people are not really discussed in the book- although the insights gained from the interviews may be applicable. Part 3 was not as strong as the rest of the book: the in-depth illustrations of the creative process were somewhat redundant, and some sections (Ch. 12 & 13) seemed to drift into assumptions of political philosophies.
Rating:
Summary: Enhancing Creativity by Learning About it
Review: Csikszentmihalyi is in the "flow" in writing this book on creativity as he elucidates his subject in an inspirational way. He approaches his topic from a systems paradigm. Individuals create, but they do so within the context of a system. He also describes the "child like" wonder of creative contributors. He reminds readers that symbols in the office of past successes such as diplomas, awards, photos, reinforce the idea that valid contributors have been made before and can be made again. Regardless of one's arena, something about the process of creativity can be learned from the pages of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Demystifies Creativity, Humans beware...
Review: Dostoevsky said, man needs "Mystery, Miracle, and Authority." This book demystifies the concept of creativity. Humans want to put labels on people who put out the best ideas, but, what these people do differently than other people can mostly be attributed to habit. Based off of the universally accepted Hierarchy of Needs by Maslow the author says in order to get to the highest level (self-actualization) where real creativity takes place it is important to not have your limited attention-span concerned with other things. Here's a brief but effective example:
You're looking for your keys. You're looking for your keys anywhere you can POSSIBLY imagine. Underneath the cushions, in your jean pockets, in drawers, EVERYWHERE, you CAN'T find them and all you can think about is finding them. Bingo. The author argues that this type of psychic thievery is what prevents us from being creative. Since we need to take care of a baser need, we have no time to find ways to solve more enhanced problems. This book, in the author's opinion, should be taken as a sequal to the "cult" hit FLOW. Unforunately FLOW I think became too much of a hit to be taken as seriously as it should have been. Although a chapter is devoted to FLOW and the concepts, it is necessary to know the nature of work before advancing into a scheduled routine. I recommend reading FLOW before tackling this work. I must emphasize just how amazing Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is. He will truly be regarded as one of the greatest minds of this time and most certainly the greatest psychologist of the time. His profound knowledge in so many areas is just incredible as well as backing up everything he says with examples AND action.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but ultimately dissappointing
Review: Like all C's work, this book is stimulating and easy to read, in parts inspiring, in parts depressing. C says that no one can be Creative with a capital C, unless he masters all that went before him in his field. Accordingly, children, no matter how original, cannot, by definition be creative. A paradoxical and, I guess, creative observation.. C is especially intriguing when he discusses creativity as the result of interaction between the individual, the field, and the domain. Creativity is not a private enterprise but occurs only when an individual, who has mastered his subject matter is acknowleged by the gatekeepers of his field of endeavor or if, like Freud or the Wright brothers, creates his own field. The social aspect of creativity is nowhere better discussed. Unfortunately, C articulates no clear thesis, and with the exception of long quotes from notably creative people, the last third of his book degenerates into platitude and truism
Rating:
Summary: an easy book to be comfortable reading
Review: On the way out the door one morning a couple of years ago on my way to substitute teach, I grabbed this book from the shelf and stuck it in my bookbag, knowing that there would probably be some quiet time for reading at some point during the day. My husband, whose taste in books I respect absolutely, had picked up a copy of it at some point, no doubt to aid him on his creative path. It's a good book to carry if you expect to be waiting in a line or for a bus, or as I was, sitting between classes and trying to bury myself in something other than complete boredom. I wouldn't recommend it as a highly energetic and motivating read, but it's a nice meld of psychology, reality, and 'trivia,'to focus on something edifying if you're in a relatively uninteresting environment.
Rating:
Summary: Creativity by Csikszentmihalyi
Review: The author is engaged in an intellectual search for the optimal
level of experience and the creativity which is an integral
part thereof. He states that too much specialization can lead
to cultural fragmentation or the "Tower of Babel" syndrome.
Insight is defined as the domain of ideas. The
intellect sets the dimensional boundaries for the limited domain.
The domain consists of intelligence, playfulness, discipline, independence, suffering pain for pleasure and the influential
aspect of past knowledge. In the pursuit of creativity,
there must be clearly definable goals, relevant feedback and a balancing between challenge and skill . Creativity thrives in
an atmosphere where there is little or no penalty or fear of
failure. This work is an important contribution to the area
of psychology . In some respects, it adds to theoretical
universals in the philisophical sphere of argument. The book
is a solid value for the price charged.
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