Someone said that “…creativity is the stuff you do at the edges.” Intriguing, but here is something to consider: The edges are different for everyone, and the edges change over time.
If you visualize the territory you work in as an old sweater, as you wear it over time it stretches out, gets bigger and looser, and the edges move away. Stuff that would have been creative last year isn't creative at all today, because it's not near the edges any more.
So we have two useful tactics for problem solving:
1. If you want to be creative, understand that you'll need to keep moving to the edges, even if the edges have moved. Being creative means going to the place where the last person left off.
2. If you feel you are not “creative” --- or have been convinced that you aren’t --- don't worry about it. Just stretch that sweater in your spare time, watch the creative things other people have done, and keep up with the state of the art. Then, when you do your thing out there at the edges, most people will think its pretty creative indeed.
“The secret to creativity is to know how to hide your sources.”
--- Albert Einstein