The battle of creativity: principle versus profits

Psychologists explore the concept of responsible creativity, or ?good work.?

By Scott Sleek
Monitor staff

Three prominent psychologists are trying to identify ways that creative professionals can remain true to their goals and values in a time when society pressures us to win at all costs or bring in whopping profits.

During a jam-packed presentation at APA?s Annual Convention in San Francisco, Howard Gardner, PhD, the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education in the Harvard Graduate School of Education, outlined the goals of a project he?s working on with Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi, PhD, of the University of Chicago, William Damon, PhD, of Stanford University, and several other colleagues.

The researchers are studying the origins of humane creativity, or what Gardner calls 'good work,' in such fields as journalism, law and science. Specifically, Gardner and his colleagues are studying the ways that people navigate the often-clashing responsibilities to their:

? Own personal goals.

? Intimates, such as family members.

? Vocation or calling.

? The wider world, such as the environment and generations to come.

Being true to all those responsibilities can be difficult in today?s society, Gardner said.

'If you look at the different domains of work today, you see how people get pulled in different directions,' he said. 'If you?re in medicine, you?ve got the Hippocratic oath, but you?ve also got the HMO, which is very interested in the bottom line. And if you?re in publishing, what?s your obligation to print the truth?as opposed to what you need for the bottom line, so you won?t go out of business or get bought out?'

Gardner and his colleagues are looking at how talented or adroit people cope with those conflicts from childhood through retirement. And they?re particularly interested in people who find a new niche or domain that allows them to adhere to the personal values they?re being pressured to give up.

For instance, they?re looking at how enterprising reporters respond when their newspaper decides to do away with investigative journalism to save money and avoid angering advertisers. Do they quit? Do they keep working for the company even though they?ll be unfulfilled? Do they continue to pursue investigative stories at the risk of being fired? Or do they find new outlets to publish their exposés?

The researchers have no definitive data yet, but hope their results will lead to an international model for people looking to maintain a sense of professional fulfillment, creativity and responsibility to the public good.

For instance, they hope to encourage role modeling, mentoring and peer support programs that help professionals find ways to keep doing 'good work' despite pressures to compromise their values or goals.

Gardner is widely known for his theory on multiple intelligences, which holds that people have varied strengths and potentials rather than a single, measurable intelligence. Just before his speech, APA President Martin E.P. Seligman, PhD, gave him a special citation for his impact on education around the world.