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Business creativity is shrouded in unhelpful myths. Greg Orme cuts his way through the folklore to enable some clear creative thinking.
@Copyright 2014 London Business School
Compared with the results of brain-storms, a famous 1958 test found people working alone came up with twice as many ideas and their solutions were also of a higher quality. To work well, brainstorming needs a listening and skilled group leader who understands the divergent/convergent nature of the creative process.
ILLUSTRATION LEIGH PEARCE
Malcolm Gladwell argues that success in any field is often a matter of practising a specific task for a long time. The magic number, according to his research, is 10,000 hours. That is about eight hours a day for about five years.
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Intelligence correlates with creativity only to a point – and a fairly modest point at that.
Some people are more creative than others, that is true. Business should try to hire as many of these creative powerhouses as they can. Meanwhile, we should all try to develop a more creative outlook on life.
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It will always be a balance between exploiting well-trodden processes and proven products against investing time and resources in developing new ideas.
Creativity often comes from outsiders, people who don’t know how things “should be done”. The young are naturally sceptical of the status quo, but age is not a predictor for creativity.
ILLUSTRATION LEIGH PEARCE
The increasing complexity of the modern world means creative collaboration is required more than ever before.
ILLUSTRATION LEIGH PEARCE
Organisational culture plays a big part in encouraging creativity, but there are managerial interventions to lead the culture in the right way. Also, management skills make it easier for ideas to get a fair hearing and be developed. 4
One of the biggest barriers to break down in any business is the one in people’s minds – the barrier between who is creative and who isn’t. Creativity is too valuable to be left to the experts.
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The divide is around the difference between problem solving - applied creativity- and pure creativity, what artists do. In reality, this is not a valuable distinction for business leaders. Both types are highly valuable and lead to innovation and new revenues.
The full article was published in Business Strategy Review Volume 25, Issue 4 2014.
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