Creativity vs. Imagination

During our weekly meeting at work, we went through an interesting exercise. We were asked to rank, in numerical order the following traits in ourselves:

Creativity
Digital/Technical
Analytical
Sales-Driven
Strategic

Since I am in the marketing department, these are, by nature, marketing-centric traits. Our task was to rank ourselves on these traits from strongest to weakest. Not surprisingly, the results varied from person to person. For me, Digital/Technical was first, Analytical second, Creativity third.

These were self rankings, so they were designed to reflect how we saw our own strengths and weaknesses. And I was satisfied with those rankings, although there seemed to be something missing. It bugged me for awhile, until I happened on what it I think was the missing piece.

Imagination.

I had ranked Creativity about half-way down the list, but I consider myself very creative. Was this just a semantic distinction, without any real significance? Off to the dictionary… (from dictionary.com)

cre·a·tiv·i·ty

[kree-ey-tiv-i-tee, kree-uh-]

the state or quality of being creative.
the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination: the need for creativity in modern industry; creativity in the performing arts.
the process by which one utilizes creative ability: Extensive reading stimulated his creativity.

im·ag·i·na·tion

[ih-maj-uh-ney-shuhn]

the faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.
the action or process of forming such images or concepts.
the faculty of producing ideal creations consistent with reality, as in literature, as distinct from the power of creating illustrative or decorative imagery. Compare fancy ( def. 2 ) .
the product of imagining; a conception or mental creation, often a baseless or fanciful one.
ability to face and resolve difficulties; resourcefulness: a job that requires imagination.
Psychology . the power of reproducing images stored in the memory under the suggestion of associated images (reproductive imagination) or of recombining former experiences in the creation of new images directed at a specific goal or aiding in the solution of problems (creative imagination).
(in Kantian epistemology) synthesis of data from the sensory manifold into objects by means of the categories.
Archaic . a plan, scheme, or plot.

Similar, but not the same. Creation is a description of synthesizing ideas, of creating something new from what perhaps already exists, to create. The result is tangible.

Imagination, however does not necessarily produce anything other an an idea. It is a precursor to creation. Often, that which is created by imagination is fanciful, impractical, unreal. Creativity results in a product.

And that’s where the difference is for me. If imagination had been a selection, it would have been first. I’m an idea guy. I can conceptualize, pulling ideas from thin air prolifically. But I’m less creative. That’s because I take my ideas, figure out how to work them into systems, analyze the system. Then create the actual system. I imagine, then let the technician take over.

I see this in how I learn, which is by inference and relation. I can paint elaborate designs in my mind, as long as I know that each piece is “like” something else I know. If you tell me that driving a Zamboni is like driving a car on ice, I get it. I don’t need a whole lot more information to understand it. That’s the imagination. I can build huge, complex ideas from those tidbits of information.

But let’s not confuse that with strategy. The phrase “big picture” gets used a lot, but often, it’s used incorrectly. I’m better at the “30,000 ft.” picture than the “big picture”. I can see what it all should look like. But that’s different than strategy. Strategy, like creativity, is about the process to get the result. Imagination is knowing what that result looks like before you get there.

They are symbiotic, relying on each other. Without imagination, creativity, does not exist. Without creativity, imagination can never become reality. They walk hand-in-hand.