The word creative has become a cliche. Everybody uses it whether they can define it or not. Creativity is expected of ministers no less than of advertising copywriters and fashion designers. If you're not certified "creative," your future is in big trouble.

The blunt fact, of course, is that no one is creative. We live in a closed universe; there is nothing new under the sun. What we are instead is inventive; we rearrange and reposition things that have already been created.

Throughout this article I will use the words creative and creativity even though what I am talking about is inventiveness. This will seem more natural to our speech patterns. And I hope the Creator will not be offended.

Creativity has to do with more than just the arts-painting, sculpture, music, architecture. In my view, creativity is survival. When an institution loses its transitional quality in a moving market, a moving culture, a moving world, it doesn't survive. The railroad industry wanted to stay as railroad companies ...