Creative 360 Degree: Creativity

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Creativity and Innovation Management - Personality Testing

Whilst tests measuring the creative or innovative personality exist, there are a number of inherent flaws. Some are noted below:

a) Whether a creative or innovative type exists at all is highly contentious. Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation - universal abilities. Creativity can be defined as producing a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas - universal abilities. Traits are not stable or transferable across situations. Motivation is a critical factor.

Creativity

b) Due to the numerous relevant definitions of creativity and innovation, it is clear that a number of differing and distinct competencies are involved. It is unlikely (or rare) that all competencies are present in single individual.

Creativity and Innovation Management - Personality Testing

c) Creativity is a cognitive process and case dependent. Not all people produce equal quantities of ideas across tasks and, importantly, the same people do not produce equal quantities of ideas across tasks.

d) Too many assumptions are made. Some have been indicated : the assumption that creativity and innovation are stable and transferable across situations ; motivation and competencies are not accounted for etc etc etc.

e) Collaboration, networking and such are ignored. Intellectual cross pollination results in a higher degree of creative output than is produced by individuals alone.

f) The generalisability, variability and reliability of the test paramters can be disputed.

These topics are covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased (along with a Creativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator Software and Power Point Presentation) from http://www.managing-creativity.com.

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author's name and site URL are retained.

Creativity and Innovation Management - Personality Testing

Kal Bishop MBA, is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com.

The Psychology of Creativity

On studying the creative process and the creative individual to understand creativity

Creativity is the process of generating novel ideas and is the basic force for all inventions. The process of creation involves seeing new relations between concepts and things and determining unique solutions to problems. The creative process is about seeing new associations between objects and concepts and the creative person is marked by traits of originality, nonconformity and high levels of knowledge. When you come out with an appropriate yet unique and different solution to a problem that has not been thought before, you are being creative.

Creativity

Psychologists have tried to explain creativity with many theories. Among these are cognitive theories of creativity (creativity as a cognitive process using mental constructs and structures), behaviorist theories (the environmental and associative nature of creative ideas), psychoanalytic theories (creativity as neuroticism), social theories (creativity as a social process and role of schools and family in the development of gifted children) and personality theories (emphasizing on personal creative traits).

The Psychology of Creativity

In the psychology of creativity we have to understand two things -firstly the creative process and secondly the creative individual. So the psychology of creativity is about:

1. The Creative Process - this includes the definitions of creativity and the mental processes involved in creativity.

2. The Creative Individual - this is about the personality traits of the creative individual, the attributes of genius and the peculiarities of the creative personality

Psychological theories have tried to explain both the creative process and the creative individual.

The Process of Creativity - So what is creativity and what is the mechanism through which people actually create new ideas, solutions or concepts? According to many theorists, creativity is about chance or serendipity or making discoveries by 'accident'. So the creative process, according to this explanation is an 'accident'. This means that while you're trying out several methods, a best method or a solution to your problem arises out of nowhere and by chance you discover something totally unique. Some people would suggest that the creative process is more of trying to find out new relations between older known concepts so this is less about originality and more about 'experience'. The more experienced you are in a particular subject area, the more likely you are to consider creative solutions. Creativity has also been described as a moment of 'insight'. It is almost like enlightenment and divine intervention and a flash and the trick is to prolong this moment and creative individuals are people who can develop their sudden insights. So the creative process can be about a sudden chance, novel use of the knowledge/ experience or a sudden insight. The creative process thus involves using several possibilities/methods and past experiences to arrive at sudden solutions through insights or accidents.

In 1926, Graham Wallas described stages of creativity in which a creative idea is first prepared, then internalized through incubation, after which the creative individual uses the illumination or insight to finally go through the verification process of applying the idea. Psychologist JP Guilford explained creativity with his concept of convergent and divergent thinking and convergent thinking is about trying to find the single correct solution to a problem and divergent thinking is the generation of multiple creative solutions to a problem. Creativity is thus characterized by divergent thinking and generation of multiple possibilities. According to the Geneplore model developed by Finke, Ward and Smith (1992), creativity involves two phases - the generative phase in which the individual generates constructs from pre-inventive structures or known processes/ideas and the exploratory phase in which pre-inventive structures are interpreted to come up with new creative ideas. Most of these psychological theories seem to be emphasizing on preexisting mental structures through knowledge and experience and using these structures for novel or unique solutions. The creative process is thus all about insight, 'a sudden flash', almost like a moment of realization and it has been described as serendipity or divine intervention by scientists and artists alike who have tried to described their moment of discovery, although the role of previous knowledge and experience is an equally important background factor. The scientists and artists are able to realize the potential of these 'flashes' and are able to recognize, capture and prolong their moments of insight for better realization of their creative goals.

The Personality in Creativity - This brings us to the question about the traits or personality factors that make a person creative. Is there a well-defined creative personality? Of course, there is. Highly creative individuals and geniuses have marked similar traits and although every human being is creative in one way or the other, some individuals actually develop their creativity too well and so they are recognized as creative geniuses. Psychologists believe that all highly creative individuals have certain common personality traits.

1. Complexity - The creative individuals love complex situations and problems as this provides a challenge to their own mental abilities and help them to think of several possible solutions

2. Flexibility - Highly creative individuals are extremely open-minded and receptive to new ideas and possibilities which help them to move beyond traditional modes of thinking

3. Confidence - Boldness and confidence mark the creative genius as in order to be a pioneer, one has to have leadership qualities, extreme self-confidence and creative geniuses are leaders as they show a new path and open new possibilities

4. Non-conformity - The creative process itself is an act of non-conformity so creative individuals are non-conformists and unconventional.

5. Intuition - Highly creative people are extremely intuitive and they can scare you with their ability to read minds and people's thoughts. That is how they can create as they have to know the order of things and are able to predict people's responses.

6. Sensitivity - Creative individuals have well developed sensitivity as without extreme sensitivity, it is not possible to feel and portray the emotions through creative work. A novelist has to know 'how it feels' to be character in his novel otherwise he cannot create a good novel.

7. Curiosity - An insatiable child-like curiosity for almost everything around them is what characterizes the creative genius. The creative individual wants to know and learn new things and is persistently asking questions and this is the fuel for creative growth.

8. Knowledge - Closely associated with curiosity, creative individuals have very good general knowledge as they have to use this knowledge in their creative pursuits. That is why creative people are usually interested in several subject areas.

9. Independence - One trait that definitely characterizes very high creative geniuses is their independence of thought. This is again related to leadership and nonconformity as in order to think independently, one has to move beyond norms.

10. Imagination - The creative person lives in his own world of imagination and has a very highly developed and enriched mental life and even if grounded, sometimes thrives on fantasies.

11. Impulsiveness - Since the creative process is a sudden realization, the creative individual has a love for suddenness and loves to work on impulse. Creating something new is an adventure so impulsiveness which could be recklessness or adventurousness makes the creative individual a compulsive risk-taker.

12. Criticism - Highly creative people are also extremely critical both of themselves and of others. They criticize others and that is how they take new paths and they are also prone to extreme self-criticism.

13. Fluency - The creative person has an extremely fluent thought process and has a prolific range of ideas

14. Charm - The genius is usually characterized by a humorous nature, extreme charm and personal attractiveness and a 'presence' that makes them popular and attractive to all sorts of people.

15. Egoism - Highly creative individuals usually have a 'me first' attitude and are almost always narcissists or marked by extreme egoism, although they may be very generous and may not reveal their egoism for social reasons and many even transcend the self boundary and work for greater causes.

16. Originality - Creative individuals have a love for the novel and the unique and try moving beyond established ideas to find something radically different

17. Disorder - A love for disorder is common among all creative people as they are apparently bored with order or any predictable course of events

18. Ambiguity - Uncertainty is very attractive for creative individuals and they love the ambiguous or when there are two or more ways of explaining a problem, especially because this gives them freedom of thought and expression.

19. Loneliness - The creative individual is usually a loner and according to psychoanalysis, also a neurotic. The genius is perennially isolated from society and being very uncomfortable with social norms, they tend to avoid social interaction. Political and social leaders are however more socially active than the creative artist and writer, although some tend to lead reclusive lives.

20. Motivation - The creative individuals are extremely motivated, almost driven by a sense of higher purpose in life. They are in a way self aware and enlightened and many of them seem to believe in an unexplained (divine) purpose of existence.

There are of course other traits as creative people are characterized by hyperactivity and obsession with their work, high yet sublimated sexual drives, and according to psychologist Sternberg, wisdom rather than simply intelligence.

The creative process and creative individual naturally leads the discussion to anomalies in creativity. So now finally, some words about the connection between madness and creativity. Creativity has been closely associated with mental illness and the highly creative individuals are considered prone to mental disorders. In fact all creative geniuses may be vulnerable to bipolar disorder or schizophrenia and creativity itself is a sort of neuroticism. Yet I would suggest that even though creative geniuses have propensity towards mental illness, their creative outlet is a very strong tool that helps them to maintain sanity. So considering the inbuilt defense mechanisms that creative individuals have, it is highly unlikely that such people would actually become completely insane. Although there are many exceptions as the creative genius may develop extreme sense of inadequacy and loneliness and may actually show severe mental problems. However in most cases, creative geniuses are not afraid to stretch their minds, thoughts and behavior too far as to almost reach the limits of sanity, so they are branded as 'weird' or 'eccentric'. But these people are extremely strong because they are self-aware and are blessed with the ability of controlling their mind and sanity. So when the whole world is afraid of their perceived madness, they are not. The difference between a madman and a genius is that the genius controls his own madness and can choose to become sane or insane at his own free will.

In fact, the process of creativity is also an exercise in madness, as the creative individual has to continually stretch mental limits to maintain all creative pursuits. The success of the creative genius is another issue and I will discuss it in a separate article.

The Psychology of Creativity

Reflections in Psychology - Part I - by Saberi Roy (2009)
http://www.lulu.com/content/5865445

Online Bedroom Design: A Creativity Exercise

Are you planning on having a house built? Are you planning a renovation on the current place you are living in? Are you planning on getting a vacation home somewhere in your favorite vacation spot? If yes is the answer to any of these questions, you might want to explore the idea of designing a bedroom of your house in advance.

You might want to do it so that it reflects your personality, or perhaps to just find out how creative you can be. You can do it even if you are not an architect or an interior designer; you don't even need to hire one to do it for you. You can do this yourself, and all you need is a computer, Internet, and an imaginative mind. Yes, you can design a bedroom online.

Creativity

There are websites out there that specifically deal with online bedroom design. They usually have previews for you to take a look at so you would have an idea on how to go about it. Or, if you are really prepared and would want to do it yourself, that is a legitimate option too. There are three important steps on how to design a bedroom online.

Online Bedroom Design: A Creativity Exercise

First, you need to see the color combinations you will use. Maybe you would like your room to be painted in blue. What shade of blue? There are hundreds of color combinations of shades of blue. Online bedroom design websites usually offer this option so you can mix and match which paint colors to use. You can also check to see the color combination of the walls with the flooring, ceiling, furniture, so you can have a "color preview" of what your bedroom will look like.

Next is the layout design. How big will your bedroom be? Where exactly will you place the furniture and other items such as the television, study table, restroom, doors, windows, and more? How big of the total space will they consume? You can answer all of these by properly designing the layout of your bedroom. If the first step deals with the color combinations, this second step deals with space and measurements. You can check to see how many pieces of furniture you can place and how big they are and if they can fit or not (or if they are ideal or not).

Finally, the design plan itself. Calculate your total expenses by placing all the necessary information in a design plan. Included here are the sizes of the doors, windows, flooring, amount of paint to be used, etc. When you complete these necessities, you will have an idea of how much you will spend for the construction of your bedroom. The design plan is not only important for the calculation of expenses, but also for the exact data of your room - you will know every detail there is.

You might want to venture into designing your own bedroom online. It is a creative exercise and the satisfaction you will receive when the finished product is revealed while knowing that you were the one that designed it cannot be put into words. Whatever your motive is in designing your own bedroom, whether it is to reflect your personality or so you can test your creativity, it will be a fun thing to do. Remember, it is simple enough that all you need is a computer, Internet, and an imaginative mind.

Online Bedroom Design: A Creativity Exercise

Daniel is the father of two kids and enjoy sharing tips and home and bedroom design ideas [http://homebedroomdesign.com] at his website. From cool teenage bedroom design [http://homebedroomdesign.com/Teen_Bedroom_Design_Ideas.html] tips to home contemporary design.

Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Part of the romanticism of entrepreneurship is the thought that entrepreneurs are creative, innovative, go-getters, risk takers, driven. All of that implies a high self-esteem and determination. In reality, having a clear understanding of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship allows managers of institutions and corporations, as well as individual, manage each area differently to get the best results.

People like creativity simply because it is fun. We reconnect with the pure pleasure of getting something that did not exist before. When we create we forget our problems, we are just being, the child comes out, we connect with ourselves and it simply feels good. Our energy pours from the inside to the outside and leaves our imprint, the object of our creation becomes an extended part of ourselves. Creativity also lives in a time and purpose vacuum. The worst enemy of creativity is a good idea.

Creativity

People like innovation because it implies progress. When we innovate, we have a structure. Innovation becomes change. To change we need the reference, the constraints, the structure, the present, what is there. When we do things differently, we are also creating, but we create with a purpose, fun stops until we reach our goal. Thus, innovation has less power as a self-expression than creativity.

Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Then we come to the field of entrepreneurship, one of my favorite topics. Entrepreneurship is more about creating wealth than it is about creating a company. It is closely linked to creativity, entrepreneurs MUST have something NEW to offer. It is related to innovation, entrepreneurs MUST find new ways of getting in the market, making something new, doing things differently.

When we check most new businesses, they are me-too's, and most so-called entrepreneurs are people who have bought themselves a job. They don't create, innovate or add wealth. They shift what exists to a different person.

Entrepreneurship then is the process of exploring how to add value to others in a new or different way. Entrepreneurs capture that value in the form of wealth, and then that wealth with others: clients, users, employees, suppliers, community, governments, etc. To understand that being creative and being innovative is not enough and to be aware that there is a maximized value waiting to be discovered or created, is what entrepreneurs do best when they plan, then they take action, and finally, they evolve.

It is not a matter of luck as most people link entrepreneurship with creativity and innovation. If you don't have anything, you create. If you have an unwanted present, you innovate. If you want to create wealth, you give that creation or innovation, the best chance. You don't need money to create wealth, you need creativity and innovation.

It is by thinking and taking action, by consciously discovering where the creations or innovations have the highest perceived value that entrepreneurs build their wealth... and by doing so, create prosperity beyond themselves. It is not about becoming rich but building wealth.

Without the notion of creating wealth, creativity and innovation can't find a place in the market. To be able to distinguish where the highest value is, who is the ideal customer or client is to bring prosperity to our communities, and to act upon that thought, is what entrepreneurs thrive at.

There are many tools and methods that capture how entrepreneurs create wealth. It is not an art, or a science. It is the conscious effort of making the best of a product or a service, to find those who value it best, and capture that value, what lies inside the entrepreneur.

Creating wealth escapes the obvious, and creates new valued propositions. Sometimes we use innovation to improve what is there, but most likely, the best results come from a free, playful, fun exercise of creating wealth. Whatever you do to create wealth will improve your skills and build up that wealthing muscle. Even if you compose a song in tribute to your wealth when you are showering!

Here is to your wealth and joy,

Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Alicia Castillo Holley is an international expert on entrepreneurship and innovation. She has started 9 companies and one not-for-profit, raised millions of dollars and trained thousands of people. She's a recognized author, speaker and seminar leader.
http://www.wealthing.com

Business Meeting Creativity Ideas

Developing an innovative spirit in the workplace doesn't require extraordinary measures. As a manager, you can experiment with simple ideas that merely break routines, allowing your employees permission to drop the facade that we all don to some degree when we punch the clock. Here are a few ideas that will help you lighten things up for your staff and get their creative juices flowing, if you have the courage to take the leap.

1. Dart Board

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Start every staff meeting by allowing everyone a shot at the dart board. Best shot gets to kick off the meeting, appoint the moderator, or tell what they did over the weekend. Starts things off on a playful note and gets your people out of their chairs. For safety purposes, stick with the magnetic or Velcro variety.

Business Meeting Creativity Ideas

2. Colored Markers for the Flip Chart

Sounds simple, but we are programmed from an early age to correlate the amalgamation of colors with the awakening of our imaginations. If you need further evidence of this phenomenon, observe a classroom full of first graders the next time a teacher instructs them to put away their math books and take out their crayons. And experts agree that the key to creativity lies in the ability to awaken the child inside each of us.

3. Music Creativity

Ask each team member to write a 4-line verse to a song that relates to their job duties, hobbies, business ideas, etc. Go around the room and ask them to sing, rap, or simply recite (military cadence perhaps) their verse. Print the
compilation in the next company newsletter to get a little PR for your department or office (others in the organization might want to transfer in when they realize that you've given your staff permission to have fun).

4. Music Creativity II

Ask your staff to bring in a CD with a song that describes their personality, work attitude, or how their weekend went. Play excerpts before the meeting for a laugh.

5. To Serve Mankind

Ask your staff to convey what they did over the weekend that was a service to another person, charitable organization, or noble cause. Vote to determine whose action was most heroic and award a gift certificate to the winner, let them leave work early on Friday, or take a longer than usual lunch break. This will encourage your staff to think of new ways to develop a sense of community. It will also help your people feel good about their co-workers, get to know them better, and give them a sense of pride in the organization.

6. Vocabulary Expansion

Ask your team to bring a rarely used or obscure word to the next meeting. Have them use it in a context that is applicable to your business.

7. Memory Exercise

Read a list of 10 or 15 things, preferably something related to your business, your industry, or to a customer and give an award to the person who can commit the most items to memory. This exercise can help your staff become more familiar with your organization and with your customers. Memory development is also a key to developing new customer relationships that will help your business prosper.

8. "If I Ran This Place..."

Ask your staff what they would consider the ideal job, the ideal workplace, and the ideal location. You can't transform your place into utopia, but you might gain some insight into feasible, marginal changes that will improve things. Now that you have them thinking without barriers, ask them what they would do first or different if they ran the company, office, or department. You'll be surprised by the answers.

9. Show and Tell

Have your staff bring something that they've created, that they are proud of, or from their childhood that the group would find interesting or funny. Demonstrate an interesting or unusual talent, perhaps. We loved this game when we were in kindergarten, and for some reason they made us stop playing as we got older.

10. Top 10 Lists

Until David Letterman decides to pursue intellectual property infringement, go ahead and try this one. Give a topic at your staff meeting, and ask for the answers the following week. Remember to keep it clean and non-offensive. Have your staff rank the answers and use a point system to determine the winner.

We would never ask our employees for quality without offering the resources, direction, systems, and commitment to develop procedures that ensure improvement in that area. Yet we ask employees for creativity or to "think outside the box" all of the time without giving another thought as to how to initiate the creative process. Take the first step and give your staff permission to shake things up a bit at your office. You're likely to see some changes - for the better!

Business Meeting Creativity Ideas

Craig Cortello is the President and founder of La Dolce Vita Enterprises, a consulting and training firm that assists companies in creating productive and imaginative work environments that encourage innovative business solutions. He is also the National Sales Manager of Trinity Consultants, a nationwide environmental consulting firm and an accomplished musician. He credits much of his success in the business world to his creative spirit that was cultivated through exposure to music and the arts.

Craig is a proud resident and native of the New Orleans metropolitan area, and a Hurricane Katrina survivor!

For more info see http://www.ldv-enterprises.com

Organizational Structure, Creativity, Innovation

Organizational structure can inhibit or foster creativity and innovation. The problem with organizational structure though, is that it is resultant of many factors, including history, organic growth, strategy, operational design, product diversity, logistics, marketing, client base, supplier base and so forth. Therefore, what managers need, are not recipes for complete structural change, but insights into the properties of fostering structures that can be adapted into the existing structure.

To start, it is useful to analyse the preferred structures against the not so preferred. There are many definitions of types of organizational structure, but one example is:

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a) Mechanistic structures (generally not preferred) - includes centralised control and authority, clearly defined tasks, vertical communication links, obedience to supervisors, rigidity and inflexibility.

Organizational Structure, Creativity, Innovation

b) Organic structures (generally preferred) - decentralisation of authority, tasks loosely defined, horizontal communications, greater individual authority, flexible, adaptable.

Experience shows that the above can be misleading. For example, flat organisations are generally preferred and hierarchical ones not preferred, however, even flat organisations are in reality hierarchical.

Importantly, if we have a mechanistic structure, what factors allow us to move in the right direction without wholesale change?

Some answers include:

a) Direct communication links to decision makers.

b) Communication and information flow between departments.

c) Tangible progression of ideas from problem to solution, product development to commercialisation.

d) Creative teams working outside but linked into the organization, whose culture, processes etc diffuse into the existing structure.

These and other topics are covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased (along with a Creativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator Software and Power Point Presentation) from http://www.managing-creativity.com

Kal Bishop, MBA

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Organizational Structure, Creativity, Innovation

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com.

Exercises to Encourage Creativity

Introduction

Before I list some very helpful and powerful exercises to encourage creativity, let's take a moment to consider what constitutes creativity, why we aspire to encourage creativity in the first place and what is required from the person who wishes to encourage creativity through exercises, be it her own creativity or that of others.

Creativity

Definition of Creativity

Exercises to Encourage Creativity

If one wishes to encourage creativity, it is advised that she first has a clear definition of this term. However, Creativity is an illusive and complex term that seems to defy definition, so let me list some options and choose what fit you most. Creativity has to do with original and flexible thinking, the ability to pay attention to details, the ability to cope with uncertainty. Creative individuals possess a high motivation to overcome obstacles and solve problems, the willingness to take calculated risks, the desire to work hard in turn for recognition.

Benefits of Creativity

Encouraging creativity through exercises is a proven way to develop young minds. Weaving creativity exercises into children's education greatly improves their chances of becoming successful and constructive adults who are able to cope more aptly with a rapidly changing world. An environment that encourages creativity is also a solid foundation for mental health. Creativity exercises cultivate highly motivated students who are less prone to adverse psychological states such as stress and boredom.

Creativity Exercises - What Is Required of the Teacher

Creativity Exercise #1 - Image Streaming

This exercise is to be carried out in pairs or individually. The exercising student closes her eyes and asks herself a question. The exercising student then describes out loud her mental visual imagery either to another student or to a tape recorder. Describing of the mental images should be flowing and streaming. In the process of describing the images she sees in her mind, the student should concentrate on sensory details. For example, "I feel the softness of the fresh laundry", "my feet are pressed against the cold tiles", "I smell the rain-soaked air." The student should aim to make her live or potential listener vividly experience what she sees. In order to develop and maintain the flow of streaming imagery, the student should ask herself new questions as to the nature of objects she sees in her mind and explore them in detail. Relaying the mental images should be done in a hastened pace to avoid judgment and critical thinking. Image streaming is to be exercised for at least 10 minutes each time. Over time, this exercise improves creativity and intelligence.

Creativity Exercise #2 - Challenge Traditional Thinking

This exercise can be practiced in a group or individually. Routine thinking is good for every day tasks, since you perform the task without employing your mind and wasting energy on the thinking process. For example, if you take the same route to work every day, you soon drive on auto-pilot. If, however, you have a task that requires you take a different route, then you have to concentrate and be aware of the left and right turns you make. If your thoughts drift, you will find yourself going unintentionally in the regular route. If you wish to exercise creativity in solving problems, you have to stay clear of routine thinking. This can be achieved by forcing the mind to find new routes. Instructions: make a list of words and write each word on a card. For each word instruct the students to come up with 2 related words and write these down on separate cards as well. You now have groups of three words each. And now for the creative part: randomly pick two unassociated words and instruct your students to come up with an association between the two seemingly unrelated words. This will force their thinking process to form an unfamiliar route, a connection between two dots that were unconnected until now. Forcing our mind to find new trails that connect A and B is exactly what enhances creativity. Along the same lines, you can try these variation: make a basic outline map of the United States without state names. Instead of state names, write down names of world countries. For example, instead of Texas write Canada, instead of California write France. And so on. Now ask your students to find associations between the state and the country. Remember that we are not after any correct answer. We are exercising this in order to create new roads. So don't test your students' knowledge. Encourage them to come up with any association they can think of. It can relate to culture, economy, language, but it can also relate to the spelling of the names or to their pronunciation. Be open.

Creativity Exercise #3 - The Gods Must Be Crazy

An African Bushman, unaware of white culture, discovers an empty Coca Cola bottle in the Kalahari Desert. The bushman closely examines this mystical object (casually dropped by a passing pilot), wondering what it is good for. He then tries blowing into it, and is very pleased to learn that it makes a noise. In this creativity exercise you encourage your students to become Bushmen. I mean it. You need to collect 5 to 10 props. You display a prop to your students and ask them to find a new use for it. This exercise encourages creativity since it forces the thinking process to erase or ignore what is known and come up with fresh ways of looking at something familiar.

Creativity Exercise #4 - Music's Story

Play a piece of classical music, preferably one that your students don't know. Dim the lights, instruct your students to close their eyes and listen closely to the music. The music tells a story, it tells about the weather, about a poor or rich man, about mad love that is now dying. Ask each student to follow every plot twist, every change of atmosphere. Then stop the music and ask your students to write down their stories, with as much detail as possible.

Exercises to Encourage Creativity

Eran Sadeh is publisher of Character-Slippers.com, a wonderful product that encourages both fun and creativity. To learn more about character slippers and browse through picture galleries and video galleries of character slippers, please visit http://www.character-slippers.com

How To Be Creative - 5 Essential Elements For A Life Of Creativity

Each of us who create have our own unique ways of expressing our creativity, and a number of different forms and media in which we create. But despite this individuality, there are elements common to all of us, each of them essential to have in place for a life of abundant creativity.

Here are 5 of the most important of these elements. Which do you have in place already in your creative life? Which can you add today to help you be more creative?

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1. Creating everyday. The only surefire way to a life of consistent and prolific creativity is to create for a minimum amount each and every day. Because we all structure our lives round a daily calendar, this is the most natural and easy way to also fit in our creative time.

How To Be Creative - 5 Essential Elements For A Life Of Creativity

Don't make the mistake of creating only "when you have a bit of free time", it never comes! Instead, commit to creating at the same time for at least 15 minutes each day. This habit is the backbone of a life of creativity, and the key to discovering the true depths of your creative potential.

2. Keep yourself inspired and stimulated. If you only ever go to the same few places all the time - maybe even only from your bed to your creative workspace for days on end - you'll soon dry up on inspiration.

Creative people more than anyone need constant new stimulation. Visit different places that will delight your senses, and be sure to fully focus on each sense. You have five senses for a reason, make full use of them!

3. Gathering your ideas. Ideas flow to us constantly, our creative minds are permanently active, even when we sleep. Find a way to channel this and you'll have all the creative ideas you'll ever need.

A fantastic tool for capturing your ideas is an ideas journal. This is simply a notebook you carry with you at all times and jot down your ideas as and when they come to you. No more forgotten ideas, no more frustration at not having any new ideas to develop. And the beauty is, the more ideas you have and capture, the more ideas arrive to replace them.

4. A support network. Though much creative work is done alone, having a network of support around you is key to getting the most from your creativity. Too many artists create in what feels like a void or a vacuum, not knowing if any one even KNOWS they create, let alone have people to offer encouragement.

You can either look locally for a group that meets in person, or find a creative community online. Investigate a few possibilities and see how you feel about the people involved and the nature of the group. At the very least, get yourself a creative "buddy" - someone you can check in with regularly to encourage and support each other's creative developments.

5. Acknowledge your progress. Keeping track of how you develop as a creative artist is crucial to staying motivated and realising just how much you do create. Because you're with yourself day in, day out, it can be difficult to measure this and it often feels like you're getting nowhere, stuck in a creative rut.

A great way of keeping up with how much you're creating is to have a mini creative review every 2 or 3 months. Look at what you're creating now compared to a few months ago, and you'll be impressed not only at how you've developed, but also at how much you've created. This then motivates you to create even more.

These are 5 of the most important elements needed for a creative life.

Which do you have in place already? Which could you pick to improve so you create more deeply and more often, and explore more of that limitless creative potential within you waiting to be discovered?

How To Be Creative - 5 Essential Elements For A Life Of Creativity

Looking for a way to kick start your creativity? Then head over to http://www.CoachCreative.com for your free copy of the powerful and practical "Explode Your Creativity!" Action Workbook.

From Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin

Why is Creativity and Innovation Important in Business?

Creativity is the ability to come up with new ideas and different ways to solve problems that provide opportunities.

Characteristics of Creative People

Creativity

* Bright
* Adaptable
* High self-esteem
* Challenge oriented
* Idea oriented
* Inquisitive
* Curious

Can you improve your creativity? Yes! How?

Gather as much information as you can (read, talk with experts, etc.) and brainstorm. Just think about the problem or issue until an idea comes to you. Is the solution reasonable? If so, try it. If not, keep thinking. If you tried out an idea, did it work? If so, great! If not, begin the process over again. Do not put barriers on your mind. Put these steps to use.

What Is an Innovation?

An innovation is something that is invented, like the CD, or something that is created from an existing idea or product (e.g., Super Wal-Mart).

Where do innovative ideas come from?

* Unsatisfied customers
* Demographic changes in society
* Luck
* Imagination
* Vision
* Problem solving

Remember:

* Look for new ideas.
* Keep it simple.
* Start small.
* Try, try, try again.

Both of these qualities are important in the business owner. The High Performance Entrepreneur must be able to think on his or her feet, come up with novel approaches to difficult situations, and be smart as a tack.

Are you an entrepreneur who thinks you do not possess the ability to develop great ideas? Read over the above article, then ask yourself that question again. Everyone has luck, no matter if they think they do not. Everyone can imagine, dream, and have a vision.

Becoming really innovative only requires you to repurpose your dreams and vision into the physical. If I can do it, you can too.

Why is Creativity and Innovation Important in Business?

Dr. Dave Hale is the CEO of DHI-Communications, an international business coaching and training consultancy, specializing in ecommerce business development and marketing. Dave is widely regarded as one of the top business coaches for Web 2.0 Entrepreneurs. He is the author of The High Performance Entrepreneur: 12 Essential Strategies to Supercharge Your Startup Business. Dave's work and books have been featured on national television, radio, and print media. To obtain more information on how to make barrels of cash in business and instantly receive my FREE CD and Business Journal go to http://www.DrDaveHaleOnline.com and [http://www.buyhiperbusinessmomentum.com]

Business Meeting Creativity Ideas

1. Dart Board

Creativity

2. Colored Markers for the Flip Chart

3. Music Creativity

4. Music Creativity II

Ask your staff to bring in a CD with a song that describes their personality, work attitude, or how their weekend went. Play excerpts before the meeting for a laugh.

5. To Serve Mankind

6. Vocabulary Expansion

Ask your team to bring a rarely used or obscure word to the next meeting. Have them use it in a context that is applicable to your business.

7. Memory Exercise

8. "If I Ran This Place..."

9. Show and Tell

10. Top 10 Lists

Business Meeting Creativity Ideas

Craig is a proud resident and native of the New Orleans metropolitan area, and a Hurricane Katrina survivor!

For more info see http://www.ldv-enterprises.com

Understanding Creativity - Person, Place, Product and Process (Part 1)

What do person, place, product, and process (the 4 P's) have in common? According to creativity researchers, these are the four generally accepted facets to creativity. Additionally these facets are interrelated, which makes creativity complicated to understand and to cultivate, especially in organizations. Understanding its multiple aspects, however, is a critical first step in bringing more creativity, and hence innovation, into a corporate environment. Creativity is generally considered to be a new idea or insight that is recognized by experts in that field as having value. Creativity is the necessary first step to fueling innovation. This first article, in a series of articles about the facets of creativity, will present an overview of the 4 P's of creativity and how they are interrelated.

Person

Creativity

Stories about modern eminent creatives such as Steve Jobs and I.M. Pei and past creatives such as Thomas Edison, Madame Curie and Michelangelo warp our image of the creative person. We tend to think of people as being either creative or not creative, like it is a fixed attribute such as one's height or eye-color. Creativity is not unique or mysterious; we are all creative to different degrees. Creativity has little to do with IQ. It is our usage or under-usage of our ordinary thinking processes that impact our creative output. Creative thinking approaches can be learned by all individuals. Research has shown that the use of creative thinking techniques reduces costs, increases efficiency and positively impacts ROI.

Place

Our families, schools, community, religion, and workplace as well as the overall culture in which we live have major impacts on creativity; this is referred to formally as the press of the environment, which I refer to simply as 'place.' The values and norms of our upbringing and current environment dictate whether we are encouraged or discouraged from being creative and whether our ideas or products are recognized as being creative. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Claremont professor and creativity researcher, says that the environment has more of an impact on creative outcomes than an individual intent on creativity. Interestingly, studies have shown that creativity tends to thrive during times of political unrest, civil disturbance, and intellectual diversity. For example many young people were motivated to become artists and architects during the Renaissance. Teresa Amabile, Harvard professor and organizational creativity researcher says that our social environment can significantly affect intrinsic motivation, both positively and negatively. We often become motivated to think and act creatively when we become personally interested in or curious about a new technology, research data or trend. Working on something imposed on us by outside sources, without being personally interested has negative effects on our creativity. For example, the proliferation of the Internet has laid the foundation for an increase in artists and designers. This new surge in visual images has contributed to the current trend in businesses to utilize design thinking in addition to analytical thinking.

Product

Can you make money from it? Do your peers and society admire you because of it? In our Western, materially focused culture, a physical product or outcome is typically the only facet of creativity that is recognized. We look at the finished product and forget there was a process of multiple creative failures that happened first. We may disregard the environment or the team of people that encouraged the development of the product. New products and ideas often have a difficult time getting past the 'gatekeepers' who determine the idea's value, sometimes arbitrarily or with limited foresight. A person known in the field or from a field predisposed to creativity, such as advertising is likely to have an easier time getting past the gatekeepers than an unknown or someone from a 'non-creative' industry. Occasionally the product or idea is so radical and ahead of its time, it gets ridiculed or goes unrecognized for years. The concept of Federal Express is a well-known story of a ridiculed idea; van Gogh was considered a sociopathic recluse rather than a genius, and died alone and penniless.

Process

What must occur in order for us to produce a creative idea or product? There are potentially exponential trials of creative processes compared to final products. Edison tried thousands of times to produce an electric filament for long lasting electric lighting. Shouldn't all those failed attempts be considered creative? Our culture, however, tends to label only the one successful outcome as creative.

Each of us goes through four stages during our creative process. Preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification were originally introduced by Graham Wallas in 1926 in his book "The Art of Thought." In the first stage, preparation, we set ourselves up for creative success by acquiring some skill, gathering data, or understanding the basic problem that needs to be addressed. This is perhaps the most difficult stage as suggested by Edison in his famous line, "Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration." In the next stage, incubation, our brain is working on things in the background. It is the time away from conscious thinking. This is the most powerful of the steps and the one that probably gets overlooked most often. It is hard not to consciously and continually work on a problem to conclusion, since we all have a tendency to want to solve problems as soon as possible, and are often pushed by our organizations to do so. The 'aha' or illumination stage, however, can only occur after an incubation period.Sometimes we do not get a solution - but another way to approach the problem. But when we get that 'aha,' we know with certainty that we are on the right path. Finally, we need to be able to recognize when a solutions fits the problem. In the last stage, verification, we try and test the solution. We often go back and forth rapidly between the stages. The ability to shift between stages is important to the creative process.

How we think, how the gatekeepers respond to what we produce, the environment in which we live, and the processes we follow all combine to impact the production and acceptance of new ideas, insights and products. It is impossible to consider any one of these facets in a vacuum. We cannot separate the person from their environment, the idea from the person, the process from the environment, or the product from the process. It is complicated, but not impossible, to address all of these facets within an organizational setting. In the next series of articles, I will go into each of the four facets in more depth.

Understanding Creativity - Person, Place, Product and Process (Part 1)

Copyright 2009 J.E. Brunn, LLC. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, and give author name credit.

Joanne Brunn, Ph.D. is a creative thinking expert, consultant, author and speaker. To learn more or to speak with Joanne about a consulting, training, or speaking engagement, please visit http://joannebrunn.com

5 Ways to Promote Creativity in the Workplace

You have a staff of people with different backgrounds and experiences - a diverse group that has a lot to offer if given the chance. Think of the possibilities for creativity and innovation. Most workplaces don't even think about ways to bring out the creativity in their employees and they are missing out on a vast array of improvements and innovations that are wasting away in the minds of their workforce. Why not make a few simple changes and start harnessing the creative side of your employees.

1. Once a week, ask your employees to think of one way to make their job more efficient or productive. Tell them the best idea will win one hour off on Friday. This will start the creative juices flowing. At the end of the week, review the ideas and award the prize. Then, decide which ideas are realistic and implement them. Chances are that most of the ideas will improve their productivity and the company's bottom line.

Creativity

2. Have weekly brainstorming meetings. Tell them that there are no bad ideas and then go to work on the dry erase board. When employees finally have the opportunity to voice their opinions, you will be surprised what comes out. In addition, employees will work off one another and expand and improve each other's ideas. It's best to have at least a general topic in these meetings or the meeting could lose focus.

3. Make a suggestion box. Sometimes the best ideas are left untold because the employee was either shy or afraid to open up a sensitive topic. The suggestion box will give them the anonymity they need to bring forward their idea. Not all employees are comfortable with speaking in groups and this lack of confidence could cause the organization to lose out on a groundbreaking opportunity.

4. Meet with employees one-on-one in regularly scheduled meetings. Many employees don't like to speak in front of groups but they still want credit for their ideas. Also, some employees are just more comfortable speaking in a small group or one-on-one. Take advantage of this format to follow-up on ideas and get the most out of their creativity.

5. Create innovation teams. Innovation teams are smaller teams of three to four people in charge of creating new ideas on a particular topic. Assignment them an area that needs improvement through creativity then have them report back to you or better yet to the entire work group, so that more ideas can be suggested.

Creativity and innovation in the workplace can found in every one of your employees. You have worked hard to hire a diverse group of people with a wide variety of experiences. Don't waste this valuable resource.

5 Ways to Promote Creativity in the Workplace

Charlie Bentson King is a writer and producer of motivational training videos for TrainingABC. TrainingABC is a distributor of programs such as Celebrate What's Right with the World and Everyday Creativity.

Birthday Card Ideas - Collages of Creativity!

Birthday card ideas are easy to brainstorm, especially if you know the birthday girl or boy well. Although there are lots of universal and crafty ways to make that creative one-of-a-kind handmade birthday card. Collages are a great way to create special and unique homemade birthday cards. Collages are a collection of images and words on different media arranged randomly or even in an organized fashion.

Here are some birthday card ideas that take the concept of a collage and add a birthday twist!

Creativity

* Super Color Collage
Does your birthday girl or guy have a favorite color? Use their favorite hue to make a very special (and colorful) homemade birthday card! Start collecting pictures in different shades of that particular color.

For instance, if their favorite color is yellow - start cutting out images sun, flowers, bananas, and anything yellow from your old magazines, calendars, wrapping paper, and other media. Collect all of your yellow images and glue them onto the front of a white, black, or colored card that contrasts with the color used in the collage. Now use a circular or square piece of colored cardstock and write "Have a Very Yellow Birthday!" This is a fun way to celebrate the individual and a unique way to show your own thoughtfulness and creativity.

* "It's just a Number!" Collage
If you know how old your birthday gal or guy is turning, then take it to the next level! Start cutting out their birthday number from magazines, newspapers, bus schedules, junk mail flyers, and start collecting! If you can't find a lot of numbers, start spelling out the number, for instance, s-i-x-t-e-e-n, from letters found in different media. The spelling of the birthday age will help to fill out the card collage. The letters for spelling out the age do not have to be the same font or color -- think of those infamous ransom notes and create your collage with that effect in mind.

* "It's all about you!" Collage
If you know the birthday person well then this will be easy! Start collecting images of their favorite things: television shows, favorite band or singers, foods, sports, movies, games, etc... Then put together a collage that celebrates them as a person! If you have a picture of the two of you, then make that the centerpiece of the card so she or he will always remember who made the very special birthday card! This will really show how much time you spend thinking about them and cooking up this homemade birthday card.

If you don't know too much about the person, but you know their birth date then you can still make a collage all about them! Consider birthday card ideas using their zodiac sign, precious stone for the month of their birthday, and if you know the year they were born you could also include their Chinese zodiac sign. If you still need some filler space, then find out some interesting facts related to their zodiac sign and print or write them on the front of the card. Everybody loves to read what they're all about and it could be a fun conversation piece so you can get to know the person better!

Birthday Card Ideas - Collages of Creativity!

Crafting Tip: When brainstorming birthday card ideas using the collage technique with different media you may run into the problem of "filling out" the entire collage. To alleviate this issue, consider using patterned paper as the background of the collage to fill in any blank spaces ahead of time. Or use a repetitive signature piece of art of fill in the blanks, such as stars, colored buttons, hearts, happy faces, and other embellishments.

For additional ideas on creative homemade birthday card ideas, please visit http://www.creative-card-ideas.com, a website dedicated to making creative homemade card ideas on a budget!

20 Ways to Keep Your Writing Inspiration and Creativity High

When stressed or blocked it is wise to make a change so that we don't stay in that place. Yet, many times we forget some of the simple things that we can do for ourselves, quickly and easily to bring our inspiration back and increase our creativity.

1. If you usually type your first drafts, hand write them. Nothing compares to the feeling the ink melting into the paper and the surge of that creative flow.

Creativity

2. If you spend too much time at the computer, take a break every hour. Go for a walk or just sit outside in the sun. Even five minutes in a winter sun does wonders for a mood and creativity.

3. Flip through magazines or books. Their colors and ideas will give you sparks and switch your attitude. Blue and green can reduce your stress levels by 30% or more.

4. Add strong smells to the room. Light scented candles around you, visit the fruit isle at the grocery store, or go to a store that is heavily scented. Find an orange or strawberries and smell it. Both will change a mood or create inspiration. Smells awaken your creativity. Smells trigger memories and are a great method to rekindle stories from the past.

5. Go see or rent an inspirational movie. Relaxation time is important. You can even take your notebook and record inspirational phases. Afterwards free write that those phrases bring up from your subconscious.

6. Read a book that stirs you or sparks your creativity. If you prefer, read poetry.

7. Look at bold and bright colors for a few minutes. These change your mood.

8. Talk with a friend about your topic to flesh out ideas and creativity. Record the conversation, with their permission of course, and play it back to hear the little nuances that you might have missed.

9. Write an e-mail to a friend to tell him or her what you want to accomplish. If you are stuck, say so and ask for help.

10. Check in with your vibrational energy and do something to switch it into high gear. Take a shower. Go for a walk. Turn on some music and dance naked for a few minutes.

11. Hire a virtual assistant to do some typing so that you can stay focused on writing. You can fax your writing or dictate it into the computer and send her a voice file for transcription.

12. Go to church for the noon service or whisper a prayer or two. This reconnects your energy with the universe and replenishes what might be missing.

13. Complete an appreciation exercise. Pick something around you, like the telephone, lamp, or pen. Talk to it and tell it how much you appreciate having the electricity to turn it on, the opportunity to write with a tool that has the ink inside, not like a quill, or the softness of the paper you write on. Be grateful for that you have and not what you are missing. Or make a list of "count your blessing" items.

14. Write a personal note to friends or family and tell them how much you love them, appreciate their thoughtfulness, or kindness.

15. Authentic, flat-out, raw laughter frees the psyche and opens the creativity process.

16. Find a setting with lots of trees and flowers and feel nature. If the weather permits, take off your shoes and socks and feel the grass between your toes. Nature has a way of freeing our spirit and renewing our soul.

17. If guilt or a passed incident has captured your mind, write a "Dear Me" letter and ask yourself for forgiveness to loosen it's grip and expand your freedom.

18. Are you use to writing in a quiet place? Find a noisy place to write, like McDonald's or the mall. When your space is noisy you will have to focus harder in order to write with clarity.

19. Go for a quiet leisurely drive, listen to a favorite CD. You can sing out of tune and no one will notice (laughter aloud).

20. Do something nice for someone else that you wouldn't normally do and be a gracious receiver of a hug.

That was exciting, wasn't it? Post this list in a conspicuous place so that it is readily available when you need it, right next to your writing area is best. Do one or two of these daily and keep on writing. Your readers are waiting to read your words.

20 Ways to Keep Your Writing Inspiration and Creativity High

Catherine Franz, a Certified Professional Marketing &
Writing Coach, specializes in product development, Internet
writing and marketing, nonfiction, training. Newsletters and
articles available at: http://www.abundancecenter.com
blog: http://abundance.blogs.com

Creativity Management: Do Creative People Have Common Characteristics?

What do creativity managers do?

Replace the word management with the word optimisation.

Creativity

That's what creativity managers do: they optimise the quality of the idea pool (creativity) and the implementation process (innovation).

There are many methods of optimisation and the creativity leader must be aware of all of them, in other words, he or she must synthesise them for optimal effect.

Areas [within creativity] that need managing include motivation, organisational culture, organisational structure, incremental versus radical effects and processes, knowledge mix, group structures, goals, process and valuation.

Areas [within innovation] that need managing include idea selection, development / prototyping and the art of commercialisation.

It is worth noting that 4000 good ideas result in 4 development programs, which in turn results in 1 winner.

Do creative people have common characteristics?

Trait theory suggests they have: for example, tolerance to ambiguity and intolerance to conformity.

However, traits are not stable (you might feel creative today but not tomorrow), they are not transferable (you might be a good guitar player but a terrible painter) and they are very hard to identify.

Overall, traits are not good predictors as to who will turn out to be creative or not.

A quote from David Ogilvy: "For sixteen years I have been trying to find some common denominator which seems to apply to all creative people. There aren't any. If I could find five or six characteristics I might be more successful at hiring them. I could make a list of curiosity, vocabulary, good visual imagery etc and then I could interview hundreds of people and hire the best. But I don't know of any common characteristic. We've got fifty copywriters and I suppose the good ones are judged at the end of the year, when we compare how many successful campaigns they have created. "

Learn more...

Download the MBA research, learn about this topic at http://www.creativity-management.com/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

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You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made, the author's name is retained and the link to our site URL remains active.

Creativity Management: Do Creative People Have Common Characteristics?

Download the MBA research, learn about this topic at http://www.creativity-management.com/

Creativity Theory

Elements of Creativity Theory include:

What are the definitions of and differences between creativity and innovation? There is much confusion, for instance, Franklin (2003) writes that "innovation is anything that somebody thinks is a great idea." At a minimum, creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation. Innovation often means that outside decision makers have to get involved, as complete development and commercialisation commonly requires the competencies and knowledge of a team. Different competencies, structures, processes, resources and time-scales are required.

Creativity

Common characteristics of creative people. Do creative people have common characteristics that we can identify, so that we can hire the right people? Some firms do not engage in creative activities because of a belief that "special" people are needed. Many theorists and practitioners think that there are common characteristics, such as tolerance to ambiguity and risk taking. However, many others argue that there are none ("For sixteen years I have been trying to find some common denominator which seems to apply to all creative people. There aren't any. If I could find five or six characteristics I might be more successful at hiring them. I could make a list of curiosity, vocabulary, good visual imagery etc and then I could interview hundreds of people and hire the best. But I don't know of any common characteristic. We've got fifty copywriters and I suppose the good ones are judged at the end of the year, when we compare how many successful campaigns they have created").

Learning versus talent. Can creativity be learned and developed or is it a talent / special gift? Why is it that some people just are more creative? Nature nurture arguments are notoriously inconclusive and trait theories assume stability across situations and time. The best way to answer this question is to investigate whether creativity improves with practice. The experience curve, automisation, learning theories and the experiences of practitioners suggest that it does improve but there are caveats.

Motivation. Motivation is arguably more important than nature / nurture or traits. Someone with natural ability or placed in the right environment may not take advantage of it unless motivated. There is intrinsic motivation, synergistic and non-synergistic extrinsic motivation. How can it be induced and measured? There are many elements: material reward, progress to the ideal self, self-determination, self-evaluation, feedback, enjoyment, competency expansion, recognition and feasibility.

Blocks to creativity and organisational culture. What are the blocks to creativity and how can they be overcome? We can all be more creative, so what is stopping us? There are many blocks such as evaluation apprehension (in its many forms) and lack of adequate finance and resources. Separating creative from critical thinking, incremental productivity, tools that draw out tacit knowledge and using frameworks to trigger flow are some of the effective unblocking techniques. What is psychological safety and freedom? What properties of an organisational culture cultivate productivity?

Organisational structure. What properties of an organisational structure most foster creativity? There are many reasons why an entity has a particular organisational structure: history, logistics, market segmentation, product line, strategy and so forth. It is often unreasonable to ask a firm to change its organisational structure, so how do we get around this problem?

Group structure What is the most effective team structure? Many people who are acknowledged to have made great contributions to society have worked alone, but it is very easy for individuals to go "off track" and feedback is required to some degree, as well as other things. It is also very difficult to separate the idea from its influences. Many others work in pairs or small teams, as this reduces the negative effects of large groups. Successful firms generally start off as very small, creative enterprises. Many people think that brainstorming in large groups enhances creativity, but large groups bring with them politics, status differentials, group think, dilution of ideas and conformity among other things.

The role of knowledge. What type and level of knowledge helps creativity most? Can someone with limited knowledge of a field make a significant contribution to it? Does excess knowledge cause blinkered vision? Intellectual cross-pollination fosters creativity, but how do we overcome competency traps and other negatives? How do we frame-break, reduce path dependency and collaborate effectively?

Radical versus incremental creativity. Radical / transformational / disruptive creativity is very much glamorised. But is this what is required most often? Is it wiser to target radical or incremental ideas? Is radical really radical or the result of incremental improvement? How is radical defined? If we want a radical idea as opposed to an incremental change, what are the implications? Incremental and radical creativity require vastly different structures, processes, skills and resources.

Structure & goals. Many creative people object to structure and goals - they argue they interfere with thought processes and originality; there is a very fine line between structure and conformity. Does structure help trigger a flow of good ideas? Do structure and goals help set the boundaries of a problem and produce more output that when an individual is simply allowed to "do their best?" Do structure and goals help us achieve the objective more rapidly? How many people have a half finished novel or screenplay in their office?

Process. Many people question the concept that creativity can be a process. Ask many practitioners what process they engage in and they may well deny there is one. But if you examine the activities of many creative people, common patterns of behaviour emerge. This common process makes insight / eureka / the aha! experience more likely. The process includes identifying and intensely investigating the problem, forcing production of ideas using creative versus critical thinking and other techniques; seeking stimuli and allowing the unconscious mind to take over by engaging in rest and unrelated activities.

Valuation. How do we value an idea, so as to decide how to invest resources? Even a painter who creates for pure pleasure has to decide which one of his ideas is best; there is always a value system and (some argue) always some sort of promotional instinct. There are decisions as to whether you are looking for applied creativity and who the consumer is; how do they benefit? There is no sure fire way to evaluate perfectly because there is no sure fire route to commercial success. But we can benchmark against those types of ideas that have succeeded in the past; firms must make a decision as to their strategic, competence and technical fit; there are comparisons against rivals and practical impediments; how do we make the go or kill decision and what are the trade-offs? A quantitative tool for measuring the value of ideas has been developed.

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You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author's name and site URL are retained.

Creativity Theory

The MBA research project and other creativity and innovation tools can be found at http://managing-creativity.com/.

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://managing-creativity.com/.

Creativity Hotel - How Do You Treat YOUR Guests?

As creative people, ideas are our currency, our lifeblood. Creativity itself could be defined as "having and developing ideas".

If we have no ideas then we have nothing to build upon, nothing to cherish, nourish and encourage to grow.

Creativity

Our minds at any one time are full of ideas of different types, sizes, ages and levels of attractiveness. So how can we ensure we encourage this development of ideas, this creativity?

One possible way is think of your creative mind as a large hotel or mansion.

In each of the rooms is a guest that represents a creative project or idea that you've started in the past. It's not important whether you finished the project, but that you had the original idea, invited it into your conscious mind and began to work on it. You committed some time and energy to it.

Then, each time you have a new idea and begin a new creative project based around that idea, it's like a new guest arriving at your hotel.

They check in at reception, are given the key to a comfortable spacious room and are then invited to take to their new quarters and get accustomed to the surroundings, to make themselves feel at home. Each guest - each new creative idea - enters as an equal, and is given the same size room as all the other guests.

Or are they?

What kind of welcome do your new guests receive in reality? Are they greeted with as much respect, enthusiasm and bonhomie as all those in the past were?

Is your Creativity Hotel all crisp clean sheets, stylish comfy furniture, 24-hour room service and a complimentary mini-bar?

Or is it more in the style of a grubby fold away bed in a rundown motel, with "cosy" dimensions - two steps in any direction and you're provided with a convenient wall to lean against - complete with damp stained wallpaper and what looks like weeks old pizza sauce...

And what about managing so many guests at any one time? Your Creativity Hotel is infinitely huge. Maybe at reception there's a map of the hotel which shows at a glance who's staying at each of the rooms?

But how do they interact with each other? Do they even mix at all?

Is each new guest invited to a lavish welcoming dinner, to socialise with all the other guests, form new connections and share experiences, returning to their room in the early hours of the next morning tired, yet all the richer and more developed because of it?

Or instead are the guests at your hotel told to stay in their rooms and keep themselves to themselves, to only come out for meals and fire drills. Oh and don't forget that 9pm lights out curfew!

Consider too that each new idea we have as creative people - each new quest at our Creativity Hotel - does not come from some unknown alien place, but from the same place that all our other ideas have come from. So surely it makes sense to re-introduce them as old friends, let them mix a little and have the opportunity to thrive in diverse and creative surroundings?

Next time you wonder about not having new ideas, ask yourself how you really treat the new ideas and inspiration that come to you? Do you record them eagerly then let them develop naturally? Or do you treat them with contempt or suspicion or worse still ignore them altogether?

Every great achievement in the history of humanity started with a single idea. So think for a moment about how some of those ideas may have been treated had they arrived in their initial state at your Creativity Hotel.

Of course you can take this idea of your Creativity Hotel as deeply or as light heartedly as you wish, the options are virtually limitless. Adapt it so it works best for you and have fun with it.

But to allow yourself to be as creative as possible, ensure you do all you can to make YOUR Creativity Hotel a bustling, stimulating and happy place where new guests can't help but come flocking, and soon flourish in the company of others of a similar mind...

Creativity Hotel - How Do You Treat YOUR Guests?

Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin is the author of “Create Create!”, a FREE twice monthly ezine for people who want simple and powerful articles, tips and exercises to help them unleash their creative talents. Sign up right now and get your FREE “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook, at http://www.CoachCreative.com

Creativity and Motivation - Traits From Within

Introduction

The "entrepreneur" is one who creates a new business in the hopes of making a profit. If this is a valid definition of the term, then it is essential that businesses today utilize "entrepreneurial skills" in order to compete against rival corporations and small businesses that have become an even greater threat than before.

Creativity

Akio Morita is known to have said that initially Sony had three years of competitive-free sales before a rival came up with a product that bit into their margin but near his retirement, that "window" had changed from three years to three months. As the time to market is decreasing rapidly due to the increase of global competition and other powerful market forces, companies can no longer follow their traditional ways of product development. All businesses that wish to do more than just survive must think like the entrepreneur.

Listen to marketers

Marketers know that it takes a tremendous amount of time, money and effort to create new customers compared with keeping current customers. They know that their most valuable asset is the customer they already have. Following this logic, does it make sense to invest a huge amount of time and money to hire on a bunch of "avant-garde" thinkers to create explosively innovative products and services when the resource may already be within the company's ranks? Can businesses in these lean times afford to do so? I do not think so. Those that are best suited to create new and valuable products which are in harmony with the business plan and goals are those that are already in the system; the employees.

It doesn't end with creativity

Entrepreneurism does not end with creativity. Many people can create amazing concepts. Those concepts then need to be turned into products and services which meet the needs of the market and are PROFITABLE for the organization. What good is an idea with no reality? It has little value. In order to succeed, organizations must have the creativity as well as the ability to act upon that creativity in order to bring ideas to market profitably. This is the power of the successful entrepreneur.

Valuable traits

What kind of traits do these individuals usually possess? The entrepreneur is often seen to possess a:·

Desire for responsibility·

Preference for moderate risk·

Confidence in own ability to succeed·

Desire for immediate feedback·

High levels of energy·

Future orientation·

Skill at organization·

Ability to see value in achievement over money

If companies want employees to possess these kind of traits, they need to develop the environment that fosters such. How can they do this? I believe that if we look at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs we can find the answer.

Up your hierarchy!

Not everyone agrees with Maslow and his hierarchy of needs which states that every individual must have certain needs met before they can move up the hierarchy to the next level. To me, it makes perfect sense. We can look around the world at the starving countries and ask ourselves, "why do they pollute so badly? Why don't they care about the world?" The answer is that they are too busy trying to survive to think beyond. Once those survival needs are met, they can progress to looking at the world differently.

At the highest level of the hierarchy is self-awareness. Once employees have their basic needs, and other intrinsic needs met, they are able to begin to think beyond what they "want" and focus on other aspects. This is where creativity comes into play. We all know that extrinsic motivation rarely lasts forever. Look at weight loss clinics and network marketing as two good examples. After the top people give their pep talks, everyone is pumped. When they all return to their normal world, that motivation disappears. Look, however to those people that are motivated from inside themselves; they are the creators, the individuals that can come up with the most amazing things.

Reward is a key criterion

Companies need to create the environment that empowers the worker to that higher level so that they feel they are important in the organization. When they have self-worth, and confidence, when they are rewarded for their efforts, then the creativity will flow from the intrinsic motivation. Eisenberger and Shanock have shown that "when individuals believe they can obtain rewards by being creative, they become more creative. The expectation that creativity will be rewarded causes individuals to define the task as requiring creativity, to become immersed in it, and to search for novel ways of carrying it out." 1

By providing the tools required to get the job done, education to enhance thought processes, empowering workers to produce excellence and rewarding them for doing so, employers will not only develop their own employees abilities to create, they will improve their competitive advantage in the market by increasing the invaluable asset known as knowledge. By instilling in employees a healthy skepticism for conventional wisdom they will further enhance a creative orientation. 2

Creative tension is a key criterion

In addition to this, by fostering a creative tension that is not based on emotional or anxious pressures, people will begin to see the gap between what they want to get done, and the reality of the situation. They will then be able to focus on the gap utilizing energy to make it smaller until goals, visions and reality converge. From this creative tension will flow the motivation. Companies must foster this kind of environment. 3

Conclusion

If organizations want to succeed and excel at global competition, they need to push their employees to challenge conventional wisdom, and give them the tools and the autonomy to test out their non-conventional ideas. Thinking they need to go on a "search for creativity and intrinsic motivation" will hinder their need for speed. Instead of looking for these abilities, they should implement the tools and adjust the environment to empower the employees to develop creativity and intrinsic motivation from within.

References

1. Eisenberger, R., & Shanock, L. 'Rewards, Intrinsic Motivation, and Creativity: A Case Study of Conceptual and Methodological Isolation.' Creativity Research Journal, 15, 121-130, 2003. (no longer available online)

2. Feynman, R. P. 'The pleasure of finding things out: The best short works of Richard P. Feynman.' Cambridge, MA: Perseus 1999.

3. Lori Reisenbichler, 'Creative Tension: A Crucial Component of Creativity in the Workplace', Center for Collaborative Organizations , University of North Texas. 2005/10/27. Retrieved from: http://www.workteams.unt.edu/literature/paper-lreisenb.html.

Creativity and Motivation - Traits From Within

Fear & Creativity

My fears are most powerful when they're simmering just under the surface of my awareness. I'm resistant to a new idea, I'm defensive about holding on to my old ways, I feel excited and panicked at the same time - these are sure-fire signs that there's some fear under there.

Shining a spotlight on my fear has been the best (and only) way to get to the other side of it.

Creativity

"Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love" - Ranier Maria Rilke

My fear is there for a good reason - to protect me. If I can have compassion for my fear, and understand what it's looking for, I'll be more ready to let it go.

I've been thinking about how fear and creativity often go hand in hand. As creative artists, what is our fear looking for? What does it think it's protecting us from? In exploring these questions I decided to brush up on Abraham Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs".

Abraham Maslow suggested that all human beings have the same basic needs, and that we spend our lives striving to meet them. His famous hierarchy of needs explains that at the basest level we need protection from the elements, food, water and other physiological needs.

Then, we need to feel safety and security within our family, our home and in our place in the world around us. We need to feel that we fit in and understand where we fit in and how everything works.

Next, we need to feel love and belonging - that we're accepted and appreciated.

We need to feel competent and masterful and that we're being recognized for our talents.

Finally, when all of those needs are met, we strive for the "top" level, "Self-Actualization" - to really live up to our highest potential, to feel a oneness with God, the universe and all of our fellow travelers on this Earth.

For some of us, long after the needs HAVE been met, we still fear losing them and having to meet them all over again.

Maybe that's why creating our art can evoke so much fear. Creativity is a direct form of self-actualization. When you're feeling fear about putting your creative ideas into motion, which of Maslow's needs are you concerned about meeting or losing?

* If I commit fully to my art then I won't be able to support myself financially - I could lose everything and be penniless and homeless

* If I put my creations out into the world, people may not like them - that means they won't like me, they may laugh at me, I won't fit in

* If no one likes my work, I won't fit in. No one loves, understands or knows me. I'm not fulfilling a need in the world - no one needs me. I'm not serving a purpose.

* If I try to create, I could make a mistake. I'll feel stupid and no one will like me.

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.
- Joseph Chilton Pearce

* If I go another year without trying to get my creative projects off the ground, I may never break free of my limitations, and I may live the rest of my life with unrealized potential. I may die with my creativity still inside of me.

Even the fear of death is nothing compared to the fear of not having lived authentically and fully.
- Frances Moore Lappe

Have I missed any? Probably. Of course each of us have our own unique fears - and these are more universal ones that relate to Maslow's hierarchy of needs and to our creative hopes and dreams.

A well-known acronym for fear is:
FEAR = False evidence appearing real

In other words, even though what we're fearful of seems very real to us, it's usually something we've made up in our heads, as opposed to something we're facing in physical form. Studies on the stress hormone cortisol show that our bodies react to our thoughts regardless of what is actually in front of us. Our fears feel VERY real. And......they're not.

SARK, author of Make Your Creative Dreams Real suggests you to try this acronym on instead:

Fill yourself up creatively - Julia Cameron advocates something similar with her "Artists's Date" assignment in The Artist's Way. What sparks your creativity? A long drive in the country? Making a vegetable soup? Meditation? Prayer?

Explore what stops you - looking at your own unique methods of self-sabotage is a cornerstone of the Everyday Self-Care Workbook (http://www.genuinecoaching.com/esc-workbook.html), and of my upcoming book just for creative artists.

Accelerate movement - Do something, anything, to combat the inertia of staying still. SARK advocates "micro movements" that take anywhere from 5 seconds to 5 minutes to complete. Those micro movements are the building blocks for our creative dreams and most importantly, get us moving!!

Repeat - luckily for us, this process continues as long as we're up for it!

Courage is fear that has said its prayers.
- Dorothy Bernard

Fear & Creativity

Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, helps artists enhance their creativity by addressing their unique self-care issues. To receive her free monthly newsletter, “Everyday Artist”, subscribe at http://www.genuinecoaching.com/artist-newsletter.html