Abstract

This article describes an investment theory of creativity. It suggests that a creative person needs to defy the crowd to buy low and sell high in the realm of ideas, just as a successful financial investor defies the crowd and buys stocks when they are out of favor and sells them when they become popular. Creative ideas are often unpopular. To overcome the resistance to those ideas, creative people--as well as companies desiring to encourage creativity--need to invest in six resources: knowledge; intellectual abilities; thinking styles; motivation; personality; and environment. All of these resources need to be present for a creative enterprise to succeed.