they are working on.These are psychologically androgynous people who can interact with the world in terms of amuch richer and varied spectrum of opportunities. Creative individuals often have not only thestrengths of their own gender but those of the other one, too. For example, creative girls oftentend to be more dominant and tough than other girls, and creative boys are more sensitiveand less aggressive than their male peers. Similarly, women artists and scientists tend to bemuch more assertive, self-confident, and openly aggressive than typical women. At the sametime, creative men display feminity through their great preoccupation with their family andtheir sensitivity to subtle aspects of the environment.It is impossible to be creative without having first internalized a domain or culture. And aperson must believe in the importance of such a domain in order to learn its rules; hence heor she must be to a certain extent a traditionalist. So a person cannot be creative withoutbeing both traditional and conservative and at the same time rebellious and iconoclastic.Being only traditional leaves the domain unchanged. At the same time, recklessness andtaking too many chances, may not really pay off.Most creative persons are very passionate about their work, yet they can be extremelyobjective about it is well. Passion is needed to sustain interest in a difficult task. But withoutobjectivity, the work may lack credibility and not find enough takers.The openness and sensitivity of creative individuals often exposes them to suffering andpain, yet also a great deal of enjoyment. The suffering is easy to understand. Their greatersensitivity can cause slights and anxieties that are not usually felt by the rest of us. Perhapsthe most important quality of creative individuals, is the ability to enjoy the process of creationfor its own sake. That is why these people forgo more lucrative career opportunities to remainfocused on what they like to do.The creative process consists of five steps.The first is a period of preparation, becoming immersed, consciously or not, in a set ofproblematic issues that are interesting and arouse curiosity.The second phase is a period of incubation, during which ideas churn around below thethreshold of consciousness. It is during this time that unusual connections are likely to bemade. Because of its mysterious quality, incubation has often been thought the most creativepart of the entire process. What happens in this dark space defies ordinary analysis andevokes the original mystery shrouding the work of genius. How long a period of incubationis needed varies depending on the nature of the problem. It may range from a few hours toseveral weeks and even longer.The third component of the creative process is insight, when the pieces of the puzzle falltogether.The fourth component is evaluation, i.e., deciding whether the insight is valuable and worthpursuing. This is often the most emotionally trying part of the process, when one feels mostuncertain and insecure. Is this idea really novel, or is it obvious?The fifth and last component of the process is elaboration. This stage takes up the most timeand involves the hardest work. After an insight occurs, one must validate it. Most lovelyinsights never go any farther because