Overview

Engineering creativity is an ability to conceive of a new combination of old things that can contribute to solving an engineering problem. It is important to note that you start with something already there.

It is a common misconception that inventions or other creative improvements are made more or less out of thin air. What a relief it is to recognize that you are not being called on to do the impossible or to deal in some kind of magic!

Imhotep, designer and builder of the first great pyramid at Saqqara, was one of the first identified engineers in history. "It was said that his plans 'descended to him from heaven, to the north of Memphis.' His counsel was 'as if he had inquired at the oracle of God.'" ^[1]

But innovation does not start with something new, even in Imhotep's case. It begins with the already known (and often quite familiar, as we will see). Then it proceeds to some change or improvement or new combination of the known. Often invention consists of combining a relatively new (but known) idea with an old idea or in an old situation.

Everybody needs creativity. Much relatively noncreative work can be handled excellently, too like routine engineering technicians' work or detail drafting. But even here at least some element of creativity is useful and often encountered. At a little higher rung on the engineering ladder, advanced technicians and drafting designers can't get along without a considerable amount.