Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi proposes a systems model of creativity that views creativity as emerging from the interaction between an individual, a domain, and a field. [1] The model posits that a creative idea must be novel within a cultural domain, be selected for inclusion by the gatekeepers within that domain's field, and eventually influence the culture at large. [2] Csikszentmihalyi argues that considering only individuals fails to account for the external cultural factors that influence creativity. [3] The systems model provides a framework for understanding how culture, society, and personal background interact to either enable or constrain creative contributions.

1. CHAPTER 16:
IMPLICATIONS OF A SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE
FOR THE STUDY OF CREATIVITY
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Handbook of Creativity: edited by Robert J. Sternberg
Samantha Rugani
Catherine Cacheris
AVD 6383 Creativity as Problem Solving

2. BIOGRAPHY: MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI
 Professor of Psychology at Claremont Graduate
University
 Director: Quality of Life Research Center
Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1965
B.A., University of Chicago, 1960
Image 1
 Interests:
Creativity and Innovation, Managing Flow
 Current Research Interests:
Director of the Quality of Life Research Center (QLRC). A non-profit
research institute that studies "positive psychology“: Human strengths such
as optimism, creativity, intrinsic motivation, and responsibility. Image 2
Biographical information source: www.cgu.edu
Image: 1) http://educononline.com/tag/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/ 2) http://www.cgu.edu/pages/1871.asp

3. OUTLINE OF MAJOR TOPIC AREAS:
 Introduction to the Systems Model
 Why is the systems approach necessary / important?
 Structure of the Systems Model
 Culture
 Culture as a set of domains
 Role of the domain in the creative process
 Society
 How society is relevant to creativity
 Role of the field within the Systems Model
 Personal Background
 The role of individuals in the creative process
 Concluding Thoughts

4. INTRODUCTION: WHY IS THE SYSTEMS APPROACH
NECESSARY?
 External Variables:
“…variables external to the individual must be taken into account if
one wishes to explain why, when, and where new ideas or products
arise from and become established in a culture” (Sternberg 313).
 The Systems Model has been developed in order to account for
external variables:
- The importance of public recognition
- Social judgments as central to creativity

5. SYSTEMS MODEL OF CREATIVITY:
Source: http://www.cultural-science.org/journal/index.php/culturalscience/article/view/11/48
“Creativity is a process that can be observed only at the intersection
where individuals, domains, and fields interact” (Sternberg, 314).

6. CULTURE :
Cultures differ in the way that memes are stored
Accessibility
Differentiation: Number of Separate Domains
Integration of the culture
Openness

7. CULTURE : Domain
 System of notation
 Tightly integrated information versus too loosely organized
 Centrality of domain to culture (religion in the middle ages)
 Accessibility (innovation is more difficult in elite domains)
 How autonomous is the domain from the rest of the culture?
(More difficult to produce variations in a subordinate domain)

8. SOCIETY:
 A new meme must be socially valued:
- Importance of the reaction of society on
creativity. - Example: Van Gogh
 Social conditions that influence creativity:
- wealth, interests, external threats, location
 Role of the Field:
- Questions who had the right to decide whether a particular meme
should be implemented into society
- In the systems model, these people are collectively designated
to the field
-Example: New Coke
Source: http://www.arttoheartweb.com/starry_night.htm

9. INDIVIDUAL/PERSONAL BACKGROUND:
 Special Talents
-Genetic Inheritance
 Curious/Interested/Intrinsically Motivated
 Divergent thinker interested in discovery
-Necessary cognitive abilities (for producing novelty)
 Relevant personality traits
-Vary depending on field and historical period
-perseverance
openness

10. CONCLUSION / INTERNALIZING THE CREATIVE
SYSTEM:
 One must internalize the rules of the systems model
 One must be confident in ideas
 Creativity must be recognized as it operates within a social system
-must be supported by society
“Instead of focusing exclusively on individuals, it will make more sense to
focus on communities that may or may not nurture genius. In the last
analysis, it is the community and not the individual who makes creativity
manifest” (Sternberg, 333).

11. Connection:
What's Behind Viral Success? Great
Meme Marketing
“Memes are the ideas, symbols or practices that
naturally spread throughout a culture. These
thoughts are the things that just seem to "catch on,"
whether it's coffee houses… or tight-rolling your
jeans back in the '80s. The concept of measuring
these "units of thought" is nothing new… the new
opportunity marketers have now is to apply this
study of memes (or, memetics) to how they create
messages for their clients.”
http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=139609

12. Memes: Social Media is the new flint
blade
“I can take a video clip and replicate the
entire viewing experience on my blog or
Facebook or MySpace. And in doing so,
I've validated that meme, because the
people watching it on my blog know ME. If
they want to pass on the meme in the
same way, all they have to do is copy-
paste. Simply put, great memes are easy
for consumers to reproduce.”
-Eric Swayne, What’s Behind Viral Success? Great Meme Marketing

13. “ What’s the most resilient parasite? An Idea. A single idea
from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform
the world and rewrite all the rules. Which is why I have to
steal it.”
-Cobb, Inception

14. CONNECTION 2:
ADVERTISING
Tropicana Discovers Some Buyers Are Passionate
About Packaging
New York Times, February 2009
New York Times, February 2009
Adage, April 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/business/media/23adcol.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ4yF4F74vc

15. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Do you think that any one of the three parts of the systems model is more important to the creativity
process than others?
2. Can you think of ways in which the ideals of the systems model could negatively influence
creativity? More specifically, how can the three areas of culture, society, and personal background
have a negative impact on creativity?
3. What are, if any, the flaws of the systems model?
4. What are some examples of domains within our culture today that are particularly attractive and thus
may result / have resulted in creative expansion?
5. How do you think the systems model study of creativity compares to the psychological study of
creativity? Do you think the two should be examined separately or in conjunction with each other?

16. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
6. Csikszentmihalyi states that “Original thought does not exist in a vacuum. It must operate on a set of
already existing objects, rules, representation, or notions (315). If this is true, then how do we know if
something is original and can be defined as creative if it is always based on something from the past?
7. What is the relationship between a culture and a domain? How does this relationship play out in the
systems model?
8. Society today has an extremely large influence on the success or failure of a product. With new
technological advances such as social media, it has become increasing easier for the public to
express their opinions. Do you think that social media is changing the role that both society and culture
play in the systems model and how is this influence affecting the success of products?
9. What is an example of a meme that is used in today’s society? How can this meme contribute to other
creative innovations?
10. What are some of the ways that US culture affects creativity both positively and negatively?
http://prezi.com/jcyppt0lrir5/discussion-questions/