"..optimizing human
performance, idea generation and innovation.."
"..your
business won't survive, let alone grow, without creativity and innovation.." Michael Porter
MBA
dissertation - Managing Creativity and Innovation
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MBA
dissertation - Managing Creativity and Innovation
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Creativity & Innovation |
What
are the definitions of and differences between creativity and innovation?
There is much confusion, for instance, Franklin (2003) writes that "innovation
is anything that somebody thinks is a great idea." At a minimum, creativity
can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst
innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.
Innovation often means that outside decision makers have to get involved,
as complete development and commercialisation commonly requires the
competencies and knowledge of a team. Different competencies, structures,
processes, resources and time-scales are required.
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Common characteristics of creative people |
Do
creative people have common characteristics that we can identify, so
that we can hire the right people? Some firms do not engage in creative
activities because of a belief that "special" people are needed. Many
theorists and practitioners think that there are common characteristics,
such as tolerance to ambiguity and risk taking. However, many others
argue that there are none ("For sixteen years I have been trying to
find some common denominator which seems to apply to all creative people.
There aren't any. If I could find five or six characteristics I might
be more successful at hiring them. I could make a list of curiosity,
vocabulary, good visual imagery etc and then I could interview hundreds
of people and hire the best. But I don't know of any common characteristic.
We've got fifty copywriters and I suppose the good ones are judged at
the end of the year, when we compare how many successful campaigns they
have created").
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Learning versus talent |
Can
creativity be learned and developed or is it a talent / special gift?
Why is it that some people just are more creative? Nature nurture
arguments are notoriously inconclusive and trait theories assume stability
across situations and time. The best way to answer this question is
to investigate whether creativity improves with practice. The experience
curve, automisation, learning theories and the experiences of practitioners
suggest that it does improve but there are caveats.
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Motivation |
Motivation
is arguably more important than nature / nurture or traits. Someone
with natural ability or placed in the right environment may not take
advantage of it unless motivated. There is intrinsic motivation, synergistic
and non-synergistic extrinsic motivation. How can it be induced and
measured? There are many elements: material reward, progress to the
ideal self, self-determination, self-evaluation, feedback, enjoyment,
competency expansion, recognition and feasibility.
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Blocks to creativity and organisational culture |
What
are the blocks to creativity and how can they be overcome? We can all
be more creative, so what is stopping us? There are many blocks such
as evaluation apprehension (in its many forms) and lack of adequate
finance and resources. Separating creative from critical thinking, incremental
productivity, tools that draw out tacit knowledge and using frameworks
to trigger flow are some of the effective unblocking techniques. What
is psychological safety and freedom? What properties of an organisational
culture cultivate productivity?
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Organisational structure |
What
properties of an organisational structure most foster creativity? There
are many reasons why an entity has a particular organisational structure:
history, logistics, market segmentation, product line, strategy and
so forth. It is often unreasonable to ask a firm to change its organisational
structure, so how do we get around this problem?
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Group structure |
What
is the most effective team structure? Many people who are acknowledged
to have made great contributions to society have worked alone, but it
is very easy for individuals to go "off track" and feedback is required
to some degree, as well as other things. It is also very difficult to
separate the idea from its influences. Many others work in pairs or
small teams, as this reduces the negative effects of large groups. Successful
firms generally start off as very small, creative enterprises. Many
people think that brainstorming in large groups enhances creativity,
but large groups bring with them politics, status differentials, group
think, dilution of ideas and conformity among other things.
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The role of knowledge |
What
type and level of knowledge helps creativity most? Can someone with
limited knowledge of a field make a significant contribution to it?
Does excess knowledge cause blinkered vision? Intellectual cross-pollination
fosters creativity, but how do we overcome competency traps and other
negatives? How do we frame-break, reduce path dependency and collaborate
effectively?
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Radical versus incremental creativity |
Radical
/ transformational / disruptive creativity is very much glamorised.
But is this what is required most often? Is it wiser to target radical
or incremental ideas? Is radical really radical or the result of incremental
improvement? How is radical defined? If we want a radical idea as opposed
to an incremental change, what are the implications? Incremental and
radical creativity require vastly different structures, processes, skills
and resources.
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Structure & goals |
Many
creative people object to structure and goals - they argue they interfere
with thought processes and originality; there is a very fine line between
structure and conformity. Does structure help trigger a flow of good
ideas? Do structure and goals help set the boundaries of a problem and
produce more output that when an individual is simply allowed to "do
their best?" Do structure and goals help us achieve the objective more
rapidly? How many people have a half finished novel or screenplay in
their office?
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Process |
Many
people question the concept that creativity can be a process. Ask many
practitioners what process they engage in and they may well deny there
is one. But if you examine the activities of many creative people, common
patterns of behaviour emerge. This common process makes insight / eureka
/ the aha! experience more likely. The process includes identifying
and intensely investigating the problem, forcing production of ideas
using creative versus critical thinking and other techniques; seeking
stimuli and allowing the unconscious mind to take over by engaging in
rest and unrelated activities.
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Valuation |
How
do we value an idea, so as to decide how to invest resources? Even a
painter who creates for pure pleasure has to decide which one of his
ideas is best; there is always a value system and (some argue) always
some sort of promotional instinct. There are decisions as to whether
you are looking for applied creativity and who the consumer is; how
do they benefit? There is no sure fire way to evaluate perfectly because
there is no sure fire route to commercial success. But we can benchmark
against those types of ideas that have succeeded in the past; firms
must make a decision as to their strategic, competence and technical
fit; there are comparisons against rivals and practical impediments;
how do we make the go or kill decision and what are the trade-offs?
A
quantitative tool for measuring the value of ideas has been developed.
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eativity , crss, cre
ivity inr cculture,
The author regularly speaks on radio, at schools, colleges, universities, seminars, SME's, conventions, workshops.
4a Westwick Gardens, London W14 OBU
enquiries@managing-creativity.com.
within the UK : 020 7371 2701 or International : +44 20 371 2701
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