While preparing for the upcoming Principles of Invention class at Stanford CSP, by the way we still have one or two slots available, I found a positive psychology paper that places creativity within a wider framework of human virtues and character strengths. The whole set consists of 6 virtues and 24 character traits that are commonly endorsed across many cultures. In this post I decided to focus on a virtue that is most relevant to invention. Here's a snippet of the "Wisdom and Knowledge" category that includes creativity.

Table 1. Classification of 6 Virtues and 24 Character Strengths (Peterson & Seligman, 2004).

Virtue and Strength	Definition
Wisdom and knowledge	Cognitive strengths that entail the acquisition and use of knowledge
Creativity --	Thinking of novel and productive ways to do things
Curiosity --	Taking an interest in all of ongoing experience
Open-mindedness --	Thinking things through and examining them from all sides
Love of learning --	Mastering new skills, topics, and bodies of knowledge
Perspective --	Being able to provide wise counsel to others

Source: MEP Seligman, TA Steen, N Park, C Peterson. Positive psychology progress. American Psychologist, July-August, 2005.

Later this year I will create a map of the tools and methods I teach throughout the course and specific character strength they help develop.