Emergent Creativity across and between Disciplines

Abstract

. Creativity has been adopted as a mantra across more industries and disciplines than ever before. It crosses borders and silos and is embraced in unexpected sectors. Yet we know very little about how to foster transdisciplinary creativity across and between all the disciplines in our universities. And given predictions that more future discoveries will take place between disciplines, not simply within them, understanding the dynamics of transdisciplinary creativity becomes increasingly important. This article examines an unusual university environment that fosters transdisciplinary discovery. Specifically, it looks at the creative process involved in using a pack of ‘method cards’ written by academics from many disciplines. Emerging from this process I present three deep insights revealed through five years of observation, presented as paradoxes as they all challenge the importance we place on traditional notions of knowledge. The first insight discusses the value of the naïve perspective (important when researchers stray out of their domain of expertise in transdisciplinary research.) The second insight explores the importance of the creative leap between disciplines (the invaluable ‘trans’-cendent part of ‘trans’-disciplinary practice, where discipline becomes less relevant). And the third insight explores the importance of the person / people doing the creative leap (examining the crucial shift we must make in our universities to privilege ‘being,’ not just ‘knowing.’)