At ByBa, we have been working on something that does not currently exist in the creativity discourse: a four-dimensional model of creativity.

Not four levels.
Not four stages.
Not a hierarchy.

Four dimensions.

A system.

A way of understanding creativity that allows anyone — regardless of background, profession, or training — to access it fully.

Because creativity is not a talent.
It is not a field.
It is not a personality trait.

It is a multidimensional human capacity.

Let’s unfold it.

1. Existential Creativity

This is the most intimate dimension.

Existential creativity is the act of defining oneself.

It is the creative gesture of saying:
“This is who I am.”
“This is how I interpret the world.”
“This is my position.”

It is the capacity to construct a personal narrative, a worldview, a sense of identity that is not merely inherited.

You exercise existential creativity when:

• You redefine what success means to you.

• You shift your moral framework.

• You decide who you want to become.

This dimension does not produce objects.
It produces selves.

And it might be the most determinant one — because every other creative act emerges from the identity that sustains it.

Existential creativity is not “advanced.”
It is universal.

A child choosing how to respond to a conflict is exercising existential creativity.
An adult redefining their life path is too.

2. Procedural Creativity

Procedural creativity concerns the design of processes.

It is not about ideas themselves, but about how ideas are generated.

It answers questions like:

• How do I structure my thinking?

• How do I build a system that produces solutions?

• How do I avoid relying on inspiration alone?

When you create a methodology, a workflow, a ritual, or a repeatable strategy, you are engaging in procedural creativity.

It is the shift from being a hunter of ideas to becoming a cultivator of them.

This dimension empowers autonomy.

Instead of waiting for creativity to happen, you design the conditions for it.

3. Operational Creativity

Operational creativity is what most people recognize as “creativity.”

It is the generation of novel and useful solutions.

You apply operational creativity when:

• You design a product.

• You solve a logistical problem.

• You reframe a conflict.

• You compose, build, propose, fix.

This dimension works on visible outputs.

But it depends on the previous two.

Your identity (existential) shapes what you aim for.
Your process (procedural) shapes how you generate.
Operational creativity is the visible manifestation.

4. Substructural Creativity

This dimension operates beneath conscious intention.

Substructural creativity is the transformation of underlying patterns — perceptions, associations, cognitive biases.

It is the reshaping of how elements connect before ideas even appear.

You engage in substructural creativity when:

• You train yourself to see relationships differently.

• You alter habitual associations.

• You modify the way you interpret stimuli.

It is subtle but powerful.

It changes the soil from which ideas grow.

A System, Not a Ladder

These four dimensions do not represent levels of sophistication.

They are not steps in a sequence.

They are coordinates in a system.

Anyone can access any dimension.

A child can experience existential creativity.
A professional can operate substructurally.
A non-artist can design procedures.
An artist can redefine identity.

Creativity is not vertical.

It is dimensional.

When we recognize this, we stop asking:
“Am I creative enough?”

And start asking:
“In which dimension am I operating?”

This model is an original contribution from ByBa.
It will be developed further inside The Other – The ByBa Library.

If you want to follow its evolution, subscribe to The Golden Nose.

Because creativity is not a skill to acquire.

It is a space to inhabit — in more than one dimension.

Blithe Ernst, Minister of Play at ByBa