Creativity in Research

Creativity is at the heart of successful research. Often the big goal is clear: Earn the PhD, write a winning grant, finish the master’s thesis, reach tenure, think up the next big thing in your field. But knowing which direction to go or how to move concretely toward that big goal is often not clear. Unfortunately, researchers are rarely taught how to manage their creative process, and modern academic life is not structured to optimize creativity. Creativity in Research provides concrete guidance on developing creativity for anyone doing or mentoring research. Based on a curriculum developed at Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, this book presents key abilities that underlie creative research practice through a combination of scientific literature on creative confidence, experiential exercises, and guided reflection. By focusing attention on how research happens as well as its outputs, you can increase your ability to address research challenges and produce the outputs you care about. Simultaneously, you may also transform your emotional relationship with your work, replacing stress and a harsh inner critic with a more open and emotionally empowered attitude. Whatever your background, discipline, or career stage, this book can give you concrete tools to gain clarity, be innovative, and make progress in your research journey.