Creative is a tricky word there. As a descriptor of a solution to me it means thinking outside of convention, beyond the limits of the expected.

As a descriptor of a person to me it means that that person is consistently thinking in new directions unfettered by conventional wisdom, and is successful in doing so.

It doesn't matter if they have the wildest ideas if they don't work then the ideas aren't very useful notions.

And lastly as a descriptor of a process then anything goes, sometimes the most creative solution, and process is to follow the rules, conform a bit. If everyone thinks outside the box then the box really wasn't that good of a box now was it. Being creative could also mean building a better box.

good notion alex

creative: to be able to think out of the box using all types of resourses, from all kind of sources

"Creative" is a state of mind. Creativity defines every single thing you touch, everything you interact with. Someone created the original mold for the glass you're drinking out of. Someone created the engineering process to make the casing for your monitor.

Creativity basically defines any developed solution. Unlike true "solutions" however, they don't necessarily require problems that need solving. But I think you'll find that almost everything that is created scratches an itch. Even the abstract painting hanging in a gallery was probably the solution to an artist's internal questioning of something - life, shapes, colors, defying convention, etc.

We seem to place the badge of "creative" on solutions which catch our attention because they are especially unique, visually stunning, incredibly tasty, etc. But there is art in everything that we as a species create - there is art in city planning, there is art in manufacturing, there is art in writing code.

Remember that interpretation is totally in the eye of the beholder, and many declare themselves judge of what is "creative" and what is not. Almost none are qualified (if there exists such a thing) to determine what solution is creative or not, for sometimes the simplest solutions are pure art. Often what we consider to be the most clunky solutions exhibit the limits of the creativity of a particular individual - but does that make that person less of an artist in their own realm?

Creative = Art = Everything man makes. We just need to learn to find the beauty in everything, and appreciate the creativity inherent in human problem solving and ingenuity.

There. :)

I'll focus on the adjective use and disregard the noun uses (the "creative" as some sort of design deliverable and/or the person who creates it).

My definition: to be creative is to use or combine ideas in a new/different way to arrive at a new/different idea/solution/object.

(I would also include the creation of something completely new, but for the assumption that everything has been done before...)

To me, 'creative' is taking an alternative path based on internal vision to get from point 'A' to point 'B'.

To be creative is the ability to think in a variety of ways, to come up with new ideas and develop new thoughts. "Thinking outside the box" could also describe creative nature, thinking with nothing stopping you. Creativity goes hand in hand with innovation.

capable of creating unexpected meaningful relationships between concepts.

that's one important part to me.

Creativity, in my mind, is a passion for putting everything you've got into something. It's about spending every waking hour of a day on perfecting something challenging just for fun, and loving every moment of it. It's about obsessing, caring, loving what you do.

I recognize a creative person based on these characteristics, and how they shine brightly in the work they do. What separates a creative person from the rest is that they care, and the quality of their personality and work shows it.

Creativity - The ability to be innovative and resourceful in an authentic way.

? :)

creativity is making the best with what you have...

... which might happen after you realize you already have everything you need.

Creative: Somone who uses terms other than "Think outside the box" to describe "thinking outside the box"

Creative: the ability to conceive, combine or manipulate stuff - materials, ideas, tools, people, etc -- in unexpected ways, often with expectedly unpredictable results.

Creative is not the norm. It's the idea that ideas can be formed anywhere, with anything, and by anyone to tackle anything.

That's a lot of As but that was creative, no?

I'm with Celly, generally the first thing I think about someone who says "think outside the box" is that they're incapable of it.

But I agree with most people here that that's exactly what it is: using a new method, an old method in a new way, or just turning something around to look at the other side of it.

In short, I'd say being creative is being able to reach a solution to a problem in a new, unique or unexpected way.

@Mike,
So "thinking outside of the box" is like "thinking inside the black hole"?

Creativity elicits the reaction:

Huh, that's different. Why didn't I think of that?

Sharing some of the Twitter @alexknowshtml responses I got:
<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2007/2399644094_2f9c029c87.jpg?v=0"></img>

Creative means having ability to think outside the box.

As I read these over, I have a few more thoughts beyond what I wrote on twitter.

I believe it often requires/involves a higher degree of creativity to recognize a new problem (that the standard way of doing something is semi-broken or that there's an empty artistic niche) than to figure out the solution to a problem posed by someone else. Also some historically important discoveries occurred when a person was trying to solve one problem or just fooling around and was flexible enough to realize that he/she had accidentally solved some other problem, maybe in some other field. Play is important for creativity, and it helps to not get too hung up on a narrow, specific goal.

I like what Dave M said: "...interpretation is totally in the eye of the beholder, and many declare themselves judge of what is “creative” and what is not" and the notion of "an artist in their own realm."

Or like @zackgonzales said about being true to yourself while changing yourself.

I'm creative when I turn my ideas into something I've never done before or I transform my environment (this has many meanings) to make a new experience. Just because someone else may have already done it or done it "better", it doesn't make me any less creative "in [my] own realm" as long as I'm using my unique ideas to guide me.