Creativity in engineering

Creativity is at the heart of the historic transitions of the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution and, more recently, the technological breakthroughs of the nano-bio-info and cogno-sciences (NBIC). Yet, while its effects on the economy and the value chain are obvious, its nature, causes and operating methods are poorly understood, leaving room for a variety of approaches, with varying degrees of experimental validation. Creativity is therefore subject to a variety of fashions and theories, on the borderline between sociology, management and science.

However, among the dozens of methods that have been available for over fifty years, there are some constants and commonalities of approach. We will compare these with a view to their application in an engineering context.

From a semantic point of view, the word "creativity" sits alongside the words "invention" and "innovation". Their distinction is sometimes blurred. The three facets of product and service evolution can easily be linked to their lexicographical meanings:

• "Creativity" comes from a medieval Latin word meaning "to bring into being";

• The word "invention" comes from classical Latin and means "to discover";

• "Innovation" comes from imperial Latin and means "to renew".

Creativity is the act of bringing into being something that did not exist as such, and which invention can discover. Innovation then consists in renewing its nature within a market and a social and cultural context.

Closely linked, these three concepts are not sequential, but parallel. At every stage in a product's life, from design to recycling as waste, creativity adds value to the industrial cycle.

Bringing creativity to life, since this is its mission, implies several profound characteristics of creative activity:

• it is based on a substrate, a pre-existing inspiration, sometimes very small (the question of a breakthrough creativity independent of the environment is discussed, but it is, in any case, in the minority);

• it is exercised in an environment conducive to creation;

• it is a process, a complex modus operandi.

Creativity, as a process, is therefore part of the sciences of complexity in the sense of Prigogine :

• its result is an emergence, and so knowledge of the properties of the elements...