Month: March 2018

Managing Creativity and Innovation – Part 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The terms “Creativity” and “Innovation” are gradually becoming indispensable in modern times. They encompass a full range of sectors comprising economic, social, and environmental as well as pursue a creator’s personal objectives in today’s dynamically developing world. This report examines the concept of managing creativity and innovation to the transition of creativity to innovation through analysing three specific theories; Wallas Model of Creative Process, Divergent and Convergent Thinking as well as the Conditions of Creative Thinking.

 

Concept of Managing Creativity and Innovation

Although these two concepts underlie two different areas, their definitions intersect in the literature of many researchers. This paper contributes for the clarification of these concepts (Fernando Cardoso de Sousa, 2012).

Starting with Creativity, the question ‘What is Creativity?’ should be asked. Creativity plays a vital role in innovation as it is a component in the process of producing great innovations in ideas, products or process. Theorists Newell and Shaw put a sense of producing original, modern and unfamiliar ideas for problem solution. Another group supports theorist Higgins, thinking that creative solution, both new and reintegrated, must bear a value. A novel idea is not a creative idea, as long as it has a value or brings positive effect. So, combining a various interpretation of creativity, it contains origination of new ideas or mixture of familiar and known components into something new, bringing valuable decisions to a problem (Sefertzi, 2000).

Innovation is not able to be realised without creative ideas, as it is the beginning. Innovation is developed when creativity appears under the correct organisational culture. The correct organisational culture is one that takes over creative techniques, the capabilities for an advancement of single and collective creativity competencies (Sefertzi, 2000).

 

BLOCKAGES TO CREATIVITY

Whether a worker is attempting to figure out a difficult problem or commence a business and raise awareness for that business, creative thinking plays a huge role (Hernandez, 2007).

During the process of creation, searching for ways to let creativity thrive should be considered as the presence of “creativity killers” that can appear and suffocate the ability to generate new and excellent ideas (Ciotti, 2013). It is crucial to recognise roadblocks that hamper ideas creation in an organisation because these hurdles jeopardise the creative thinking that further transforms into innovation (Harris, 2008).

There are four potential blockages: perceptual, cultural and environmental, emotional and personal blocks.

 

Perceptual blocks

Perceptual blocks mainly refer to the hindrance of creativity of an individual. There are four potential perceptual blocks:

  1. multitasking
  2. the proclivity to define the problem too narrowly
  3. incapability to see the problem from different angles
  4. stereotyping

 

Leonardo da Vinci, a great painter and inventor, challenged plenty of problems by multitasking. When preparing an extravagant meal for the Duke of Milan, he was inspired to improve the current state of technology in the kitchen as stated in Table 1. Eventually, neither of those appliances worked in a proper way and he was doomed to fail (Kelley.Iu.Edu, 2002).

 

NO. INNOVATIONS SOLUTIONS
1 Conveyor belts To bring food to hasten the cooking process
2 Large oven To cook food at higher temperatures than normal
3 Sprinkler system To ensure safety in the event of a fire

Table 1: Author’s own

Source: Leonardo da Vinci’s Kitchen Nightmares (Sullivan, 2011)

 

Another issue, stereotyping, harasses all employees. It appears widespread in high-tech firms. Here, staff are so used to seeking technology keys that they ignore the simple, management or procedural ways that quality development can guide to (Godfrey, 2015).

 

Cultural and environmental blocks

Cultural and environmental blocks can apply to both the individual as well as any organisation.

Cultural factors cause constraints of logical thinking, where one is not able to produce a creative idea due to a perception of the individual or society. Leonardo da Vinci had many ideas and it only remained as sketches because most of his ideas were not considered feasible. Society or organisation are often critical and skeptical about new innovations, in the renaissance era, many of his ideas were not accepted.

Leonardo da Vinci had several students who were assisting him in his works during the 1500’s (History.com Staff, 2009) and he was haunted by accusations of his sexuality (Anon, n.d.). This caused some disruption as da Vinci was arrested for it.

Without support or confidence from an organisation or employer, one will not be able to thrive in the area of creativity. Without positive reinforcements, ambition for more creative ideas begins drooping and fading away (Ciotti, 2013). Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned to work on several architectural paintings but never completed them as he then went on to be an engineer for Sforza. His work was revered highly by Sforza and hence da Vinci was tenured for 17 years (Biography.com Editors, n.d.).

Environmental factors also play a role in blockages to creativity. The environment where one works at can be distracting. It impedes staff to think originally. Cleanliness, noise level, room temperature and its preparation are involved in environmental blocks (James, 1999). Resources in an organisation are manpower, funds and assets which can be a blockage too. In addition, the biggest challenge is getting the time to follow their creative enthusiasm (McGuinness, 2011). Also, when employees deal with too many outside limitations they spare more time obtaining more resources than creating (Ciotti, 2013).

 

Emotional blocks

Some circumstances in employees’ lives make it complicated for them to focus on their task (James, 1999). They favour judging ideas instead of creating them. “Who are you to believe you can make anything?”; “Just surrender already” phrases are commonly used (McGuinness, 2011).

The other emotional block is fear of disappointment and the worry that goes with it (Harris, 2008) as well as fear of conceiving it wrong which can become paralysed for a maker (McGuinness, 2011).

All these overthinking issues can be spotted in Leonardo da Vinci’s works. Referring to “The Last Supper” drawing, it is seen that there are too many details painted and somewhere even unnecessarily. Considering a dozen of tiny details in one’s work makes people think overloaded depriving original and creative thinking as well as imagination (Sullivan, 2012).

 

Personal blocks

Some personal blocks include the absence of material and emotional wellbeing, an individual crisis, and alcohol or chemical abuse (James, 1999). Complacency in an organisation is dangerous because it risks being surpassed by their competitors. Moreover, it leads their enthusiasm to decrease which affects the whole organisation (Vessella, 2015).

Leonardo Da Vinci is a bright example of deferring things for later. It took him many years to complete “The Last Supper” as well as the painting called “Mona Lisa” since the beginning (Sullivan, 2012). While procrastinating, people lose lots of energy and time thinking about a solution that they would not have to think about if they had finished it by that time (Pychyl, 2013).

Tips to Stay Productive in a Сollege Life

How to stay organized in college

Assessment of the University is, of course, is not important, but some companies carefully look at the average educational score of their potential employees. To understand how to be productive in college, we have studied the experience of graduates of leading universities and I went through a few threads on Quora. In the end, have identified the most common tips that movers give to their classmates.

Organization tips for college students

  1. Define your goals and prioritize.

What you want to achieve in life? Even if you’re only determined by what you want to work after graduation, you have desires and goals (otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this article). Define your goals. Be ambitious and think in a big way! Make a list of goals and periodically go back to it. The list will motivate you every day to become better than yesterday, and to prioritize.

  1. Cultivate interest and be curious.

In fact, even the most “useless” subject can be not so boring if you try to find in it something interesting for yourself. Comprehensive knowledge will expand your horizons and you never know where and when they will be useful (suddenly you will suddenly be able to sustain the conversation about the rare hobby of your future clients, will position it to themselves and eventually get the big project for your company).

  1. Down with procrastination!

Start preparing for the exam overnight is a bad idea. Not only that, after a few days you will forget learned, you also do not sleep enough, you will feel bad and lose my concentration on the exam.

The key to successful studying is to learn daily. Break the topic into sections (it is known that we better remember information in small pieces), explore each one fully at a time. Make a timetable and strictly follow it. Master the basics of time management to properly allocate their time.

If you follow this advice, you will be surprised to find that it is much better understand the material, and on the night before the exam you will sleep and not be tossed about in a panic trying to learn the full course of calculus in a few hours.

  1. Practice self-control and discipline.

Discipline and ability to work will help you not only in University but also in future career. Believe me, all successful people clearly define themselves, their actions and emotions.

Follow the schedule, exercise daily, focus on one task at a time.

Do not be distracted by social networks and the Internet (by the way, there are special applications that allow you to block access to the Network at the time you set), turn off all reminders and alarms to your mobile phone, explain to parents / friends / young man or woman that you are busy and will be free after a certain time, expel from the room of Pets and on time get rid of all distractions. As difficult as it is, remember: no pain, no gain.

  1. Keep the daily schedule and be physically active.

To successfully engage and be productive, need to keep yourself in good shape and have plenty of power. To do this, (let it not seem to you new and boring!) sleep 8-9 hours a day and deal with their own body.

Get up early so you will have more time to study (in the evening we are more inclined to stay and delay for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow). In the morning you are more productive and focused (even the most convinced an owl can turn lark at the expense of discipline).

Mind body! Sport and active life organization will give you a huge amount of energy, which will quickly think and remember new information. In result, you’ll have more time for enjoyable. Besides, sport is a great way to change the type of activity.

  1. Take breaks.

Have you noticed that after 20-30 minutes after the start of classes, your mind starts to wander not where you want them, and you are distracted?

In fact, man is able continuously to keep the attention on the same subject a limited amount of time, and this number is purely individual. Note the time that you are able to concentrate in class, and after take a break: grab a snack or drink of water (it is extremely useful to your body primarily for the brain), stretch your legs, walk around the room or take a break on the sport, open the window or take a walk.

Make your schedule to account for such breaks and change of activity.

By the way, a change of scenery and method of studying the subject will help you to remember better. Together with the knowledge of the brain is recording information about the environment: the place where you are doing, sounds and thumping in time to the music. Read the notes and books, listen to lectures in the player, change your posture practice sitting, standing and moving about. If you are a visual learner, spend more time with the record information, if auditory, activate the notes on the recorder, start to use audio books and listen to them.

  1. Visualize and model.

To better remember things, imagine a model of a studied subject. It’s not only about charts, tables, and other methods of visual presentation but also about the mental simulation.

Ways to stay organized: create some kind of logic, mental model, where each new bit of information will logically fit into the existing system. For example, you can study physics, relying on the time axis: first, there were earlier ideas about the world, and then there was the ancient physics and then Newtonian mechanics, electricity, magnetism, the discovery of the electron, theory of relativity, quantum theory, astrophysics, etc. All confirmed or refuted previous hypotheses. This is logical, and therefore easier to remember to hold the relationship and understand. And the understanding is much more important than just memorizing information.

Another better way to memorize anything is to use associative. Develop your own system of associations for each particular subject, will help recall the necessary information, especially in a stressful situation when there is a sudden blackout in the exam.

  1. Attend lectures and be active on them.

Lectures and classes are not so useless as it might seem at first glance. First, the teacher can deviate from the manuals or a textbook. Secondly, this is a live chat when you can ask questions and get feedback. Finally, the lectures will save the time you would have spent on reading textbooks (often the teacher asks questions on the material covered in the lecture).

Nurture active listening: be attentive, take notes and don’t be afraid to be the weird kid who’s always asking stupid questions. The better you understand the material in the lecture, the less time you’ll need to study it before the exam.

By the way, the lectures and the activity on them is useful because many teachers put tests and/or scores on exams for attendance and your participation. The teacher’s task is not to overwhelm you in the exam and put three on the next retake. He also did not want to waste time on it.

  1. Take notes correctly.

Develop your own system for keeping notes. It can be anything, but would you feel comfortable to work with her.

One of the most convenient existing systems note-taking system the Cornell. It is to initially write an abstract in the format of flash cards:

Divide the sheet into 2 parts: the left margin, occupying about one third of sheet width, and right the rest of the page.

Keep lecture notes in the right part of the sheet necessarily making bigger margins between paragraphs on various topics.

The left side of the sheet write down all the headings, main ideas and associations – do this after the lecture, during the repetition of the material. Now close the right part of the synopsis sheet of paper and test yourself, based on abstracts from the left side.

Leave the box at the bottom for headings of sections and subsections. It will be much easier to find in the abstract the necessary information.

Before the exam ask the classmates to make the aggregator notes: assemble the best of them and form a single, which will be the most comprehensive material in a structured way. This way you not only prepare for the exam, but also will earn the respect of fellow organized student (will receive plus in a karma), sending them by notes. If a lot of material, you can distribute the work between several people and in the end combine the notes into one.

  1. Help and use the help.

Create your mini-group to prepare for exams and performing homework. Let it be a group of like-minded people with the same goals. Be active in group: explain material and help others. This will help you not only to review and understand the material (as it is known, we can better understand something when we explain it to others), but also to learn to work in teams and develop leadership qualities.

  1. Participate in projects and gain respect.

Be active. Participate in conferences, research, create projects, solve case studies at the Championships. This will help you to develop a portfolio, which you then present to a future employer. It will be valued above the honours degree, because it shows that you have not only knowledge but also practical experience.

Case Championships and conference will help to develop communication. Meet new people, chat, be sure to pass the production practice. Tips to organize your life will help you much faster to get a job of your dreams.