Creativity in Management 1

Creativity What is Creativity? It is the reorganization of experience into new configurations. A function of knowledge, imagination, and evaluation Three domains of creativity Art (ah!) as in beauty Discovery (aha!) as in enlightenment. Humor (haha!) as in joyful pleasure. 2

Left Brain, Right Brain Nobel Prize-winning psychobiologist Roger Sperry showed that: Each hemisphere of the brain processed different types of information. Broadly put, the left brain is the objective, analytical, logical half of the brain, looking at information sequentially and focusing on individual parts rather than on the whole. The right brain, on the other hand, is the subjective, intuitive, playful part of the brain; it looks at information in a more random fashion, seeing the whole rather than the parts.

Creativity and Innovation Innovation vs. creativity Creativity = the idea Innovation = putting into place Innovation essential to establish and maintain competitive advantage New approaches Options for adaptation 19

Creative Personality An ability to generate large number of ideas To give different perspective Unusual Novel answer Ability to handle ambiguity Intellectual abilities Adequate knowledge Confidence

Learning to Be More Creative: Mental Locks That Block Creativity Looking for the “right” answer. Always trying to be logical. Strictly following the rules. Insist on being practical. Becoming too specialized. Not wanting to look foolish. Saying “I’m not creative. Avoiding ambiguity. 3

TEN MENTAL LOCKS ON CREATIVITY (continued) For Discussion: Which of these mental locks typically stifle your own creativity? What can you do to avoid them? 22

Creativity: why promote it? Leads to more rigorous and critical thinking Objectives are achieved more readily Increases motivation, deep concentration and engagement Improves relationships Develops the talent of the individual Develops skills for adult life – adaptability, coping with uncertainty and change

Creative Process

A Model of Creativity

Stages Of Creativity Exploring: Questioning and challenging Inventing: Making significant connections Selecting: Playing with ideas, keeping options open Implementation: Applying learning in new ways and contexts Evaluation: Evaluating ideas and actions

Phases of the Creative Process Preparation (Step One) The individual learns about the problem. This includes understanding the elements of the problem and how they relate to each other. It may include looking at the problem from different perspectives or asking other people what they know or think about the problem.

Phases of the Creative Process Incubation (phase two) In this stage, the prepared decision maker explores a multitude of different paths toward new alternatives. Production or generation of new alternatives

Phases of the Creative Process Illumination (phase three) This is the instant of becoming aware of a new candidate solution to a problem, that flash of insight when all the pieces come together, either spontaneously or as the result of careful study and work.

Phases of the Creative Process Verification (phase four) In the final step the decision maker must verify that the candidate solution does in fact have merit.

Enhancing creativity 4

How to develop your Creativity Tools for Developing Creativity -The Global Brain: Internet, Blog, Wikipdedia -The Local Brain: Brain storming -The Individual Brain: Eating, Drinking, Playing, Exercising, Sleeping

How to develop your Creativity Tips on Enhancing Creativity - Always keep a notepad around to write down your thoughts. Even at night, write down what one can remember from my dreams.

How to develop your Creativity Tips on Enhancing Creativity (continued) -Always keep the computer handy so that you can enter more well-developed thoughts from your notepad. -Whenever feasible, get on the Internet to do a search to find related ideas.

How to develop your Creativity Tips on Enhancing Creativity (continued) -Newspapers and magazines offer important clues. -To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.

Creativity Techniques Fluent and flexible thinking Idea checklists (Alex F Osborn) (Add, Substract, Alter, Rearrange, Adapt, Magnify, Opposite, Minify, Other, Alternative) Brainstorming (Alex F Osborn) Synectics (W J J Gordan) Delphi Method Six thinking Hats (Dr. Edward De Bono) White- Information; Green-Alternatives; Yellow – benefits; Black- Judgment; Red – Emotions; Blue-Control

Creativity Techniques (Contd.) Morphological (Fritz Zwicky) – 3 to the power 3 Mind Mapping (Tony Buzan) Lateral thinking (Edward De Bono) Guided Visualization (Chris Musselwhite and Cheryl De Ciantis)

Creativity Stimulation Techniques Creativity Stimulation Reverse Brain storming Creative Overloading Creative benchmarking Creative thinking network Stakeholder Council Creative Scenario building Exnovation Creativity Training

Determinants of Organizational Creativity Five major organizational factors that enhance creativity in a work environment: Organizational climate Leadership style Organizational culture Resources and skills The structure and systems of an organization