Transcript Chapter 1 Creativity and its Importance in Business 

Chapter 1
Creativity and its Importance
in Business
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Definitions of creativity
How ideas arise
Importance of creative thinking in business
Paradigm shifts
Characteristics of creative thinking
Acquiring creative skills
Prof. Tony Proctor
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DEFINITIONS OF CREATIVITY (1)
 Creativity is an ability to come up with new and
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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.
Prof. Tony Proctor
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DEFINITIONS OF CREATIVITY (2)
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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’
Prof. Tony Proctor
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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
Prof. Tony Proctor
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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.
Prof. Tony Proctor
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HOW IDEAS ARISE
 Generating ideas is not a chance process.
 Ideas appear to arise when people are actually
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looking for them.
It happens to people who are
 Curious or inquiring.
 Engaged in a search for opportunities,
possibilities, answers or inventions.
Prof. Tony Proctor
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IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVE
THINKING
 Logical thinking is a series of steps that extend
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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.
Prof. Tony Proctor
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CREATIVE THINKING IN
BUSINESS
 Increasing number of problems have few or no
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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
Prof. Tony Proctor
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PARADIGM SHIFTS
 The need for creative thinking often becomes
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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
Prof. Tony Proctor
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CHARACTERISTICS OF CREATIVE
THINKING
 Intelligence measures do not explain creativity.
 Creative thinkers form novel combinations.
 Making juxtapositions between dissimilar
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subjects.
Thinking productively rather than reproductively.
Prof. Tony Proctor
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PEOPLE WHO EXHIBIT CREATIVE
BEHAVIOUR (1)
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Challenge the status quo
Confront assumptions
Exhibit curiosity
Like to investigate new possibilities
Take the initiative
Are highly imaginative
Are future oriented
Prof. Tony Proctor
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PEOPLE WHO EXHIBIT CREATIVE
BEHAVIOUR (2)
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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
Prof. Tony Proctor
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PEOPLE WHO EXHIBIT CREATIVE
BEHAVIOUR (3)
 Distil unusual ideas down to their underlying
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principles
Synthesise diverse elements
Are able to spot underlying patterns in events
Are able to cope with paradoxes
Look beyond the first ‘right idea’
Prof. Tony Proctor
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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
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of viewpoints or perspectives
Originality - uniqueness, novelty, newness
Prof. Tony Proctor
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