4Ps anyone?

One of the classic theories of creativity has four categories; the creative person, process, product and press (environment) – known collectively as the “four Ps”.

They are interrelated in the obvious way: Creative products are the outcome of creative processes engaged in by creative people, all of which are supported by a creative environment. One could take any starting point and it would eventually include the others.

E. Paul Torrance, often called the father of creativity, likes to start with the process. He explains, “I chose a process definition of creativity for research purposes. I thought that if I chose a process as a focus, I could then ask what kind of person one must be to engage in the process successfully, what kinds of environments will facilitate it, and what kinds of products will result form successful operation of the processes.

It doesn’t matter where to start from, eventually you will cover all aspects. Personally, I chose the press (environment) as a starting point. It encompasses everything in it and contains it as a playing sandbox.

Where would you start in search for creativity?