Innovation and creativity are often used interchangeably. In this article creativity is the basis for innovation, and innovation is the successful implementation of creative ideas.
INNOVATION
Innovations are intended to make someone better off, and the succession of
many innovations
grows the whole economy. Organizations that do not innovate
effectively may be destroyed by those that do. Those who are heavily
invested in the status quo will often fight vigorously against innovation,
because innovation
destroys the status quo as it builds up the: new, better, more effective and
efficient!
To achieve success through innovation, the organizational culture needs: excellent leadership; excellent organization; excellent communication; effective empowerment; and, excellent knowledge management. The process itself needs: good goal definition; good alignment of actions to goals; excellent participation in teams; effective monitoring of results; and, excellent communication and access to information. Innovations that fail are often potentially "good" ideas but have been rejected or "shelved" due to budgetary constraints, lack of skills (related to organizational culture or the process itself), or poor fit with current goals.
PROBLEM SOLVING
Problems are often solved through creativity and Innovation. The more
traditional approach to
problem solving involves: a clear description of the problem; analyzing
causes; identifying alternatives; assessing each alternative; choosing one;
implementing it; and, evaluating whether the problem was solved or not. A
more state-of-the-art approach asserts that "problems" are often the result of
our own perspectives. If we look at it as a "problem," then it is a
problem. What we need to do instead is to vision what we want in the
future, then build from our strengths to work toward our vision. We need
to dream it up, or "vision it," before we can achieve it!
CREATIVITY
Creativity is a
mental
process involving the generation of new
ideas or
concepts, or new associations between existing ideas or concepts.
Creativity is simply the act of making something new. It is an essential
part of
innovation and
invention.
The scientific
study of creativity began in the 1950's. Since then several practical
creativity techniques
have been used,
such as:
MIND MAPPING
Mind
mapping software uses
graphics to dynamically organize large amounts of information in a
hierarchical structure.
Mind mapping encourages
a
brainstorming approach, eliminating the hurdle of initially establishing an
appropriate or relevant conceptual framework to work within. It is not
good at showing interactions, or synergetic relationships, between items.
BRAINSTORMING
Brainstorming is a
group creativity technique designed to generate a large number of ideas for
the solution to a problem. It's effectiveness has be
criticized by some, probably because of lack of training, commitment and/or
follow through. I've found, through personal experience, that ordinary
people can come up with extraordinarily good ideas and solutions through brainstorming.
The
keys lie in effective preparation,
following the
rules and conduct of the session.
The four basic rules of brainstorming are: (1) focus on quantity, the more ideas the better; (2) no criticism, so participants can feel free to present unusual ideas; (3) unusual ideas are welcome, they open new ways of thinking and provide better solutions; (4) combine and improve ideas.
LATERAL THINKING
Lateral thinking
methods involve changing concepts and perception.
Lateral thinking can
be used effectively in brainstorming. Four critical factors are associated
with lateral thinking: (1)
recognize dominant
ideas that polarize perception of a problem, (2) search for different ways
of looking at things, (3) relaxation of rigid control of thinking, and (4) use
of illogical ideas to encourage other ideas.
The
dominate ideas are different ways at looking at things and are referred to
as "the 6 thinking hats:"
1. White Hat: facts & figures, (what information do we have and need to get?)
2. Red Hat: emotions, intuition, feelings (how do we feel about the situation?)
3. Black Hat: judgment (does this fit the facts?)
4. Yellow Hat: advantages, benefits (how is it a good thing to do?)
5. Green Hat: explorations, alternatives, etc. (are there different ways?)
6. Blue Hat: thinking about thinking (control of the thinking process)
Note: See this article online, with
hyperlinked references, at: http://www.friendlyinnovators.com/mn/20080420.htm
Next time: "WHY?"
Thinking (A Summary of Non-Linear Thinking at: www.nonlinearthinking.com)
Al Leedahl
Engineering Design Concepts
www.leedahl.com/engineering/design/concepts.htm
