Title: |
Creativity in business | ||
Author: |
Joe L. Gaskovski | Section: |
Business Creativity |
Submitted: |
August 2006 | Expertise base on: |
Experience |
CEO's of leading American corporations were asked, "What particular attribute do you think you're going to need to survive this new decade?" 97% said "Innovation". But those same CEO's also admitted that only 6% of them had any programs in place designed to make their companies more innovative.
In order for any business to survive in a highly competitive landscape it must be capable of thinking creatively in order to find the best solutions that meet the complex challenges it faces.
The only way to survive ... is to innovate!
In order to innovate it requires three things: a clear vision, new ideas and determination. The vision lies clearly in the domain of the executive group, the determination exists with the organization and its structure, but where do the ideas come from? They should come from everyone in the organization, high or low.
But what is a good idea and how do you get it?
Good workable ideas are the result of creativity, followed by investigation and proved by experimentation. Only then does it become usable innovation. Thomas Edison tried over 1000 different filaments for his electric light bulb before he found one that works. Having the creative idea is the beginning of the process, because without it nothing else will happen. But not every idea is a good idea and that's why you need lots of them! Remember, most ideas will fail but don't kill any ideas that sound too wild at first. Sometimes it's those wild and crazy ideas that allow us to see things differently. Those are the ones that may provide the stepping-stone to a viable solution or a commercially successful product innovation.
And remember, to remain competitive, organizations must continually innovate and keep their business processes simple and effective. The best way to do this is to foster a culture and attitude within the organization that promotes innovation and creativity. New ideas need to be developed in the right environment. The first step to doing this in any organization is to have an internal champion (at a senior level) who can encourage and/or co-ordinate any innovation type of activities. Having this in place helps to ensure that sufficient resources are available to stimulate creativity. Also be sure that everybody in the organization feels welcome to submit ideas and suggestions. Remember it's important for everyone in the organization to contribute if the organization is to thrive in a competitive landscape
