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Thinking Creatively

Work activity group · O*NET

Thinking Creatively is one of the 41 Generalized Work Activities at the top of O*NET's work-activity hierarchy — the broadest description of what people do on the job, sitting above the more specific intermediate and detailed work activities. Across the 894 occupations O*NET rates on it, it scores an average importance of 3.38 of 5 — 67th percentile among all activity groups.

Intermediate activities it contains

The intermediate work activities O*NET groups under Thinking Creatively, ranked by how many occupations perform each. Each links to its own page.

Intermediate activity Occupations AI applied
Create visual designs or displays 96 92nd pct
Develop educational programs, plans, or procedures 83 64th pct
Design computer or information systems or applications 54 63rd pct
Develop patient or client care or treatment plans 48 43rd pct
Develop research plans or methodologies 47 50th pct
Develop safety standards, policies, or procedures 33 49th pct
Develop business or marketing plans 30 45th pct
Develop organizational or program goals or objectives 26 62nd pct
Develop sustainable organizational or business policies or practices 26 31st pct
Design databases 25 28th pct
Develop systems or practices to mitigate or resolve environmental problems 25 40th pct
Develop marketing or promotional materials 22 84th pct
Develop public or community health programs 21 25th pct
Create artistic designs or performances 20 93rd pct
Design materials or devices 20 74th pct
Develop scientific or mathematical theories or models 18 51st pct
Develop plans for managing or preserving natural resources 17 28th pct
Develop contingency or emergency response plans 16 43rd pct
Develop financial or business plans 11 38th pct
Develop news, entertainment, or artistic content 10 96th pct
Develop recipes or menus 10 65th pct
Develop health assessment methods or programs 9 19th pct

How AI is applied to this activity group

Microsoft's "Working with AI" study measured how often an AI assistant performs each work activity in real Bing Copilot conversations. Averaged across the 22 intermediate activities under Thinking Creatively that the study measured, this group ranks in the 54th percentile for how frequently AI is applied — a description of how AI is used today, not a forecast that the activity will be automated.

The figure is the mean of the child activities' applied-percentiles; open any activity above to see its underlying Microsoft measurements. Every occupation blends many activities, so a high AI-applied rank for one group does not mean a job is being automated.

Occupations that rely on this activity group most

Ranked by O*NET importance rating (1–5) for Thinking Creatively. Wages are BLS OEWS May 2024 national medians.

Occupation Importance Median pay Employment
Music Therapists 4.96 $65,010 19,320
Art Directors 4.95 $111,040 50,370
Graphic Designers 4.90 $61,300 214,260
Video Game Designers 4.90 $98,090 111,400
Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary 4.87 $80,190 97,890
Choreographers 4.86 $55,600 3,430
Art Therapists 4.84 $65,010 19,320
Special Effects Artists and Animators 4.82 $99,800 21,280
Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers 4.81 $72,270 47,800
Set and Exhibit Designers 4.81 $66,280 10,850
Fashion Designers 4.80 $80,690 20,910
Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand 4.80 $41,690 11,850
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators 4.80 $60,560 10,000
Interior Designers 4.78 $63,490 69,580
Sound Engineering Technicians 4.76 $66,430 13,050
Biochemists and Biophysicists 4.75 $103,650 34,520
Film and Video Editors 4.73 $70,980 28,860
Bioinformatics Scientists 4.70 $93,330 59,710
Mathematicians 4.70 $121,680 2,220
Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys 4.67 $45,680 23,880
Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary 4.63 $106,120 39,910
Craft Artists 4.61 $38,480 4,370
Entertainment and Recreation Managers, Except Gambling 4.60 $77,180 36,700
Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film 4.60 $68,810 24,460
Producers and Directors 4.59 $83,480 145,270
Photographers 4.59 $42,520 51,230
Forestry and Conservation Science Teachers, Postsecondary 4.58 $100,830 1,310
Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance 4.57 $50,280 3,320
Prosthodontists 4.57 — 760
Media Programming Directors 4.56 $83,480 145,270
Occupational Therapy Assistants 4.56 $68,340 47,910
Computer and Information Research Scientists 4.53 $140,910 38,480
Recreation Workers 4.52 $35,380 309,640
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School 4.50 $63,910 104,450
Landscape Architects 4.50 $79,660 19,580
Architects, Except Landscape and Naval 4.48 $96,690 111,140
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary 4.48 $78,270 59,590
Communications Teachers, Postsecondary 4.48 $77,800 29,260
Music Directors and Composers 4.48 $63,670 12,330
Robotics Engineers 4.47 $117,750 150,750
Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary 4.47 $82,540 12,380
Mechanical Engineers 4.46 $102,320 286,760
History Teachers, Postsecondary 4.46 $81,500 19,860
Recreational Therapists 4.46 $60,280 15,060
Architecture Teachers, Postsecondary 4.46 $101,480 9,120
Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education 4.46 — —
Public Relations Specialists 4.45 $69,780 280,590
Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary 4.42 $84,290 11,430
Actors 4.41 — 38,800
Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary 4.40 $83,460 53,250
Funeral Home Managers 4.40 $76,830 13,120
Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education 4.39 $62,970 620,370
Library Science Teachers, Postsecondary 4.39 $78,630 4,100
Fundraisers 4.38 $66,490 105,930
Web Developers 4.38 $90,930 78,860
Computer Hardware Engineers 4.38 $155,020 75,710
Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers 4.38 $49,140 23,420
Search Marketing Strategists 4.36 $76,950 861,140
Computer Programmers 4.35 $98,670 109,870
Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary 4.35 $96,690 36,240

Showing 60 of 894 occupations.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Thinking Creatively." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/activity-groups/thinking-creatively

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Thinking Creatively. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/activity-groups/thinking-creatively

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-thinking-creatively,
  title  = {Thinking Creatively},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/activity-groups/thinking-creatively}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.