Living With Live Wires

For all of us, being more creative starts with a personal decision

Robert Sternberg, one of the foremost experts on Intelligence and Creativity, proposes an Investment Theory of Creativity.  

The investment theory, it is based on the notion that creative people decide to buy low and sell high in the world of ideas – that is, they generate ideas that tend to “defy the crowd” (buy low), and then, when they have persuaded many people, they sell high, meaning they move on to the next unpopular idea.

He states that creativity is a decision with three parts: the decision to be creative, the decision of how to be creative, and implementation of these decisions. The view of creativity as a decision suggests that creativity can be developed.

In his book, Sternberg proposes twenty-one ways to develop creativity as a decision.  (Sternberg, Robert J. (2003) Wisdom, Intelligence, and Creativity Synthesized. Cambridge University Press. New York.)