As per Sternberg’s propulsion theory of creativity [1], creative contributions are attempts to propel a field from wherever it is to wherever the creator believes the field should go. He proposed following four-level taxonomy of creative contributions.
The lowest level consists of paradigm preserving contributions that leave the field where it is through replication.
The next creative level is of paradigm forwarding contributions that move the field forward in the direction it already is going. This movement may be forward incrementation or advance forward incrementation.
A higher level of creative contributions is paradigm rejecting. Such creations move the field in a new direction from an existing or preexisting point. It involves redirection or reconstruction.
The highest levels of creative contributions are also paradigm rejecting. This rejection is not to redirect the field from an existing old point, but to restart the field in a new place, and move in a new direction from there. It requires re-initiation and/or integration. Inter-disciplinary approaches stimulate such thinking.