Creativity Unlimited: Thinking Inside the Box for Business Innovation

8

The creative process

That creativity cannot be controlled is a myth. A number of studies show that those companies that generate the best creative results are also those with the most systematic creative processes. Following a rule or a routine implies that one has a working method and a plan for reaching the solution, even if one does not know what it is.

In a study of the potential for becoming a successful business innovator – the basis of the introductory test in this book – research was conducted into the next stage: What is it that drives business executives to fulfil their potential and actually develop new business? Researchers found three main factors that controlled the outcome, as shown in Figure 8.1.

As we have seen, prior knowledge (of customers and business) is central to business executives' creative innovation. Knowledge accounts for 32% of the creative result. Motivation accounts for, in total, 25% of the creative result, partly because it constitutes some of the creative capacity (as you could see in the test), and partly because it affects the way executives utilize the knowledge they have. In other words, it is not enough to have the right knowledge. You must also understand that it is correct and thereby want to use it creatively (which is exactly what we will be working on later in the book).

Figure 8.1

The third and most influential factor is ‘Situation’, ...