Creativity often is generated by the need to fill a particular gap in any field. It is the gap that gives rise to the need to do something and allows people to come up with ideas and innovations that can bridge the gap. There are inventors, who can be considered different from creators, because they come out with concepts that do not exist before, and for which the lacuna has probably never been felt.
Invention is pure creativity and leads to technological and other innovations that are then further developed by other creators, who are the workhorses for inventions. The radio was a concept that was never in the ken of humankind till Edison or other inventors found a way to use these frequencies. All subsequent developments in communication like radar were a result of expanding on the original thoughts of the inventors.
Aircraft and the telephone are such inventions, that have now developed into the many thousands of variations that are in use in today's world. Inventions require being original and for scientists and others to go into spheres that are totally unknown, and whose behavior can not even be predicted until it is ultimately observed. Creativity requires understanding the information about a particular field that is available and then going forward to evolving newer and better things based on this knowledge.
Original ideas that inventors have often come from ideas or are often thought about because a particular need has been felt. These ideas have to be thought about and worked on till they present a solution that seems practical and achievable. Inventors are a persistent lot, and many of them spend years thinking and developing ideas that they have before they achieve even a modicum of success. It is only those who have stayed with their ideas and dreams who have achieved success, whereas the others have been left behind, ruing their many failures.
