Our innate ability to ‘think outside the box’ extends far beyond the creative industries. From problem-solving to strategy, project planning to negotiation, creativity plays a vital role for everyone.
In 2004, Arne Dietrich, a professor of cognitive neuroscience, published a seminal paper which introduced four different types of creativity, each managed by a different part of the brain. By understanding and developing these diverse strands of creative thinking in yourself and others, you can bring new dimensions to the way you work.
Take our quiz to find out which of the four creativity types applies best to you – and how you can develop your creative thinking skills to help you thrive!
Based on Arne Dietrich’s model of creativity, there are four different kinds: Purposeful, Feeling, Spontaneous and Emotional.
As a Purposeful creative, you apply your knowledge deliberately and intelligently to come up with new ways of doing things. This type of creativity lies in the pre-frontal cortex (PFC). This is the part of the brain involved in decision-making, paying focused attention and connecting information.
Drawing on Arne Dietrich’s research, there are four different kinds of creativity: Purposeful, Feeling, Spontaneous and Emotional.
As a Feeling creative, you employ plenty of logic, but also allow your emotions to influence your process, creating a balance between thinking and feeling.
This type of creativity is governed by the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for processing basic emotions, but also the cingulate cortex which manages more complex feelings, as well as learning and memory.
In her book, The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin suggests starting a "one sentence journal" to encourage daily reflection, an exercise that can help Feeling types really tune into their creative process.
For Spontaneous creatives like you, knowledge and expertise are a key part of the process, but you rely on the subconscious mind to provide the inspiration.
The brain’s basal ganglia, which runs your conscious awareness, is the ruler of this particular creativity. To enable a flow of new ideas, your conscious brain steps out of the way to allow your unconscious brain to take over.
As an Emotional type, you embody the qualities of what we typically consider to be ‘creativity’. And like writers, poets and painters, you allow your emotional side to guide your work.
This kind of creativity is ruled by the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for processing emotions. In this instance, the conscious mind takes a back seat to allow for flashes of insight.