Chapter 1 Creativity and its Importance in Business Definitions of creativity How ideas arise Importance of creative thinking in business Paradigm shifts Characteristics of creative thinking Acquiring creative skills

DEFINITIONS OF CREATIVITY (1) Creativity is an ability to come up with new and different viewpoints on a subject. It involves breaking down and restructuring our knowledge about a subject in order to gain new insights into its nature. Defining creativity is complicated because the concept has many dimensions.

DEFINITIONS OF CREATIVITY (2) Wertheimer…’restructuring our knowledge’ Kelly and Rogers…’understanding how we think’ Maslow…’primary versus secondary’ Rickards…’personal discovery process’ Gilliam…’making new connections’ Amabile…’novel and useful ideas’

DEFINITIONS OF CREATIVITY (3) ‘Being creative is seeing the same thing as everyone else, but thinking of something different’ Charles Cave http://members.ozemail.com.au/~caveman

INVENTION AND CREATIVITY Invention is an act of creativity that results in a device, process or technique that is novel enough to produce a significant change in the application of technology.

HOW IDEAS ARISE Curious or inquiring. Generating ideas is not a chance process. Ideas appear to arise when people are actually looking for them. It happens to people who are Curious or inquiring. Engaged in a search for opportunities, possibilities, answers or inventions.

IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVE THINKING Logical thinking is a series of steps that extend what we know already, rather than being truly new. The need for creative thinking arises from the inadequacies of logical thinking. It is a method for producing insights that might not be obtained through conventional or traditional methods of logical thinking.

CREATIVE THINKING IN BUSINESS Increasing number of problems have few or no precedents Fewer tried and tested ways of approaching them Creativity is a vital asset for leadership Business problems are usually open-ended Planning, organising, leading, controlling

PARADIGM SHIFTS The need for creative thinking often becomes paramount when a paradigm shift occurs or is likely to occur. A paradigm is a set of rules and regulations that guide our actions when solving problems. Transport – train, airplane, spaceship

CHARACTERISTICS OF CREATIVE THINKING Intelligence measures do not explain creativity. Creative thinkers form novel combinations. Making juxtapositions between dissimilar subjects. Thinking productively rather than reproductively.

PEOPLE WHO EXHIBIT CREATIVE BEHAVIOUR (1) Challenge the status quo Confront assumptions Exhibit curiosity Like to investigate new possibilities Take the initiative Are highly imaginative Are future oriented

PEOPLE WHO EXHIBIT CREATIVE BEHAVIOUR (2) Tend to think visually See possibilities Are not afraid to take risks Are prepared to make mistakes Are adaptable to different environments Are adaptable to changing circumstances See relationships between seemingly disconnected elements

PEOPLE WHO EXHIBIT CREATIVE BEHAVIOUR (3) Distil unusual ideas down to their underlying principles Synthesise diverse elements Are able to spot underlying patterns in events Are able to cope with paradoxes Look beyond the first ‘right idea’

ACQUIRING CREATIVE SKILLS Fluency - ability to produce many ideas Flexibility - ability to produce a varied mix of ideas Elaboration - ability to add detail, depth, mixtures of viewpoints or perspectives Originality - uniqueness, novelty, newness