The Concepts of Creativity and Innovation
Discuss about the Creativity and Innovation in Organisations.
The concept of creativity and innovation are used in different connotations in the different organisational contexts. The concepts of creativity are closer to that of behavioural sciences which are applicable in different fields. Organisational innovation or organisational creativity is “a type of collaboration which is a method by which innovation can be added in organisations”. Secondly, it can be said that the development of organisational structures and dynamics might foster the potential of the individual as well as the profitability of the organisation (Mumford, Hester & Robledo, 2012). The concept of creativity after an understanding of several theories have been considered to be “a process that results in novelty which is accepted as useful, tenable or satisfying by a significant group of others at some point in time.”
Creativity is considered to be a self-attributed construct. Creativity is considered to be anything which is attributed as original to the creator and in this connection it can be said that it is appropriate to the purpose of the goal or the creator. It has been considered that creativity is actually a function of knowledge, curiosity, imagination as well as evaluation. The more the knowledge base and level of curiosity of a person the more are the ideas, patterns and combinations which the particular person can achieve (Serrat, 2017). The person can then correlate for the creation of better and innovative products and services. Simply having knowledge does not guarantee the formation of newer and innovative patterns. The bits and pieces need to be shaken up and iterated in better ways. The ideas can then be developed into ideas which can be used suitably later (Anderson, Poto?nik & Zhou, 2014).
Organisations which have performed best over the long run are the most creative and innovative. These organisations do not simply copy what others do, instead they might utilize better and more innovative ideas from others for the service and application in specific cases, In case organisations find that other companies are copying what others are doing, they can create things which are new and strategies which are better. It can therefore be said that their creativity can be leveraged and the proper capacities can be utilized to attain the long term success of the organisation (Edquist, 2013). The problem with organisational structure is the resultant of many factors which include the history, organic growth, strategy, operational design, and diversity of products among others which need to be managed. Therefore it is desirable that organisational managers need to have recipes of complete structural change (Baer, 2012).
Creativity and innovation are crucial for the organisational success which is necessary for its performance. Creativity and innovate theories are applied and used for the procedures of innovation. Several researchers consider creativity as the understanding of an individual or a team. It can be said that individuals and teams are creative but it cannot always be said for organisations. However it is desirable that organisations need to encourage innovation and creativity. This can help organisations achieve their goals in their lives (Auernhammer & Hall, 2014).
The Role of Creativity in Organizational Success
The idea behind creativity particularly in organisational context is about the concept of creation. It involves harnessing the power of the mind for the creation of new ideas, plans regarding launch of new products, experiments, art and other sensations. The concept of creativity can be a type of expression or a way in which issues arising within the organisation can be solved. There is no limit or no specification to the concept of which person can be creative (Somech & Drach-Zahavy, 2013). It is possible for any person to be creative. In case of organisations creativity has huge power (Binnewies & Gromer, 2012). This is due to the fact that creativity makes or breaks organisational deals. Often it is seen that organisations despite maintaining a great track record are not able to crack deals as their vision and goals lack creativity. Creativity is not limited to specific companies who deliberately try to do things differently, with majority of businesses usually favouring a traditional and monotone approach towards running their organisations. With the advancement and development of new and innovative technologies, companies need to be flexible and up to date (Dawson & Andriopoulos, 2014). Creativity helps such companies to identify newer and better ways to apply technology in their businesses. In case employees are allowed to be more and more creative they are bound to come up with newer and better ideas which help them in increasing the overall organisational output. Several leading companies of the world have adopted unorthodox methods of encouraging maximum amount of creativity from their employees which include noteworthy ideas. To sum it up it can be said that in order to live a creative life people must lose the fear of being wrong (?erne, Jakli? & Škerlavaj, 2013).
On the other hand, innovation requires a certain amount of stability and establishment. It is basically concerned with the implementation of changes in a common or a long standing procedure by means of its improvement. It is possible by possessing a balance in the existence so that it can be developed based on the concept of innovation. There might be links between creativity and innovation but in reality, the procedures are entirely different. Innovation is related to the creation of new and innovative ideas which help them in the creation of ideas and their development into things which are useful as well as practical. In several instances the concept of innovation has been defined to be the procedure of conversion of theory into action (de Sousa, Pellissier & Monteiro, 2012).
The commonest type of innovation is evolutionary which implies that the methods of finding ways of making incremental improvements to the products and services lie within the concept of innovation. Innovations which are created on existing nature of products and services, are usually lower in terms of risk and it is usually easier to establish a certain demand on these specific improvements and also calculate the likely return on the specific investment (Sarooghi, Libaers & Burkemper, 2015). However, innovation needs to be understood and properly interpreted. This is because of the fact that if those products are innovated which the customers themselves do not like, there is no amount of innovation which is achieved in this particular scenario. The best methods of innovation include collecting responses from customers on which products they like and use and which they do not. Therefore it is crucial that those products are bought which help in the overall increase in revenue of a particular company and therefore correspond to the growth of the organisation (Çokpekin & Knudsen, 2012).
Fostering Innovation and Creativity in Organizations
Innovation is important in the sense that it is only method by which products and services can be differentiated from their competitors. In order to make their business and products valued by their customers, the products which they offer need to be distinct and prove to be valuable to the customers. Innovation is something which can be incorporated at several levels of the business because it does not involve the products and their presentation alone but also their manufacture. In case innovation can be used in case of the production of a particular product, it needs to be ensured that the products are meeting the needs of the customers and the levels can be proceeded on (West & Sacramento, 2012).
There have been several companies who have prospered due to the implementation of proper techniques and useful implementations. The example of Google in this case cannot be neglected in view of the fact that the proper nurturing culture of the corporation has helped in its overall growth. The innovations of the company have been undertaken by several companies all over the world.
Another company which is given credit for its innovation is Zappos. It is famous for te shoes e-commerce and for the positive work culture which is famous with the employees. The core values of the company inspire the employees as a whole. The company has kept a part of its budget reserved for the purpose of team buildings and the development of its culture. The employees are encouraged to unleash their creative skills as they work in a fun working environment.
Another innovative company is Warby Parker. The organisation has a special team which is devoted to their corporate culture. The regular dinners, fun events and programs contribute to their goals of being part of a cohesive community.
Chevron is another company which takes care of the well being of its employees and ensures that the employees feel valued and respected. The company ensures that there are several co-curricular activities which the company can take part in. The company also encourages its employees to take regular breaks.
Adobe is a company which encourages positive corporate culture. The company entrusts a certain amount of trust on its employees and they are given the freedom to perform their best n order to create ambitious challenges for them and help them in their overall achievement. The organisation encourages autonomy and the consequences of risk taking in a positive way.
Disney is another company which encourages innovation. It can infarct be said that the company is basically all about innovation. The concepts which are chosen by the company are such that they appeal to both the young and old alike. Every member of the teams are given equal importance in order to help the company achieve organisational dominance.
This section discusses about the different managers who have encouraged creativity and themselves been creative in their different pursuits within their organisations. In the field of diversity and education, the director of inclusive hiring and accessibility, Neil Barnett is a very innovative and creative leader. The innovations and the creativity of different products of Microsoft bear testimony to the fact that new ideas are encouraged at Microsoft. Candice Morgan is the head of diversity at Pinterest and also encourages creativity in its endeavours. Some other creative people are Karlie Kloss, the founder of Kode With Klossy, Crystal Martin, the Code Girl Program manager at Launch Code. These personalities have shown several categories of innovative products and services for their respective organisations.
The power of Creativity in Organizational Deals
Innovative and great leaders have been seen in the fields of design, entertainment, diversity and education, fashion and beauty, finance and commerce, food, music, science and health, social good, sports, technology and transportation among others. These people have helped their companies create a lot of opportunities for growth and they have also been successful in catering to the demands of the customers. These leaders have come inspirational in the sense that they have been able to visualize future opportunities for the organisation and have developed creativity accordingly. There is a strategic intent to make the creative ideas successful and help the organisation succeed (Perry-Smith & Mannucci, 2017).
Conclusion:
In situations where companies make way for both creativity and innovation to take place in a particular business, the performance is ultimately boosted. This can be achieved only when there is a particular scope for this to take place. The concept of creativity primarily requires that the workers of the companies should be creative. In order to achieve this particular scenario, it needs to be ensured that the employees of the organisations are motivated to either work outside of their office hours or incorporate their insights into creativity without affecting their major line of work. It is also necessary to ensure that staff members feel free in their means of exploring their innovative ideas and ways and means to achieve their goals. It is difficult to categorise innovation but it is generally observed that the phenomenon is observed in case of employees who are positive and well motivated. In case employees are stressed or worked up it is not possible for them to adapt to their work environment well, and working for their ultimate goals of innovation or creativity is much more difficult. Therefore creativity and innovation are concepts which need to be encouraged from all quarters which, if implemented well can ultimately boost the performance of the organisation.
References:
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Serrat, O. (2017). Harnessing creativity and innovation in the workplace. In Knowledge Solutions (pp. 903-910). Springer, Singapore.
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