Challenging problems both attract and repel us. They frustrate us, accelerate our pulses, cause ulcers, and may even curtail our lifespans. But they also provide food for thought, sustaining our creativity and adding emotion and spice to the human experience.

This book explores the nature of these challenging or difficult problems and the dimensions of creative behaviour demanded by such tasks. A special feature of the book is a discussion of research practices whose principles should apply to diverse settings, ranging from the university laboratory to the corporate marketing office and governmental research institute. The topics will be of special relevance to researchers and their supervisors.

The author argues that by understanding the dynamics of problem solving in general, we can better organize the pursuit of specific projects. He characterizes problems by three dimensions: domain, difficulty, and effort. The domain refers to the area of application; the difficulty to the level of conceptual challenge required; and effort to the magnitude of the work required to implement a solution. This book explores the nature of difficult problems in various domains, as well as techniques for addressing them. It also presents a case for the ways in which advances in hardware and software technologies may be harnessed to develop a creativity support system to assist decision making.

Written in a clear, readable style, Essence of Creativity should appeal to engineers, business managers, computer scientists, psychologists, and educators in many fields, as well as general readers seeking effective ways to handle difficult problems.