[joelmaat]

To respond to the title, having a high IQ does not make you less creative. Simple.

As for the Terman study, I think people with high IQ scores don't "go places" mainly due to laziness, lack of ambition (failing to see the point in it all), or due constant harassment by those envious of their intelligence or those that feel inferior, or those that see an easy target. After years of taking a beating many end up leading simple lives in which they hope to just survive.

[gnosis]

Ambition and perseverence is really the key. Over and over again, I've read of famous people attributing their success to perseverence.

Some examples:

"Godlike genius.. Godlike nothing! Sticking to it is the genius! I've failed my way to success." -- Thomas Edison

"Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lives solely in my tenacity." -- Louis Pasteur

"Men give me credit for genius; but all the genius I have lies in this: When I have a subject on hand I study it profoundly." -- Alexander Hamilton

"What I had that others didn't was a capacity for sticking to it." -- Doris Lessing

[joelmaat]

I agree. It's not everything, but perseverance is the difference maker, much like (a positive) attitude.