Isaac Asimov's Advice for Being Creative (Hint: Don't Brainstorm) (calnewport.com)

Creativity is just a word. It means different things in different situations. Asimov wanted to find something profound. He was pursuing growth of knowledge for the sake of it. Brainstorming is more suitable for situations that have a corporate character. In that case creativity is simply a name given to an instrument that maximizes (any sort of) profits rather efficiently. It's more of a heuristic to identify a good-enough goal-oriented decision so that you can move on quickly.