Creativity in Large-Scale Contexts: Guiding Creative Engagement and Exploration

Jonathan S. Feinstein

nov 2023 · Stanford University Press

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A new model for smarter creativity

Innovators and creators work in cultural, economic, and social contexts that shape their work. These contexts are large-scale, filled with overwhelming multitudes of elements and possibilities—but these contexts can be fruitfully "mined" by creative teams. Creativity in Large-Scale Contexts, by Yale professor Jonathan S. Feinstein, introduces a groundbreaking new "network model" to describe how successful innovation can be focused, generated, and accelerated. The book will help teams and organizations innovate smarter and faster.

Feinstein argues that in large-scale contexts creativity happens most efficiently when it is actively "guided" by a creative leader or team. Guiding creativity involves understanding, navigating, and actively using the cultural context, identifying puzzles and opportunities, and spanning these tensions to create novel connections. With thoughtful guidance, creators and creative teams can find their way through the thicket of possibilities faster, smarter, and with less waste.

Creativity in Large-Scale Contexts draws on case studies of famous creators including Virginia Woolf, Albert Einstein, Indigenous artist Clifford Possum, transgender activist and engineer Lynn Conway, and Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey. Empirically grounded, this book will be essential for teaching and managing creativity and innovation and will open new avenues for future intellectual growth and practice in the field.

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Jonathan S. Feinstein is the John G. Searle Professor of Economics and Management at the Yale School of Management. His creativity class, which he has been teaching for more than twenty years, has enriched the lives of many Yale students. He also lectures and leads workshops on creativity. Feinstein is the author of The Nature of Creative Development (Stanford, 2006). He lives in New Haven and enjoys painting, swimming, walking, great books, and dark chocolate.