The man in the modern culture faces the challenge of either being creative or forced to leave the stage, which reflects the essential basics of life. The price of lost opportunities, caused by mental stereotypes and encapsulation, is gradually rising. The paper reveals the socio-cultural conditions and the necessary cultural topology of creativity development, as well as the man’s creative potential in the 21^st century. The content of the creativity concept is specified along with the phenomenon of its fast expansion in the modern discourse. That results from the global spreading of numerous creative practices in various spheres of life, affecting the progress directions in economics, business, industrial technologies, labor, employment and social stratification.

The author emphasizes the social features of creativity, the rising number of, so called, creative class, and outlines the two opposing strategies influencing the topology modification of the social and cultural environment. The first one, applied by the developed countries, facilitates the development of the creative human potential, whereas the other one, inherent in our country, holds that a creative person is able to make progress by himself. However, for solving the urgent problem of innovative development, the creative potential of modern Russia is not sufficient, and following the second strategy will result in unrealized social opportunities and ever lasting social and cultural situation demanding further investment. According to the author, to avoid such a perspective, it is necessary to overcome the three deeply rooted archetypes: the educational disciplinary centrism, organizational absolutism and cultural ostracism.

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