Chapter 2: Creativity, innovation, opportunities and entrepreneurship

Question 1

Creativity

Answer 1

The use of imagination or original ideas to create something

Question 2

Features of creativity: associations

Answer 2

Coming up with ideas while we sleep is often an important part of the story; these are times when the unconscious brain is able to relax and forge new and unexpected links. Creativity is the ability to produce work that is both novel and useful.

Question 3

Features of creativity: incremental and radical

Answer 3

Creativity is about breaking through to radical new ideas, new ways of framing the problem and new directions for solving it. But it’s also about the hard work of polishing and refining those breakthrough ideas, debugging and problem-solving to get them to work

Question 4

Features of creativity: divergent and convergent thinking

Answer 4

Convergent thinking is a style of thinking which emphasises focus, homing in on a single ‘best’ answer. Divergent thinking is a style of thinking which is about making associations, often exploring round the edges of a problem.

Question 5

Features of creativity: left and right brain thinking

Answer 5

The brain is made up of two connected hemispheres and for a long time neuroscientists have known that different parts of brain function relate to these different areas. The left hemisphere is particularly associated with activities like language and calculation. While our ‘left brain’ seems linked to what we might call ‘logical’ processing, the role of the ‘right brain’ was, for a long time, much less well understood. Gradually it became clear that it is involved in associations, patterns and emotional links; people with damage to the right hemisphere are often incapable of understanding humour or of feeling moved by painting or music. Our ability to think in metaphors and to visualise and imagine in novel ways is strongly linked to activity on this side of the brain.

Question 6

Features of creativity: pattern recognition

Answer 6

Creativity is particularly about patterns and our ability to see these. In its simplest form if we see a patter, which we recognise, we have access to solutions which worked in the past and which we can apply again

Question 7

Features of creativity: individual and group creativity

Answer 7

We are all different in personality, experience and approach, and these differences mean we see problems and solutions from different perspectives. Combining our approaches, sparking ideas off each other and building on shared insights are all-powerful ways of amplifying creativity.

Question 8

Creativity as a process

Answer 8

• Recognition/preparation
• Incubation
• Insight
• Validation/refinement

Question 9

Creativity as a process: recognition/preparation

Answer 9

Creativity starts with recognising we have a problem or puzzle to solve and then exploring its dimensions. Working out the real problem, the underlying issue, is an important skill in arriving at a solution which works. Redefining and reframing are key skills here, being able to see the wood for the trees, the underlying pattern of the core problem.

Question 10

Creativity as a process: incubation

Answer 10

It needs to allow new connections to be made, and typical ways of helping this include relaxing, doing something different, going for a walk, sleeping on the problem, etc. What’s going on underneath is a fascinating process of association and connecting in ways which may appear to be illogical.

Question 11

Creativity as a process: insight

Answer 11

The most common picture of creativity is the light bulb moment — and it’s an apt description for what it often feels like to come up with a new insight. It’s not just the awareness of a solution; there is often a strong emotional charge, a deep sense of the answer, and certainty.

Question 12

Creativity as a process: validation

Answer 12

This is the stage at which the idea, the core insight, becomes refined and developed. It involves trying the idea out — prototyping — and using feedback from that to adapt and develop it. Prototyping can be done in various ways and forms the core of design methods aimed at bringing new ideas into widespread use. A key point here is that this represents the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next.

Question 13

Developing personal skills

Answer 13

Building confidence in our own ideas and then developing skills in communicating them and handling the feedback we get on them is another area where we can develop our creative capabilities. Successful entrepreneurs are not just able to come up with creative insights; they are also resilient in the face of feedback, using this to help shape and adapt thier ideas. hey have a strong sense of vision and can communicate and engage others in sharing that insight. And they are skilled at ‘pitching’: communicating the core idea to others in ways which get past their critical comments and engage their interest.
One key point is to understand the nature of the creative process as we have described it and to recognise that it isn’t entirely rational, that emotions, intuitions and odd insights are a valuable part of it, and that ideas which emerge can be useful stepping stones or valuable in their own right.

Question 14

Developing group-level creativity

Answer 14

People differ in their experience, their personality and their perspectives on the world, and this diversity is a rich resource for helping creativity to happen. Social pressures can act as a damper on individual sparks of ideas. Diversity can lead to conflict. Simply throwing people together does not make them a team and the wrong mix can easily lead to the whole performing much less well than the sum of the parts.

Question 15

Advantages of group-level creativity

Answer 15

• Diversity (more different ideas)
• Volume of ideas (‘many hands make light work)
• Elaboration (multiple resources to explore around the problem)
• Rich variety of prior experience

Question 16

Disadvantages of group-level creativity

Answer 16

• ‘Groupthink’ (social pressure to conform)
• Lack of focus (‘too many cooks spoil the broth)
• Group dynamics and hierarchy
• Political behaviour, people following different agendas

Question 17

3 components of creativity: creative thinking skills

Answer 17

Creative thinking is how people approach problems and solutions. It depends strongly on the individual’s personality, as well as how a person thinks or works. People are more creative if they feel comfortable disagreeing with others

Question 18

3 components of creativity: knowledge

Answer 18

Expertise or knowledge encompasses everything a person knows and can do. Knowledge can be acquired through formal education, practical experience, and interaction with other people

Question 19

3 components of creativity: motivation

Answer 19

Motivation determines what a person will actually do. Two types of motivation exist:

• Intrinsic motivation (motivation from inside, such as enjoyment of work)
• Extrinsic motivation (motivation from outside, such as financial rewards)

Question 20

Creativity techniques: problem reversal

Answer 20

Problem reversal is the action of viewing a problem from an opposite angle by asking questions such as ‘What if we did the opposite?’ and ‘What is everyone else not doing?’ To stimulate our creativity, we have to learn to see things backwards, inside out and upside down.

• State the problem in reverse. Change a positive statement into a negative one
• Figure out what everybody else is not doing
• Change the direction or location of perspective
• Turn defeat into victory. If something turns out badly, think about the positive aspects of the situation

Question 21

Creativity techniques: forced analogy

Answer 21

Forced analogy (also called forced relationship) is the action of making an association between two unlike things in order to obtain new insights.

Question 22

Forced analogy between a matchbox and a corporation

Answer 22

Attribute of a matchbox: stirking surface on two sides
Analogy with the corporation: the protection an organisation needs against strikes
Attribute of a matchbox: six sides
Analogy with the corporation: six essential organisational divisions
Attribute of a matchbox: sliding centre section
Analogy with the corporation: the heart of the organisation should be ‘slidable’ or flexible
Attribute of a matchbox: made of cardboard
Analogy with the corporation: inexpensive method of structure, disposable

Question 23

Creativity techniques: attribute listing

Answer 23

Attribute listing is the identification and listing of all major characteristics of a product, object or idea.

Question 24

Attribute listing - improving a torch

Answer 24

Feature: casing
Attribute: plastic
Ideas for improvement: metal
Feature: switch
Attribute: on/off
Ideas for improvement: on/off low beam
Feature: battery
Attribute: power
Ideas for improvement: rechargeable
Feature: bulb
Attribute: glass
Ideas for improvement: plastic
Feature: weight
Attribute: heavy
Ideas for improvement: light

Question 25

Creativity techniques: mind maps

Answer 25

Mind maps are a visual method of mapping information to stimulate the generation and analysis of it. The creative potential of a mind map is useful in brainstorming sessions.

Question 26

Creativity techniques: brainstorming

Answer 26

Brainstorming is a conference technique by which a group tries to find a solution for a specific problem by amassing spontaneous ideas from its members. Brainstorming works best when a group of people follow four rules:

• Suspend judgement
• Think freely
• Encourage people to build on the ideas of others
• Quantity of ideas is important

Question 27

Factors influencing creativity: encouragement of creativity

Answer 27

Encouragement of the generation and development of ideas appears to operate at three major levels within organisations:

• Organisational encouragement plays an important role, and several aspects are perceived as operating broadly across the organisation
• Encouragement from supervisors indicates that project managers or direct supervisors can promote creativity
• Encouragement of creativity can occur within a group itself, through diversity in team members’ backgrounds, mutual openness to ideas, constructive challenging of ideas, and shared commitment to the project

Question 28

Factors influencing creativity: autonomy

Answer 28

Creativity is fostered when individuals and teams have relatively high autonomy in the day-to-day conduct of work, and a sense of ownership and control over their own work and their own ideas. People who produce more creative work when they perceive themselves as having a choice in how to go about accomplishing the tasks they are given

Question 29

Factors influencing creativity: resources

Answer 29

It is generally admitted that resource allocation on a project is directly related to the project’s creativity levels. Apart from the obvious practical limitations that extreme resource restrictions place on what can be accomplished, perceptions of the adequacy of resources may affect people psychologically by affecting their beliefs about the intrinsic value of the projects they have undertaken

Question 30

Factors influencing creativity: pressures

Answer 30

The evidence that exists about pressures suggests seemingly paradoxical influences. Some research has found that, although extreme workload pressures can undermine creativity, some degree of pressure can have a positive influence if it is perceived as arising from the urgent, intellectual, challenging nature of the problem itself. Similarly, time pressure is generally associated with high creativity in scientists involved in research and development, except when that pressure reaches an undesirably high level. Thus, two distinct forms of pressure can be identified: excessive workload pressure and the pressure of challenge.

Question 31

Innovation management lessons

Answer 31

• Create the challenge
• Construct the sense of crisis
• Coach the team
• Cultivate the team
• Enable co-operation

Question 32

Factors influencing creativity: mental blocks

Answer 32

In addition to organisational constraints, creativity can be impeded at the individual level because of various mental blocks. Prejudice and functional fixedness are two examples of mental blocks.
Functional fixedness is the tendency for one to perceive an object only in terms of its common use.
Prejudice is a preconceived opinion or feeling, either favourable or unfavourable.

Question 33

Linking creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship

Answer 33

Many people see the successive stages of ideas generation (creativity), ideas evaluation (innovation) and ideas implementation (entrepreneurship) as being distinct and separate. In fact, these stages can overlap, and entrepreneurship is not necessarily a linear process. Two important concepts are developed in this section:

• It is shown that these three stages essentially consist of creating new knowledge
• It is suggested that this knowledge is developed and formulated through different types of social network

Question 34

Knowledge development during the entrepreneurial process

Answer 34

During the creativity stage, knowledge is present in an exceptionally raw form. It might just consist of ideas and sketches drawn on a piece of paper. During the innovation stage, knowledge is further refined, and the initial idea should pass the ‘feasibility test’. At this stage, knowledge is often codified, for instance in the form of a formula or patent. However, the best patent does not constitute a finished product.
During the entrepreneurship stage, knowledge is embedded in the product or service marketed. It is the extent to which the entrepreneur can generate, explain and protect this knowledge that will ensure the firm has a competitive advantage.

Question 35

Developing and disseminating knowledge through social networks

Answer 35

Social networks are the catalyst for the development and dissemination of knowledge, both for emerging and established organisations. Social networks can be characterised by three main features: their diversity, their affective or emotional strength, and their structural equivalence

Question 36

Screening opportunities

Answer 36

The creativity–innovation–entrepreneurship process essentially entails identifying and evaluating opportunities. During this process, business ideas will be assessed to determine if they represent an entrepreneurial opportunity — a situation where sustainable value and wealth can be created. Any tool that aims to assess an opportunity should address three critical issues:

• Product feasibility - is it real? Can the product be made or service delivered using currently available, or at least feasible technology?
• Market feasibility - is it viable? Does anyone want it? Has the product any features that someone values and would be ready to pay for?
• Economic feasibility - is it worth it? Can the product be developed, manufactured and distributed while generating a profit

Question 37

Is it real? Establishing the novelty, patentability and technical feasibility

Answer 37

• Is it novel?
• Is it patentable?
• Is it technically feasible?

Question 38

Is it viable? Showing the superiority of the product and market interest

Answer 38

• Is it better than rival products?
• Does somebody want to buy it?
• Do we have superior resources?

Question 39

Is it worth it? Showing a positive return

Answer 39

• What is the market size and attributes?
• Are forecasted returns greater than costs?
• Are the risks acceptable?