Applying systems engineering methodologies to the creative process

Abstract

The application of systems engineering methodologies to the creative process provides opportunities to improve the creative capabilities of individuals and organizations. Through creativity and systems engineering research, the creative process is equated to the systems engineering process. This allows creativity itself to be defined as a system. Defining creativity as a system permits the analysis of the creative process and the construction of a systems engineering based process model for creativity. Process based creativity theories are decomposed and reformulated into a process flow that acknowledges the iterative and recursive nature of the creative process. The derived process flow is then integrated with systems engineering process elements to construct a process model for creativity. The production of a systems engineering derived process model for creativity allows future opportunities to improve that process model by incorporating new creativity research and/or additional influences on creativity, increasing the fidelity of the model. The proposed process model also invites future research into the efficacy of the model. Through the use of systems engineering, creativity research may be incorporated and refined to build an evolving process model for creativity.