Using narratives in creativity research: handling the subjective nature of creative process

Abstract

For most of us, creative processes are those which can produce outcomes that are capable of being judged ascreative. The outcome-centric recognition of creativity has heavily downplayed the process-perspective ofcreativity in organizations. Influenced significantly by individual and social subjectivities, creative processesare difficult to enquire on the basis of positivist approaches presently dominating creativity research. Use ofnarrative methodology in creativity research is proposed as a strategy for not just handling the subjectivitiesbut also for making meaning from them as well as from participants' emotions. Antenarratives can help toenrich the narrated storyline, and personal narratives of the researcher allows to tie back the subjectivitiesthrough co-created meanings. The article aspires to invigorate attention towards the foundations of creativityresearch that has offered little scope for research paradigms that are beyond the objective-positivist tradition.Consequently, it urges the research community to seek suitable methodologies like the narrative whichpromises to explore the process-perspective of creativity and enlarge our organizational understanding ofcreativity.