Creativity

Fred Phillips

Creativity in Organizations

• There is creativity…– … in improving existing products & processes– … in inventing new products & processes

• A glue that doesn’t work very well– A solution looking for a problem

• Bookmarks falling out of the hymn book– A problem looking for a solution

• The answer: Post-it Notes– Following up by looking into the physics of the glue

Anomalies

• A radar operator whose candy bar melted– He could have said “Oh, too bad,” and continued

with his work.– But he thought it might be significant.– He sent out for popcorn. The radar cooked the

popcorn, too.– This was the birth of the microwave oven.

• But some anomalies are not significant!– It is always a judgment call; there’s no method for

distinguishing significant from insignificant anomalies.

Matching problems with solutions• Looking in places beyond the usual• The “power of loose ties”• How to brainstorm application areas?– Research shows that the more market opportunities

identified, the higher the probability of picking a highly profitable 1st target market for a new product.

• Solutions that are not looking for a problem are not industrial creativity.– They may be art, or maybe just indulgence.– However, fine art may spur other industrial

creativity!

Corporate creativity depends on:

• Rewards ($, time)• Corporate culture– The real culture, not just the stated culture

• Corporate strategy– “__% of our revenue will come from products that

are less than __ years old.”• Interaction of groups, individuals, and the

organization as a whole.

Teams or soloists?

• TEAMS are better at solving well-defined problems.• INDIVIDUALS are better at

solving ill-defined problems.– “Thinking outside the box.”

6 elements of corporate creativity

• Alignment• Self-initiated activity• Unofficial activity• Serendipity• Diverse stimuli• Within-company communication

Some methods for enhancing creative activity

• Mizrahi video on TED:– http://www.ted.com/talks/isaac_mizrahi_on_fashi

on_and_creativity.html

• Root Cause Analysis– Excerpt from MITE, p.183

• Skunkworks– Excerpt from MITE, p.182

• TRIZ– More about TRIZ on following slides

Some Creative People

• Leonardo da Vinci• Buckminster Fuller• Walt Disney• Genrich Altschuller

With thanks to Mark Fox,http://www.marklfox.typepad.com/

Da Vinci• Unwanted child; remote, isolated upbringing• Contemporary of Christopher Columbus• Ridiculed due to his love for animals and vegetarianism• Reacts by turning inward; keeps journals

– (Bill Gates paid $30 million USD for one.)• Quick curiosity, some attention deficit disorder – often left

paintings unfinished• “an architect, anatomist, sculptor, engineer, inventor,

geometer, futurist, and painter.” Did not worry about short-term applicability of his work.

• “The helicopter, tank, calculator, double hull ships, theory of plate tectonics, and the use of concentrated solar power were conceptualized by Leonardo.”

Genrich Altshuller• Got first patent while in the tenth grade.• Like Einstein, worked at the patent office• Became interested in the mechanics of

creativity.• Devised TRIZ, the Theory of Inventive Problem

Solving.– there are only about 1,500 basic problems. – each of these problems can be solved by applying

one or more of 40 “universal answers.”– TRIZ is related to “morphological analysis.”– http://www.marklfox.typepad.com/ (video)

TRIZ Videos

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcKy0psDlf4• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9DR4C6vPlA

Buckminster Fuller

• Bankrupt, unemployed, and his child having died, Fuller contemplated suicide at age 32.

• Had epiphany that “his life belonged, not to himself, but to the universe.”

• “chose to embark on “an experiment to discover what the little, penniless, unknown individual might be able to do effectively on behalf of all humanity.”

Over the next 54 years, Fuller…

• was awarded 28 U.S. patents• wrote 28 books• received 47 honorary doctorates in the arts,

science, engineering, and the humanities• created work which was gathered into the

permanent collections of museums around the globe

• received dozens of major architectural and design awards including the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects and the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects

• circled the globe 57 times, reaching millions through his public lectures and interviews

Walt Disney

• Like Albert Einstein, Disney used highly visual and physical fantasies in his discoveries.

• He looked at the connectedness of things, and was able to create new combinations using existing elements.

• Disney was concerned with the obstacles standing in the way of human creativity.

• Success with cartoon movies led to concern about cities, thus theme parks and ultimately EPCOT.

Being more creative

• External strategies– Exploit weak ties

• Talk to people in other industries• Invite someone you hate out to lunch

– Take creativity seminars that use experiential experiments

• Internal strategies– Every week, do 1 thing you’ve never done before.– On your way to work/school, look for 10 new things

you’ve never noticed before.

And now…

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU• Think of a problem at SUNY-Korea. • We will visit the SUNY-Korea Innovation Lab.• Discuss the problem in– Different groups, and– Different spaces.

• Is the Innovation Lab the kind of space that Johnson recommends?

• Does it help you solve the problem?