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The Nature of Creative Thought - Part 8

Now exactly what makes a creative person different? One im­portant fact that emerges out of the welter of observations, analy­ses, and critical examinations is that he usually has the ability to relate two or more things that were not previously related. He has the ability to see relationships that the noncreative person misses.

As an example, a novelist may take a few traits of a personality he has met, put them with some character traits of a second person, put his composite personality into a set of circumstances he has also met or just read about in a news story, and, through imagina­tion, weave a completely new integrated and interrelated story. Or a scientist learns of a new chemical, becomes familiar with its properties, sees its possibilities for affecting or modifying some other chemical he is also familiar with, and, by combining, creates still a third chemical or even a new material. The same process goes on for the business executive who is handed a sample of a new material developed by his laboratory for, say, a floor cover­ing. On noting its properties, he begins to see possibilities in it for other uses: as a grip for tool handles; as a sound-deadening material; as a decorative wall-covering, and so on. By the time he is done relating it to other needs, the company may forget all about going into the floor-covering business in order to concen­trate on these other areas.

Related terms include business value and federal grants for small business.