Innovation and Creativity Spark Your Imagination!

To improve your thinking power it helps to know a little about cognitive science. With recent discoveries in this field scientists are now re-naming what was always referred to as “short-term-memory” to “working memory”?The working memory is a kind of blackboard where computations and results are calculated for later use, anything deemed not relevant to […]

Supply chain innovation can make a difference in gaining or losing customers. Supply chain operations are often behind-the-scenes activities but they have a big influence on an organization’s overall competitiveness.   To remain competitive companies are always striving to reduce defects in products and processes, reduce cycle times, reduce wait times, improve customer service, increase […]

A shared vision is a view of some future state that is agreed upon and shared by others. It is useful when managing change and when you have people who are initially resistant to change. It can also be described as a shared mental model of a future state of a product, process, group, or […]

Overcoming resistance to change can be key where innovations are concerned. For example, a new web-based software system to enable employees to book their own flights, car rentals and hotels might be seen as a threat to the travel booking department and it may be seen as additional unnecessary work that people simply don’t have […]

Process innovation can be just as important as product innovation. We are all aware of everyday product innovations such as those in the latest flat-screen televisions, computer displays, or cell phones.Often we are not so aware of the innovations to processes that take place in order to reduce the unit production costs of such products.Innovations […]

The game of bingo has been around a very, very long time — dating back to the 1500s and a community lottery game that was played regularly in parts of Italy. That may not make bingo as old as some other popular games like chess or checkers. But to give some perspective, bingo is older than some […]

More companies are outsourcing innovation which is in part due to global markets, geographically dispersed subject matter experts, and a faster emergence of disruptive technologies.Companies may also choose to outsource in an effort to lower their research and design costs or when they are trying to tap into a market that they have little knowledge […]

Service innovation can be a significant aspect of a business’s strategy.We all know how important good service is. Good service leads to happy customers and “word of mouth” based referrals. Bad service gives the exact opposite, an unhappy customer and one who is ready to inform as many people as possible of the bad service […]

A warm welcome to the promoting creativity page.If you manage or supervise people then one of your objectives should be to get people interested and focussed on being more creative.Spurring people to be creative and ultimately innovative is good for you and the organization that you work for.The trick though is to encourage creativity with subtlety. […]

Managing Creativity and Innovation (amazon affiliate link) is a key management skill these days with many managers expected to drive more and more innovations forward in order to increase competitive advantage.  In order to be able to manage innovation, the manager should be first aware of the different types of innovation. In particular, she should […]

Managing creativity is key to competitive advantage because the successful generation and exploitation of ideas are essential for sustained success in the marketplace. DEFINITIONS It is probably best to start with an understanding of exactly what is innovation and a definition of creativity as the two are often used interchangeably, however, there is a clear distinction. Creativity is […]

The management of technology and innovation can refer to using/managing technology tools and resources as an enabler to innovation and it can also refer to the using / managing technological breakthroughs as the catalyst to new innovative products and or processes. Managing innovation is a skill that is required to drive forward the innovation management process in an […]

It’s key to maintain momentum with your innovative ideas. Innovations often take time to produce the desired results and maintaining momentum can be a difficult thing to achieve. Projects can move too slowly or get veered off track for a number of reasons… For example: Key project resources could transfer off the project, or Financial […]

A warm welcome to the Knowledge Management Innovation section of the website. KNOWLEDGE DEFINITION To better understand the connections between innovation and knowledge management first let’s define knowledge: “Knowing, familiarity gained by experience” – Concise Oxford Dictionary   KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT DEFINITION Next, we should consider a definition of knowledge management: “The process of creating value from […]

Knowledge management history starts around World War II and in particular with the building of the fighter planes. Observers were led to note that building a second airplane took considerably less time and realized considerably fewer defects than the first. An understanding was beginning to emerge that workers learned from experience. This phenomenon led corporations […]

Innovation support doesn’t always have to be in the form of formal funding and resourcing. Support can come from a number of different sources. LOCAL AND REGIONAL GOVERNMENT BUSINESS AGENCIES In many countries, there are government-run business agencies that are set up to assist with business start-ups and business development or growth. New business and […]

Innovation sources are many and varied. It is often thought that innovation stems from the great leaders of the world. While this is often true there are many other sources of innovation, all of which can usually be categorized under the headings of people, concepts or things. Some popular sources include: The introduction of new […]

A warm welcome to the innovation software section of the site. With innovation being at the forefront of most company agendas many companies offer software to help drive this initiative forward. Such tools often promote and assist in collaboration and knowledge sharing. Enabling employees to share ideas and connect with other like-minded individuals to collectively […]

A warm welcome to the innovation phases page. According to Kanter Harvard Business Review Jul-Aug 2004, Innovation goes through three phases: Project Definition Coalition Building Action 1. PROJECT DEFINITION Prior to defining a project, the problem needs to be identified. This often involves collecting technical and political information in order to translate the ambiguous into […]

An innovation partnership is usually formed in order to share the inherent risks associated with innovation. The global marketplace that many companies operate in these days has resulted in much fiercer competition. LEAN In response to this competition, companies must attempt to gain competitive advantage by introducing more and more innovative solutions in terms of […]

A warm welcome to some ideas for your innovation lecture notes. I got hooked on innovation whilst undertaking my MBA and I’m guessing that’s in part to do with a great lecturer and great lecture notes. If you’re looking for actual innovation lecture notes that you can take away and use then this page is […]

A very warm welcome to innovation and risk taking here on the innovation-creativity web site. Good leaders need to be focused on innovation so as to keep ahead of the game but also they need to be able to weigh up any risks associated with introducing the innovation. We’re all aware of the risks associated […]

In some cases, an imitation strategy can almost be as effective as an innovation strategy. Copying someone else’s idea by building your own version of it is quite often good business. Research shows that approximately seventy percent of innovations are in fact copied and this number is increasing over time. If you’re adopting a strategy […]

A warm welcome to the ‘how to judge creativity’ section of the web site. Judgement and creativity is an interesting topic. On one hand, you need to avoid being judgemental in order to let creativity flourish, but on the other hand, at some point, you have to make a judgement on whether or not it’s […]

Open market innovation is a term that was first coined by Darrell Rigby and Chris Zook. Its basic premise is that companies can reach beyond their internal environment. So rather than relying on the company’s research and development department for the latest innovations the company reaches out to the market using such techniques as licensing, […]

Fast innovation surprises competitors and therefore assists in gaining competitive advantage by increasing overall speed to market which in turn should ultimately increase profitability. The rapid introduction of new or enhanced products or services leaves competitors with two options: they can either continue as planned, introducing a product or service to a market with a […]

The invention of the Frisbee came in the 1950s when its inventor Walter Frederick Morrison conceived the idea for an aerodynamic plastic disc while throwing a metal cake pan on the beach in California to his wife, Lu. Since that date then there have been hundreds of millions of Frisbees sold across the world. The […]

A good entrepreneur definition to begin with is that put forward by Oxford Dictionary… A person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit. Derives from French Entrepreneur derives from French. It can be split into two parts. The first part is ‘entre’ which literally translates to […]

A warm welcome to the problem-solving steps web page. You often hear people say that “There are no problems, only opportunities”. Of course, this is not exactly true it does, however, emphasize the fact that when problem-solving we should look towards the positive aspects of what should be done right now rather than dwelling on […]

(Image Credit orkboi)PMI is a lateral and creativity thinking technique developed by Edward De Bono that is a development of the pro’s and con’s technique that has been used for centuries.It is designed to deliberately direct your attention to the positive, negative and interesting aspects of a particular idea, subject or decision.To complete you make […]

Lateral thinking is a term created by creativity guru Edward De Bono in 1967. The term is in the concise Oxford dictionary where it is defined as: “seeking to solve problems by unorthodox or apparently illogical methods”. In business this is sometimes referred to as out of the box thinking. In his book “Serious Creativity” De Bono […]

(Photo Credit: Forum PA) Doctor Edward De Bono Ph.D. is the founder and director of the Cognitive research trust in Cambridge, England.  An academic who is the father of lateral thinking and a world-renowned creativity expert. He has worked with Gerry Adams, the Eurythmics, Richard Branson, Francis Bacon, and the Pet Shop Boys in terms of […]

Disruptive technology is an innovation that disrupts an existing market. Clayton Christensen who introduced the term defines it as: “An innovation that is disruptive allows a whole new population of consumers access to a product or service that was historically only accessible to consumers with a lot of money or a lot of skill.” In […]

Discontinuous innovation can also be referred to as breakthrough, radical or disruptive and is innovation that, if adopted, requires a significant change in behavior. The implementation of new technologies, products, or business models that represent a dramatic departure from the current state of the art in the industry – J Birkinshaw, J Bessant, R Delbridge […]

Define knowledge: The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines knowledge as: Knowing, familiarity gained by experience Person’s range of information; it came to my knowledge, became known to me; to my knowledge, (1) so far as I know, (2) as I know for certain. Theoretical or practical understanding (of the subject, language, etc.); the sum of what […]

When embarking on a new innovative idea make sure that you first record your team’s wishes for the new project. What is it that they wish will happen. It’s also good to consider the opposite of this too as in what they wish won’t happen. Another way to put this would be to list your […]

Knowledge management tools must incorporate four components in order to be effective: A database subsystem. A database is an essential element as it enables the underlying information to be shared and organized in a manner that assists employees and managers to share their information in a timely and efficient fashion. An organizational language subsystem. This […]

Define or distribute ground rules at the start of a meeting to assist with the meeting’s smooth running. These should encourage participation, help maintain control and keep things on track. They can be developed together by the group or suggested for buy-in. Do this during your first meeting as a group and re-use them again […]

You have a great idea, the next step is to build a business case for it. This document is used in order to demonstrate the advantages of an innovative idea to all stakeholders… The case should put forward the vision for the idea, showing how it will add value for the organization and the people […]

Image by Andrys Stienstra from Pixabay Creativity styles are thought to be part of who you are. Similar to one’s eye color in that they cannot be changed suggests Charles Prather, in his book Blueprints for Innovation. Two Predominant Creativity Styles… Adaptive problem-solving. People who have this style are constantly looking for ways to improve […]

Image by Mihai Paraschiv from Pixabay A creativity profile will often provide insights into your creative processes and aid personal development. Often they focus on how you are creative rather than whether or not you are creative, everyone is creative. They provide the user with an indication of where their creative strengths lie and give […]

Image by Aline Berry from Pixabay Vision can be defined as ‘A mental image of a possible and desirable future state of the organization’ Vision is the future picture and sets the scene for the purpose and strategy of the organization. A vision should be credible and realistic, setting an attractive future point for the […]

Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay Constant innovation is a necessity in our modern world. Why? Because products and services are always getting copied and it’s difficult to stop people and organizations from doing so. Of course, you can trademark brand names, logos, etc. However, many products and services can be very difficult to protect […]

Often we are so set in our daily routine that our subconscious mind does all of the work for us. Tomorrow, try to do some things differently… Try changing your route to work or school in order to wake your mind up. Wear an item of clothing that you haven’t worn in a long time. […]

Image by Ulrike Mai from Pixabay To fail means that you have experimented with something and the conclusion was not quite as you had hoped for or expected. However, simply by trying you have learned new knowledge in terms of what doesn’t work. Thomas Edison had thousands of experiments that could have been said to […]

Catchball is a Japanese idea improvement and enhancement method that also encourages buy-in amongst its participants. As a starting point, this method requires someone to already have an idea e.g. a new product, process improvement, enhancement or strategic vision for the future. Then just like a game of catch-ball the idea is “thrown” around the […]

The candle problem is closely related to thinking outside of the box. The test was created by psychologist Karl Duncker in the 1930’s and was developed to determine how the function of an item biases our thought processes. The participant is provided with a table placed up against a wall, a candle, and a book […]

A recent innovation is that of a camera that can see around corners. This idea has been developed by British scientists and is thought to be of great use to the military. It will enable reconnaissance without giving away cover. It’s also thought that it could be beneficial if fitted to cars to help detect […]

Research has proven that children are more creative than adults. This has something to do with the brain wave patterns of a child but also to do with them not having learnt perceptions of how something ought to be. They don’t think about what has happened in the past, they live for the moment and […]

Audio visual innovations are now commonplace in our everyday lives. They are used in city centers and other public locations to advertise products, retail stores to gain our attention or promote products and sports bars to entertain us. Flat Screen Technology Flat-screen technology is enabling such products to be installed in more and more places […]

Explore a question, problem or thought by asking “What if…?” Try thinking of unusual or unnatural answers to your “what if” questions. Are your answers really unworkable/ridiculous or could there be some value there? Don’t stop there, try some experiments to prove/disprove your ideas.

Applied innovation can refer to either 1) the process of learning innovation through the application of the innovation process in a controlled environment or it can refer to 2) simply providing the action to creative ideas. 1) The process of learning innovation through the application of the innovation process in a controlled environment. This can […]

For me, I usually get my best ideas as soon as I wake up in the morning. I used to keep a pen and paper by the side of my bed so I could record these ideas but I now use my smartphone instead. For many others their best ideas come while they are in […]

Many people think that creative solutions come about purely by luck or chance. While this is true in a few situations it is rarely the case for the majority. Most creative solutions come about as a result of lots of hard work and perseverance. New creative breakthroughs are often the result of hours upon hours […]

Technology enables us to automate many processes and do things much more quickly, as a result, we find that the latest greatest product suddenly has many, very similar competing products also on the market. Take the recent surge in tablet computers as an example. Apple releases the iPad and then within a year, there are […]

Creativity and innovation make the world go round. Turning new ideas into products and services are great for social and economic growth.So how can you contribute? What can you do to make a difference? Think about where you work – is there anything that frustrates you or perhaps something that the customers of the business […]