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Apollo 13 Creativity: In‐the‐Box Innovation
Author(s) -
KING MARGARET J.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
the journal of creative behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.896
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 2162-6057
pISSN - 0022-0175
DOI - 10.1002/j.2162-6057.1997.tb00801.x
Subject(s) - apollo , creativity , plan (archaeology) , the arts , perspective (graphical) , space (punctuation) , creative problem solving , style (visual arts) , moon landing , space program , aesthetics , management , sociology , environmental ethics , computer science , psychology , political science , history , social psychology , law , artificial intelligence , art , economics , archaeology , philosophy , ecology , biology , operating system
A study of the Apollo 13 mission, based on the themes showcased in the acclaimed 1995 film, reveals the grace under pressure that is the condition of optimal creativity. “Apollo 13 Creativity” is a cultural and creative problem‐solving appreciation of the thinking style that made the Apollo mission succeed: creativity under severe limitations. Although creativity is often considered a “luxury good,” of concern mainly for personal enrichment, the arts, and performance improvement, in life‐or‐death situations it is the critical pathway not only to success but to survival. In this case, the original plan for a moon landing had to be transformed within a matter of hours into a return to earth. By precluding failure as an option at the outset, both space and ground crews were forced to adopt a new perspective on their resources and options to solve for a successful landing. This now‐classic problem provides a range of principles for creative practice and motivation applicable in any situation. The extreme situation makes these points dramatically.