First Module of Innovation Process: Creativity and Innovation
The first module of the innovation process focuses on role creativity plays in innovation. This paper will explain how the creative process works, how to improve creativity and then how we must go beyond creativity to be innovative. To understand how creativity functions, we must understand how the brain function affects creativity. The human brain functions on the efficiency principle. The brain will use minimal energy it needs to complete a task; to save energy it creates set pathways to create automatic patterns which save energy. This “automatic thinking destroys the creative process that forms the foundation of iconoclastic thinking.”[1](Page 2) To add to the problem, “visual creativity-imagination-utilizes the same systems in the brain as vision itself. Imagination comes from the visual system. Iconoclasm goes hand in hand with imagination.”[2] (Page 2-3) As the brain tries to save energy and creativity channels are shared with the visual system, the creative process has an up hill battle.
For most of us, having a reference point helps us imagine. For example, having recorded music led to innovative products like the iPod; if there was no recorded music, would iPod have been created or be widely accepted? I cannot say with 100% certainty but I believe that having recorded music helped the iPod. As Mr. Berns puts it, “first, the way we perceive something, which is a function of the low road, depends on the way in which we categorize objects. Without categories, we do no have the ability to see features that differentiate objects. In the other words, we cannot see that which we don’t know to look for. Secondly, the ability to see these subtle differences depends on experience. And this means that perception can be change through experience.”[3] (Page 8) Having these categories helps because the compartmentalization helps the brain save energy. “The efficiency principle, coupled with the consolidation of large amounts of information and experience as we get older, means that the brain needs to categorize. And yet, imagination stems form the ability to break this categorization, to see things not for what one thinks they are, but for what they might be.”[4] (Page 8) The preset notions help our brain work better but it hinders creativity.
The classical conditioning showed that “analogous changes at the neuronal level”[5] (Page 10) due to repeat task leading to an expected result. The Swiss neuroscientist, Wolfram Schultz’s experiment showed that “the dopamine system adopted to environmental contingencies and essentially learned the correlation between arbitrary events…”[6](Page 10) Imagination suffers when there are no or little preset conceptions of anything or experiences. As the brain function on efficiency principle model, conserving much energy as possible and using minimal energy to conduct repetitive tasks, the extra work required by imagination can be difficult. To imagine, we must pay attention to what we want to imagine. “…The parietal cortex plays the crucial role of integrating the effects of attention…The parietal cortex serves as the crucial intermediary between local representations in the visual cortex and global representations in the frontal cortex”[7](page 16) The novel external stimulus start the process which creates the imagination stemming from neural networks of neurons.
Since the human brain functions very efficiently, using little energy as possible; it is helpful at times to ‘sleep on’ a problem you might be solving. By giving the brain sometime to connect the strands of data, you can get the result you want. The change in environment can be beneficial, the “jolt attention systems wake and reconfigure both perception and imagination.”[8](Page 24) “To think like an iconoclast, you need novel experiences.”[9](Page 24) We can not be bound by the experiences we had if we want to be innovative but we can not be innovative without our novel experiences. It is important to have the experiences to create a framework but we can not live in the framework to be innovative.
Now that we have a basic understanding of how the brain works and strategies to better utilize its functions, we will discuss the process of creativity. Before we get to innovation, we must understand how creativity can be achieved. ‘Creativity comes from a four-state process: (1) Preparation: examine the problem (2) Incubation: synthesis of the data (3) Illumination: Aha! Moment (4) Verification: creativity idea is consciously verified, elaborated, and eventually applied.’[10](Page 3) There are some false presumptions made about being creative. Some say a creative person has to be super intelligent, but that is incorrect. Intelligence, assuming one has enough intelligence to do the task, or age has any barring on a person’s creativity. Creativity can be solitary act or created in a group environment. Although new creative ideas can be risky at time, creative people do not have to be flamboyant risk takers. A manager can manage creativity by offering incentives to create an environment that promotes creativity.
According to Teresa Amabile, creativity is the intersection where expertise, creative thinking skills and motivation meet. The team dynamics can bring greater expertise than using one individual. The creative thinking skills are “often a function of personality and work style.”[11](Page 7) The presence of intrinsic motivation, “motivation fired by an internal passion or interest- has the greatest impact on creativity”[12](Page 7)
To establish a creative team, a manager must: recruit creative people, hire people who demonstrate persistence and self-confidence that indicate creative thinking, match right people with the right job, give employees freedom to be creative and provide sufficient time and resources for them to get the job done.
As an employee, you must be aware of the disruption creative ideas can create. It is vital to back up the idea with a plan. “Many people who are full of ideas simply do not understand how an organization must operate in order to get things done, especially dramatically new things.”[13](Page 3) When suggesting an idea, “include at least some minimal indication of what it involves in terms of cost, risks, manpower, time and perhaps even specific people who ought to carry it through.”[14](Page 6) To increase the odds of having the idea heard you should be mindful of the industry, how complex the idea is and knowing the attitude and position of the person who will evaluate your idea. See the motivation and restraints they might have which can help or hurt the progress of your idea. Just generating ideas is disruption unless they help the organization; “ideas are useless unless used. The proof of their value is their implementation.”[15](Page 7)
The managers must creative a structure to support innovation by “effectively presenting ideas to decision-makers”[16](Page 2), wedding out the ideas by risk assessment, balance the “organizational flexibility and rigidity.”[17](Page 2) The mangers must not leave things to chance, because “those who declare that a company will somehow grow and prosper merely by having more creative people make a fetish of their own illusions.”[18](Page 10)
A good manger must understand the position of their product(s) and how much lifespan they have. An S-curve is “plotted on a two-dimensional plane and demonstrates how the performance or cost characteristics of a technology change with time and continued investments.”[19](Page 2) As the market leader you must understand your strengths and the strengths of the start-up/technology challenging your business. Established firms can take advantage of the start-ups biggest disadvantage during the early phase. “The most dangerous period for a new technology is in the early phase, when its price-performance characteristics are below that of the established technology.”[20](Page 5) I will discuss two things a company can do to take advantage further into the paper.
There are a few lessons to be learned from the S-Curve case study: (1) the existing technology companies must decide how to hold their position in the market. They can decide to do nothing, jump the curve and adapt new technology all together, or hold on to the existing technology while developing new technology to stay competitive. The latter is the most sensible choice. (2) Being the leader in existing technology does not guarantee you will lead the new technology. To have a better chance at success, the market leader can provider a better product then the up-and-coming start-up; or just buy out the star-up. (3) Start-ups enjoy some advantages that a big firm might not have: the start-up has sharp focus on their mission, they attract talent with promises of bright future and stock options, they do not yield to customer pressure, and lack of big bureaucracy give them flexibility. (4) Managers should be aware of the curve and know when to jump the curve. These four lessons are not definite but they provide a guideline for managers. The vehicle is as good as the driver which operates it, thus a manager must be attentive to the company’s position on the S-Curve and its relation to competitor’s position on the S-Curve. By studying both positions, a sound strategy must be devised by management to position the company for the long-term.
I started working for Banc of America Securities (BofA) as an intern in the summer of 2006. This was my first big corporate job as I had only worked in small companies prior to this. In the smaller firms, I could voice my opinion, throw out creative solutions to problems and see quick implementation of my ideas. This was not how things worked at a bigger corporation.
After studying the model I was assigned to, I had some ideas on how to improve the model and make it more efficient. On multiple occasions my ideas were ignored and over looked. I was not use to this; in the past I would shoot out an idea, people would work on finding ways to implement it together and the idea would be a hit. Just tossing out ideas was not an effective strategy anymore. I noticed the seasoned analysts backing their ideas with sound reasoning, structure, implementation plan and laying out benefits for the company as well as the person deciding the matter. The pure creativity was no longer the champion in this world; creativity must be supported with structure, political astuteness and ability to create a full picture with your idea. The generating innovative solution to problems was not always straight forward. Sometimes the solution was quick and easy but most of the time it took time to form. There were times when I noticed a problem but solution would pop-up without me recognizing the problem. My brain would generate a better method of doing the task without my permission. Other times, the problem was realized but solution presented itself while I was in the shower, on the train or while driving. All these experiences suggest that the brain must be given time to sort out the data. The functionalities of the brain demands that it work at its own pace to minimize energy usage. Stepping outside of the routine environment gives the brain the brake it needs to derive the innovative results we demand.
Over the course of tenure at BofA, I learned the right way. For example, I led the charge to move the fixed income indices production from
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[2] Gregory Berns. From Perception to Imagination-How Iconoclasts Free Themselves from Conventional Thinking.
[3] Gregory Berns. From Perception to Imagination-How Iconoclasts Free Themselves from Conventional Thinking.
[4] Gregory Berns. From Perception to Imagination-How Iconoclasts Free Themselves from Conventional Thinking.
[5] Gregory Berns. From Perception to Imagination-How Iconoclasts Free Themselves from Conventional Thinking.
[6] Gregory Berns. From Perception to Imagination-How Iconoclasts Free Themselves from Conventional Thinking.
[7] Gregory Berns. From Perception to Imagination-How Iconoclasts Free Themselves from Conventional Thinking.
[8] Gregory Berns. From Perception to Imagination-How Iconoclasts Free Themselves from Conventional Thinking.
[9] Gregory Berns. From Perception to Imagination-How Iconoclasts Free Themselves from Conventional Thinking.
[10] Human Creativity-The Starting Point of Innovation.
[11] Human Creativity-The Starting Point of Innovation.
[12] Human Creativity-The Starting Point of Innovation.
[13] Theodore Levvit, Creativity is not Enough.
[14] Theodore Levvit, Creativity is not Enough.
[15] Theodore Levvit, Creativity is not Enough.
[16] Theodore Levvit, Creativity is not Enough.
[17] Theodore Levvit, Creativity is not Enough.
[18] Theodore Levvit, Creativity is not Enough.
[19] The S-Curve and Its Strategic Lessons-What Curve Are You On.
[20] The S-Curve and Its Strategic Lessons-What Curve Are You On.
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