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The relationship between the personality trait of openness to experience and problem solving ability in environments offering various levels of informational support in the form of analogous problems was investigated using 173 participants. I suspected the strongest positive relationship in an environment offering moderate support and that individuals who were high on openness to experience would be likely to see that previous presented information was analogous in nature. There was no relationship between penness to experience and problem solving ability as a function of the environment or in general. However, students given a high level of support solved significantly more problems than those participants receiving no support. Also, more students solved the problems when they saw an analogous connection between the experimental and the demonstration problems. An implication may be that problem solving ability can be taught using analogies, if the information is complete and students are able to determine the relevance to future problems. / Department of Psychological Science

The purpose of this study is to explore understandings of leadership and creativity and how they are seen to connect in particular arts organisations located in Adelaide. Creativity and artistic practice are generally agreed as being at the core of an arts organisation's mission. The subjects of the study are arts organisations in receipt of government subsidy. Given changes to the environment for subsidised arts organisations, particularly over the past decade, the study explores the possible impact of differing expectations of the leadership role of arts organisations and the possible impact on the organisation's creativity. / A literature review focusing on generic leadership, creativity and leadership, and leadership and management in the arts informs the study. This review begins with an exploration of specialist literature related to arts leadership and management and subsequently considers generic literature on leadership and creativity. The literature search explores the interconnections between leadership, creativity and the arts, as a background for the remainder of the study / Using a case study methodology, the study focuses on six different arts organisations in South Australia. The intent of the methodology is to understand how leadership and creativity is understood within these different arts organisations, and how that relationship is perceived, given differences in both artforms and organisational structures. The methodology, while using both quantitative and qualitative approaches, uses a qualitative framework to analyse and discuss the data generated, to address the central issues of leadership and creativity within arts organisations. / An examination of the local environment- South Australia- sets the scene for the study of the arts organisations. A background of each organisation is given which is intended to provide further information and to promote an understanding of individual organisations. The data collection process involved the use of a questionnaire survey and interviews to gather information relevant to the central focus of the study. The results of the data collection are then presented for each organisation. The results of both the individual case studies and the integration of the data from all of the case studies are further discussed and analysed. Then the results of the case studies are integrated with the literature review to determine whether a congruency exists between the literature relating to leadership, creativity, and leadership in the arts in particular, and the results of the case studies. Conclusions are then made about understandings of leadership and creativity in arts organisations, with recommendations for further research. / While leadership is not seen as being directly related to a creative culture, it is generally accepted that the leadership of these arts organisations is embedded in the artistic leadership. However, the exercise of this artistic leadership is not necessarily associated with one individual or individuals, but can be exercised by different people at different times, depending on need and expertise. So there is evidence of a hybrid form of distributed leadership within arts organisations, where leadership is not associated with positional authority but with the capacity to provide artistic leadership. / The study demonstrates that there is a high degree of recognition by those involved with these artistic organisations, of the need for a creative culture and for creativity in general. However, while it is recognised that a creative culture and creativity are important in these organisations, leadership, as the determinant of that creativity, is not necessarily seen as the major catalyst. In fact, there was a general indication that both creativity and leadership were being interpreted differently, by different people at different times. So, with different interpretations and different understandings, come different expectations as to the relationship between leadership and creativity, as well as the importance placed on creativity. It is noted that the changing environment, which is placing an increased emphasis on income generation, can have a negative effect on the organisation's creative culture. There is some limited indication that the pressures placed on leaders of organisations to produce business outcomes as well as artistic outcomes, can be an inherent source of tension, particularly when the current paradigm is inclined more towards the former than the latter. / These insights about leadership and creativity in arts organisations, limited as it is by time, place and sample size, provide an original contribution to knowledge, focussing as it does, on leaders and other key influences on arts organisations in South Australia. / Thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, [2006]

In a fast changing world driven by human resourcefulness and non-orthodox competition, the strategic role of workplace creativity needs no substantiation. However, as restricted by the conventional perception that creativity is an activity of the brilliant individual, this discussion of creativity as an organizational experience is a rather new phenomenon. Though Malaysian researchers are no stranger to the field of creativity, especially in the educational setting, they have overlooked organizational creativity so far. This portfolio therefore endeavours to narrow the gap by, firstly, reviewing the related literature and proposing a workable model for organizational creativity; and secondly, investigating empirically some of the selected dimensions of this proposed model. / Paper 1 establishes the theoretical background of the whole study. The concept of organizational creativity is broadly tackled with inputs from prior literature that has developed the various aspects of human creative efforts. A conceptual framework is suggested as a result of the exploration. According to the proposed model, organizational creativity is an organizationally mediated system through which the personal and social inputs were transformed into different drivers with the desired final states. / Paper 2 used Zhuang, Williamson and Carter's (1999) 'Attitude Survey Questionnaire' to investigate Malaysian managers' self-evaluation of their own personal creativity; the propensity with which they translate their personal creativity into creative contributions to organizations; and, the organizational mediation in terms of policies toward personal creativity. The study indicates that while there are positive and strong correlation among personal creativity, creative participation and creativity-related policies, Malaysian organizations relied heavily on their senior managers for creative inputs. With assertion for the strategic function of policies to foster creativity across organizations, and the availability of more opportunities for middle and junior managers' creative involvement, this article proposes factors that need to be addressed when formulating the policies concerned. / Paper 3 used Anderson and West's (1998) 'Team Climate Inventory' (TCI) to survey the relationship between perceived team climate and team creativity within the context of process-relevant creativity. According to the findings of this study, team creativity is confirmed to be strongly correlated to the degree to which team climate exists in a team. In addition, creative ideas are profitable not only to product development and improvement they are equally important to process development and improvement. Comparing the findings of current research with previous literature, this article argues that by involving teams with positive climate in process-relevant creativity, an organization's profit could be improved. / Like the academic inquiry of 'organizational creativity', the use of the aforesaid instruments is also a new experience to Malaysian organizations as a whole. It is believed that these three papers have systematically addressed some of the dimensions that are critical to the development of organizational creativity, and, the findings could be meaningful to Malaysian organizations that wish to thrive with greater employee ingenuity. / Thesis (DBA(DBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2005.

For centuries the art of making shoes by hand has been called Bespoke Shoemaking, much the same as tailors made bespoke suits, these are made to order or custom fitting. Over the last 500 years the art of making shoes has changed dramatically. The craftsman of the late 20th and 21st centuries is increasingly referred to as the designer/maker. In identifying myself as a designer/maker and that my work reflects craftsmanship it should also be appreciated that like many of my contemporaries my experience of product and process is far more diverse than my preferred field of practice would suggest. / This research deals with the mechanisms that inform a craftsman's process of knowing some thing, that is, his intuition, or more commonly, working with the 'gut-feeling'. The focus targets two main fields, they are intuition and creativity. The survival of the intuitive skills of the bespoke shoe designer/maker is central to the research. / Through the process of researching and demystifying the constructs of intuitions and creativity it becomes possible to acknowledge the complex range of physiological and psychological associations involved in processing creative thought. Intuitions, being dependant on actions require observations during studio practice to gain realistic insights. Reflection in action involves placing one's own practice under the microscope, providing a hands-on intimacy into the application of intuitions and creativity. / The thesis delivers an academic overview of intuitions and creativity supported by studio projects reinforcing the use and applications of both. The first project model, John Howard's Shoes for Reconciliation, provides an example of reflective creative problem solving in that the solutions to their making are mentally plotted and recorded prior to beginning the bench-work. This record is then compared with the document tabled during the making process. The comparisons indicate how the mind and imagination can be trained with the aid of strong conceptual skills to be highly efficient creative problem solving tools. / The second example is Storm Pruff, a project initiated for the research purpose. From the initial concept sketch right through to the finished work these shoes present problems not previously encountered and demand novel solutions. The project is recorded using time-lapse video to demonstrate how these solutions are resolved in real time. This example of creative problem solving using intuitions firmly connects the research to the practical application and supports the benefits of training one's mind in the design concepts outlined in the thesis. / The goal of the didactic exhibition complementing this thesis attempts to integrate intuition and creativity into the day-to-day lives of exhibition patrons, from both an historical and contemporary perspective. Visitors to the exhibition are invited to participate in the reflective experience. / Thesis (MDes(Art))--University of South Australia, 2003.

When it comes to the notion of creativity, both R. Dawkins and D. Dennett argue that creativity is a matter of random mutation, in the same way that genes randomly mutate. Neither Dennett nor Dawkins see anything else in the mimetic theory of creativity than a process of Darwinian evolution. However, this complete reliance upon the extension of evolution for understanding creativity needs to be supplemented by combining it with other ideas such as those of "schema theory," because creativity always occurs within a structured context and is not simply a matter of random mutation of ideas. Schema theory comes largely from the works of E.H Gombrich, who argued that "schemas" play a crucial role in how it is that we are able to be creative. He defines schemas as structure and traditions in society that help to convey the meaning of our creative efforts. Just as semantics needs syntax within language in order to formulate and convey meaning, so by analogy memes need schemas for the creation and expression of new ideas. Rather than being the antithesis of creativity, existing forms of expression and traditions are important for the creation of new ideas. This needs to be factored into any theory of creativity in order to account for the effect of the social context on creative endeavours in addition to a Darwinian account of memes. The unconscious processes at work within the brain that are involved in the generation of ideas and other creative products can be understood using the notion of a "generator", as originally conceived by D. Dennett. This notion goes beyond mere concrete Skinnerian behavioural trial and error. Within this generator, there appear to be at work processes such as those of bisociation and association, as discussed by A. Koestler, as well as processes such as the role of language, memory, generate-and-test and intentionality that must be acknowledged in addition to the syntactic operations of schemas and the replicating contents of memes. The operation of all of these ingredients within the generator, when understood together, can be seen as responsible for our ability to be creative.

2 v. : ill., maps, tables ; 29 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Education, 1979

2 v. : ill., maps, tables ; 29 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Education, 1979