Mandalas: A Simple Project to Explore Creativity

Abstract

Creativity is more important than ever in today’s knowledge-based economy. Although many students doubt their own creativity, very few exercises are designed to help them access this ability. We believe that self-expression and self-reflection are important for understanding personal creative ability. Jung introduced the mandala to promote these two skills. We offer an easy-to-implement project that uses the mandala to help students explore factors (e.g., moods, context) that affect their creativity. This project can be useful in a variety of courses, ranging from those that give students a basic overview of creativity (e.g., management, organizational behavior) to more advanced courses in creativity and innovation.