New Directions: Eight Types of Creative Change
The Four C Model of Creativity (introduced in this article) gives us a way to think about and discuss creativity that significantly expands our understanding of the concept. The model is a bigger, more welcoming tent than many of the models of creativity that preceded it. The Four C Model is also more relevant in a world where access to the tools and training required to engage in creative work is more plentiful than at any time in history. This article focuses on Pro-c creativity, one of the two new categories of creativity James Kaufman and Ronald Beghetto introduced in the Four C Model.
Pro-c creativity, also known as Expert or Professional Creativity, describes the creative accomplishments of skilled experts in a given field. Creative contributions at the Pro-c level are usually the result of sustained intellectual, creative, and professional development. Studies show that, on average, it takes at least ten years of work in a field to begin making Pro-c level creative contributions—the remarkable contributions on problems, projects, and concepts that affect the field as whole. Along the way, most professionals develop a perspective on their field that informs their thoughts on where the field is in its development and where they’d like to see it go.
The “great man theory” posits that history can largely be explained by the actions and impact of great men (usually interpreted to mean great white men). Introduced by the Scottish philosopher and writer Thomas Carlyle in 1840, this idea has lived on past its expiration date, both as an explanation of history and a model of creative accomplishment. I’m not rejecting the idea of genius or denying the impact of those few whose achievements and ideas change our world, I’m simply saying that we need to move the spotlight—away from the few who we usually posthumously recognize for their achievements, toward the creatives who build toward posterity project-by-project, publication-by-publication, day-by-day, brick-by-brick.
Breakthroughs happen, but not in the way they often happen in movies and television shows. The “eureka” moment (a trope that’s often depicted in “great man” narratives of creative breakthroughs) is almost always the result of years of experimentation, discovery, and reassessment of one's failures and successes. The “eureka” narrative, like most narratives about creativity, focuses on forward movement. Breakthroughs are evaluated on the amount of creativity a work displays—how far the contribution moves the field forward in the “right” direction. Of course, what constitutes forward movement is only apparent when you’re looking back from a point further down the line. The same bias toward forward movement is also applied to evaluating the careers of creative contributors. This one-dimensional depiction of creativity is like the flat Earth model—an archaic and scientifically disproven idea derived from myth and willful misrepresentation.
The Propulsion Theory of Creative Contributions
The psychologist and psychometrician Robert J. Sternberg, a leading researcher and author on creativity, first introduced the Propulsion Theory of Creative Contributions in 19991. The theory describes eight ways a creative contribution such as a research paper, artwork, movie, television show, book, product, or innovative idea can move (propel) a field of endeavor in a particular direction.
A creative contribution represents an attempt to propel a field from wherever it is to wherever the creator believes the field should go. Thus, creativity is, by its nature, propulsion. It moves a field from some point to another. It also always represents a decision to exercise leadership. The creator tries to bring others to a particular point in the multidimensional creative space.
—Robert J. Sternberg, “The Nature of Creativity.” Creativity Research Journal,Volume 18, 2006.
Sternberg’s Propulsion Theory adds another dimension to our understanding of creativity: context. The purpose of a creative contribution matters. Every creative work is part of an ongoing conversation the creator is having with the history of their field and their contemporaries in the field. It’s also a way of gaining insight into the creator’s perspective and ambitions. But Sternberg’s taxonomy isn’t just a tool for assessing the work and careers of others—it’s also a useful tool for understanding your creative ambitions, contributions, growth, and career path.
Sternberg’s Eight Types of Creative Contributions
Before I introduce Sternberg’s eight types of creative contributions, I want to revisit a topic I touched on in my article on the Four C Model of Creativity: the domain vs. the field. One way to distinguish between various creative contributions is the domain in which the contribution is made: the arts, science, business, and so forth. Another is the field, or social organization, the creator is working in. Here’s Sternberg on this important distinction:
A domain is a formal body of knowledge such as in art or music, whereas a fieldis the social organization of the domain. The field is typically the source of judgments as to whether contributions in a domain are creative. The basis of creativity in the interaction between individual and context is shown by the fact that what a field judges to be creative at one time might differ from what it judges to be creative at another.
—Robert Sternberg, James Kaufman, Jean Pretz, “The Propulsion Model of Creative Contributions Applied to the Arts and Letters.” The Journal of Creative Behavior, June 2001.
Sternberg’s Propulsion Theory focuses on the impact that creative contributions have on the field—a concern that becomes increasingly important as one moves closer to and eventually enters the realm of Professional creativity.
The eight types of creative contributions identified by Sternberg fall into three categories:
Contributions that accept the field’s current paradigms
Contributions that reject the field’s current paradigms
Contributions that attempt to integrate multiple existing paradigms of the field
Within-in those three broad categories, there are also five subcategories:
Contributions that leave the field where it is
Contributions that move the field forward in the direction its already going
Contributions that move the field in a new direction from an existing or pre-existing starting point
Contributions that move the field forward from a new starting point
Contributions that combine approaches
As Sternberg notes:
The creator may or may not intend his or her creative work to be propulsive, but creativity of a work is a function of the way the work is judged in the context of a field rather than of what the creator intends to happen to the work. Some people attempt unsuccessfully to be creative; others create with no particular intention to do so.
—Robert Sternberg, James Kaufman, Jean Pretz, “The Propulsion Model of Creative Contributions Applied to the Arts and Letters.” The Journal of Creative Behavior, June 2001.
The following two types of contributions reflect an acceptance of the current paradigms in the field and leave the field where it is.
1. Replication - The creative contribution is an attempt to show that the field is in the right place. The propulsion keeps the field where it is, rather than moving it forward. This type of creativity is best represented by a spinning wheel that’s both moving and staying in place.
Examples of Replication include:
The work of the artists who studied with Rembrandt and tried to paint in (replicate) his style. These artists are collectively known as “The School of Rembrandt.”
Fashion, where the top designers establish the trends for the season and the clothing industry then replicates the key elements of the season’s designs as ready-to-wear clothes for mass consumption. Replications range from identical knock-offs to designs that pickup one or two key elements of the season’s most influential trends.
We tend to think of replication as a lesser form of creativity—and in many cases it is. But it’s also the case that the replication may in fact offer innovations (such as higher production values) and other advantages (such as lower cost) that the original doesn’t.
2. Redefinition - The creative contribution redefines where the field currently is. The creator introduces a new point of view (or lens) that reframes past contributions and/or the current state of the field. The propulsion is circular, ultimately leading back to where the field is, but only after a new point of view has been established.
Examples of Redefinition include:
The revivals of popular musicals such as Cabaret, Oklahoma, and The King and I that reconceptualize the originals and help us see key characters and story elements in a new light.
The work of the Swedish-American sculptor Claes Oldenburg who took mundane objects such as lipsticks, erasers, and electrical plugs and turned them into large-scale, colorful outdoor sculptures.
The next two types of contributions also preserve the established models and ways of doing things, but attempt to move the field forward in the direction it’s already heading in.
3. Forward Incrementation - The creative contribution moves the field a small step forward in a direction it’s already heading in, toward an already agreed upon point. The creator’s driving impulse is to help the field achieve an already established goal, not to push it far forward to an unknown point along its current path. Forward Incrementation takes existing ideas and moves them one step ahead, or at most, a few steps forward.
Examples of Forward Incrementation include:
Genre television shows that advance one or more of the foundational elements of the genre in order to stand apart from their predecessors. For example, buddy cop shows and movies that introduce new types of buddy pairings: different personality types, ages, genders, races, nationalities—the varieties are apparently endless.
The work of the photographer Diane Arbus, whose compassionate, non-judgement photos of the poor, the disabled, the elderly, and others living on the fringes of society, expanded the range of art form.
4. Advance Forward Incrementation - The creative contribution moves the field forward in a direction it’s already going, but beyond a point where others in the field are ready to go—the work is “ahead of its time.” The creator is trying to take the field forward in an already agreed upon direction, but faster and further than others in the field are ready for. Many contributions of this type don’t initially receive the recognition they deserve. The field just isn’t ready to understand and appreciate the value of the contribution.
Examples of Advance Forward Incrementation include:
The work of the nineteenth century Hungarian obstetrician Ignaz Semmelweis who proposed the idea that microorganisms on the hands of doctors were making patients sick and suggested doctors wash their hands before touching patients. Semmelweis was viscously mocked by his contemporaries. Today, hand washing is standard practice.
Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring, which was a disastrous failure when it premiered in Paris in 1913. The instrumentalists in the orchestra couldn’t hear themselves play over the protests of the crowd. Today, it’s considered a masterpiece.
Forward Incrementations and Advance Forward Incrementations accept the prevailing paradigm of the field and try to move it forward. Redirection and Reconstruction/Redirection reject the existing paradigm and attempt to move it forward.
5. Redirection - The creative contribution redirects the field from where it is toward a different direction. The creator is rejecting the current state of the field and attempting to move it in a new direction, to forge a fresh path forward.
Examples of Redirection include:
Apple’s introduction of the first iPod and the iTunes store, which redirected the MP3 audio player industry away from devices designed to play ripped and pirated digital audio tracks to an integrated store with a robust catalog of music, fairly priced, and seamless integration with a state-of-the-art device. The iPod and iTunes store set a new standard for the digital music experience.
The online advertising industry, which has successfully redirected advertising away from its focus on television, radio, and print media to websites, mobile apps, online videos, games, podcasts, and virtually every other form of online content. Over the course of a relatively short period, the industry has had to develop the content creation tools, business models, tracking technology, and billing systems required to run successful digital marketing campaigns.
Unlike the creative contributions above, reconstruction/redirection looks backward, then forward.
6. Reconstruction/Redirection - The creative contribution redirects the field backward to an earlier point in its development (a reconstruction of the past) so that the field can move forward from that point, but in a direction that’s different from the one it previously took from that point onward. The creator is trying to preserve elements of the past, but get the field “back on track” and headed in a new direction.
Examples of Reconstruction/Redirection include:
“Modern Retro” video games that recreate the blocky graphics, simpler structure, and easier to learn rules of early video games, but play as quickly and smoothly as the latest games. Part of the appeal of Modern Retro games is that they work well on smartphones and can usually be enjoyably played in short bursts.
Cookbooks often redirect us back to an earlier point, then propose a new way forward. For example, The Blue Zones Kitchen by longevity expert Dan Buettner, collects 100 recipes from “blue zones” around the world—communities that have maintained their traditional diets and have the world’s longest average life expectancy. The adapted recipes include ingredients readily available to most American cooks.
The next type of creative contribution rejects the current paradigm and moves the field in a direction from a new starting point.
7. Reinitiation - The contribution is an attempt to move the field to a new, as-yet-unreached, starting point and then move the field in a different direction from that point. The creator is asserting that the field has been moving in the wrong direction or has exhausted itself moving in its current direction. Rather than suggesting that it needs to change course (as in Redirection), Reinitiation begins with a leap in a new direction and continues forward, in the new direction, from the new starting point. In short, it’s a way of suggesting that the field needs to reexamine its guiding assumptions and start over.
The career of creative genius Miles Davis is a study in Reinitiation. Over and over throughout his long career, he leaped to new starting points and moved jazzed forward from those fresh points of departure. From The Birth of the Cool in the late 1940s, to his exquisite ballad recordings in the early 1950s, to his work with his first classic quintet (with John Coltrane) in the late 1950s, to his beautiful orchestral recordings with Gil Evans, to his explorations of modal music and the recording of Kind of Blue (one of the greatest jazz albums of all time), to his second classic quintet (with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock), to Bitches Brew—his 1969 recording that’s the highwater mark of the jazz-rock-funk fusion movement, and on to his evocative reinterpretations of the popular music of the 1980s, Miles repeatedly reinvented himself and jazz.
The last type of creativity, Integration, doesn’t accept an existing paradigm or propose a new one. Instead, it integrates paradigms—old and old, or old and new.
8. Integration - The creative contribution combines aspects of two or more past contributions that are typically viewed as distinct or even opposed. The result moves the field to a new place that wouldn’t have been predictable in advance. Integration is a form of creative destruction—the bindings that hold together the key elements of the old order are dissolved, allowing the building blocks of the field to be recombined in new, unforeseen ways.
Examples of Integration include:
George Gershwin’s 1925 Concerto in F, which combines blues harmonies, jazz rhythms, and classical forms to produce a unique synthesis of the American and European musical traditions.
The Broadway sensation Hamilton: An American Musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The musical score and lyrics draw from hip hop, R&B, pop, soul, and the traditional Broadway songbook to create a unique blend of American music styles. The staging and choreography also draw from a wide range of styles. Hamilton was a risk—no Broadway musical had ever drawn from so many sources and attempted the integration of such a diverse range of building blocks. The risk paid off, to the delight of the millions who have enjoyed Miranda’s stunning achievement.
A Vocabulary For Talking About Change
From time to time, society arrives at moments where there’s a widespread desire to reexamine accepted norms. As we begin to step out from the shadow of the Covid pandemic, we may find ourselves in one of these moments. But whether it’s society as a whole, or just a handful of people who want to think more deeply about where we are and we want to go, Sternberg’s Propulsion Model gives us a vocabulary for talking about change in all of its dimensions, and in the process, opens up possibilities we wouldn’t be able to thoughtfully consider without his invaluable creative contributions.