Creating superior geospatial products through enhancement of creativity: This booklet was produced as a follow-on to a webinar on creativity.

1. C R E AT I V I T Y S C I E N C E
I N T E G R AT I N G
GIS
WITH TO C R E AT E S U P E R I O R
G E O S PAT I A L P R O D U C T S
Gretchen N. Peterson | PetersonGIS

2. The Practiced Components of Creativity
CREATIVE PERCEPTION POSTPONE JUDGEMENT
Working through an especially difficult Allow your seemingly ridiculous
problem with your left-brain processes may
ideas to have a moment. Take them
not yield creative answers because your left-
a step further than you used to.
brain is only looking for conventional
Don’t shoot them down right away
solutions. Your left-brain wants to find a
as being too far-fetched.
pattern that fits with what it has
encountered in the past. This is helpful for
many tasks but not for discovering truly When someone comes to you with
novel approaches.
an idea, ask questions first, make
suggestions second. When ideas are
While a problem is “on your mind” you want
stopped at their very start you will
your senses to be tuned in to collecting bits
wind up with fewer ideas.
of information that previously would have
been filtered out. Suddenly, things that
would have been deemed irrelevant become
important in your quest for a solution. How could we present
this to the IT staff?
Keep your eyes and ears open by
recognizing what seems like coincidence for
NOT
what it really is – the product of being tuned
to the right frequency. Once you realize it
IT would never approve
isn’t random, you will start to notice even
the new technology
more.

3. The Practiced Components of Creativity
FLEXIBLE ASSOCIATION IMAGINATION
Practice making connections where Give yourself time to visualize
there is no obvious link. A surprise solutions. This can be done through
twist may lead to an innovative meditation , staring at a wall, taking
solution. a shower, or wherever you do your
best unstructured thinking.
Think of two GIS datasets that don’t We cannot take concerted action if
seem related. In 5 minutes or we can’t visualize ourselves carrying
less, jot down 2 additional datasets it out. A picture is worth a thousand
that could be used to link the words. Group-think solutions don’t
original datasets in some way. Even always get implemented because
if the end product doesn’t make nobody goes back to their desk and
sense, the exercise will increase your actually visualizes the solution in
associative skills. see example, below: action – it was all just words.
Road Names
Bald Eagle Nesting Sites London Roads
In this exercise I simply thought up two
Nearest American datasets: London Roads and Bald Eagle Nesting
Town Names Sites and then sketched out a couple of
Towns
intermediate datasets that could possibly
connect the two.

4. Why you need to drum-up some new ideas
A CASE FOR CREATIVITY SEEING AND DOING
By coupling the creative brain with A typical painting class goes back and forth
between demonstrations (seeing) and
the analytical brain it is much easier
student practice (doing). As GIS
to create truly superior products that
professionals, we already practice the
leave positive lasting impressions “doing” aspect in our daily work by making
than by using one’s analytical brain maps, designing programs, discovering new
alone. analytical pathways, and so on.
However, GIS professionals are often
lacking in the realm of actively and
“Every great advance in deliberately observing and absorbing the
science has issued from a new imaginative creations of others.
audacity of the imagination.” –
John Dewey, philosopher
Places to see
SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM
The geospatial profession is growing.
www.americanart.si.edu
There is still a lot of room for
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
ingenuity in everything from web www.nga.gov
map design to creating new spatial THE LOUVRE
statistics to applying the technology www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp
DAVID RUMSEY HISTORICAL MAP COLLECTION
to new fields.
www.davidrumsey.com
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
www.moma.org

5. Additional Creativity Resources
SHORT ARTICLES FOR INSPIRATION WEBSITES TO BOOKMARK
Life in the Slow Lane
by Glenn John Arnowitz
www.dynamicgraphics.com/dgm/Article/28924
The Artful Dodger
www.smashingmagazine.com
by Diane Root
www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/magazine/19food-t.html
PRESENTATION ON CREATIVITY
www.colourlovers.com
The powerful link between
creativity and play
by Tim Brown
www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ti
m_brown_on_creativity_and_pl
ay.html
www.strangemaps.wordpress.com

6. Additional Creativity Resources
EXCELLENT BOOKS
Pragmatic Thinking & Learning: Uncommon Genius
Refactor Your Wetware by Denise Shekerjian
by Alan Hunt
Orbiting the Giant Hairball The Artist’s Way
By Gordon MacKenzie by Julia Cameron
Emotional Design Creativity Today
By Donald A. Norman by Ramon Vullings, Godelieve
Spaas, Igor Byttebier