Is Creativity Innate or Can it be Learned?

Adobe recently released a study, Creativity and Education: Why It Matters. Here are some interesting statistics from this survey of 1,000+ Americans ages 25+ who are college-educated and full-time (salaried) employees:

57% of survey respondents believe creativity is a learned skill that can be learned in their career
65% believe creativity is a personality trait that is innate
78% believe creativity is important to their current career
85% believe creative thinking is critical for problem solving in their career
88% believe creativity should be built into education curriculum
72% think they were more focused on subject matter than creative thinking in school
94% agreed with the statement "It is important for educators to encourage creative thinking in their students

Here are some additional statistics that are cause for concern:

80% of education majors (vs. 54% of engineering majors) believe creativity is an innate skill (a skill you are born with)
47% felt there is enough opportunity in school for students to demonstrate creativity
41% felt academic test scores are the best indicators for success in school and beyond
32% do not feel comforable thinking creatively at work

Why the disconnect with educators? Shouldn't every educator stress creativity within the classroom? Are educators worried that creativity cannot be objectively measured?

I agree that it is difficult to define creativity, but we can add more creativity into our instructional design. We must also recognize the importance of originality because creativity is what makes the world a better place. In other words, creativity improves the existing outcome in everything that we do.

Ask yourself if you are part of the 32% who do not feel comfortable thinking creatively at work and why? It's ok if you feel this way, but we need to get out of our comfort zone and focus on creativity in the classroom because 85% of us agree that creativity is important for success in our chosen occupation.

Also read:
The Phenomenons Called Curiosity and Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity?

There Are No Traffic Jams on the Extra Mile