From the past years of research and the driven controversy about the relationship between intelligence and creativity (Getzels and Jackson 1962; Wallach and Kogan 1965; Torrance 1967) at least as early as 1922, R.M. Simpson who devised a measure of creativity pointed out the difference between the two. Right from J.P. Guilford’s research, till the ongoing research on creativity, I was able to highlight some of the most important insights based on the research into the nature and nurture of creativity.
I would look at intelligence as the potential of the mind. The best example I can think of is the horsepower of a car. The horsepower is the potential of the car. The performance of the car, however, depends on the skill of the driver. There may be a powerful car which is driven badly and a low-in-power car which is driven well. In the same way, an intelligent person may be a poor thinker if that person has not acquired the skills of thinking. A person with less IQ may have better-thinking skills (Bono,1992).
So it very much depends on the habits, training, and expectations. In my opinion, I do not think that a low IQ score would prevent a person from being creative if he or she has made an effort to learn the methods of creativity. Intelligence does matter, it demonstrates our ability to gather knowledge and effectively use it. I feel like expert creatives simply do three things more diligently than anyone else: they have more experiences, they think on their experiences more often, and when they start pursuing potential outcomes to problems or projects they work more with those little ideas whereas everyone else gives up after evaluating just one or two possibilities.
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Another aspect of creativity is the four stages that it comes in that is preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification. (Wallas, Csikszentmihalyi). In the first stage, your brain is collecting information. In the second stage, you let your mind wander and unconsciously look for ideas. In the third stage, you try to link up the ideas. In the fourth stage, creative ideas need to be polished by critical thinking and expertise in order to persuasively reach their audience.
I believe in all the elements listed above. It is important to practice and get involved in your craft. It is important to think about what you are doing and bring novelty to your tasks. But it isn’t as defined as this. There is no process for creativity. You can’t forcefully sit down and think. You don’t necessarily need a quiet place to churn your ideas. You don’t even need to clarify with someone else to validate your idea. If you think it’s good, unique to you, who cares? Moreover to give it a thought, following this ruled and structured ‘creative process’ makes it in itself, uncreative.
So coming back to the FAQ’s, ‘Are all smart people creative?’, ‘Were inventors and innovators all geniuses?’ ‘Does a person have to be intelligent to be creative?’ In my opinion, intelligence is very much necessary to churn thoughts into ideas and then creativity is necessary to turn those ideas into reality. Putting it through in the words of Bill Gates, “You need to understand things in order to invent beyond them!”
